Conventional wisdom: Twitter is a time-waster for gossip-mongers, vapid celebrities, and other people who a) think people care enough to read how long they cooked their poached egg before sliding it onto their whole wheat toast or b) have so little self-esteem that they enjoy reading how long other people boil their ovoids before devouring.Now, some of this is true. Twitter, if you check it as often as you do Facebook and email (which you will), takes up time.
It does take comparatively less time, as you're reading life in 140-character morsels and not in seven-paragraph wall posts or (even worse) 14-page Google Doc attachments, but Twitter is a distractor, no doubt about it.
And yes, most of what is on Twitter doesn't matter. (Some tweets don't even make sense.)
But there's something kind of cool about knowing that you can say something and A-N-Y-O-N-E can read it. Creepy, but cool.
Plus, if I were to post (hypothetically....of course) "OMG @msleamichele ur teen choice awards dress was SOOO gorgeous!!", there would be the possibility that she would respond...preferably in the manner of "aww thanks!! u can have it if u want!"
But in all practicality, Twitter is now all but essential in conducting any successful mass-marketing or media campaign - political, personal, or professional.
I happen to know at least one teacher who uses it to post homework for his students, which I happen to think is awesome (and soooo useful!).
There are certainly those (and always will be those) who still think Twitter's a useless time-waster, and they're certainly entitles to their opinion (and may even be a little bit right).
But if you don't mind, I will continue to be the first to know about Bergdorf's new leopard-print booties AND who will be the next guest start on Glee AND why there were sirens outside my window at 3am last night.
Signing off - follow me at @samaratrilling!
...or not. :)
