Here’s an email I received from a friend who works in Web promotion, in response to the sentiments expressed in my last post about finally succumbing to Twitter. He’s on point, and I’m just glad I’m not the dude he describes in the first graf (right? fellas?):

“All this social networking is annoying because most people don’t have shit to say.  They have no draw, no product, no expertise in anything, they aren’t funny, they offer no insight and no one cares about their stupid lives.  They’re yelling into the void and hoping that if they yell loud enough and often enough someone will pay attention.  People try to offer themselves as the draw but if their personality were that magnetic they probably wouldn’t be spending so much time on the Internet in the first place. Continue reading →

So apparently Twitter is the next big thing, blah blah blah yakkity smakkity.

I must admit that I still don’t REALLY get the effin point. Seems like the ultimate in sound bytes, and unless you’re in a plane crash or being held hostage by terrorists, who the hell really cares what you have to say in 140 characters? And why can’t you say it via email, regular blogging or a text message to your brohamskis?

But I don’t want to be left out of the loop. So I’ve started using Twitter. I’m using it mostly for little haiku-ish revelations that I’m having during the day–the kind of things we all have, every day–and feeding it to the right-hand side of this blog. Here’s the pure RSS feed.

I’m actually finding it a pleasurable way to keep a little journal. Any medium that has clear boundaries is fun to be creative with–funny in that way that rules and structure can be a good basis for freedom. I guess that’s the philosophy behind the haiku and any other fixed-form poem.

Anyway, I hope this provides you a modicum of extra Net enjoyment.