Does society really need Twitter?

Everywhere I look it’s “Twitter” this and “Tweet” that. Has the whole world gone mad?! Why the hell would I want a constant update, (sent to my phone, no less!), on what my neighbor is eating or what TV show my best friend is watching?

I want to know why someone thought anyone would ever need something so inane. What makes them think we need a constant stream of completely irrelevant updates on what our friends are doing sent to our phones? We have always had MySpace and Facebook pages to post every uninteresting moment of our boring lives and know much more than we would ever want to know about our friends. Well apparently some of us – who seem to have forgotten the original purpose of a telephone – do feel the need for such a website.

IS ALL HUMAN CONTACT DESTINED TO BE LOST FOREVER IN A TIDAL WAVE OF USELESS INFO OVERLOADING OUR BRAINS?!

I tried to ignore it, but everywhere I turned I was hearing or reading about Twitter. Now even my favorite art website, NotCot.org, has a Tweet feed. I thought maybe I finally had a reason to sign up, but when I checked it out it was ridiculous. Just stupid updates from random people talking about shopping and lightbulbs rather than article excerpts.

Conversely, I have noted the uses Twitter does have. I work at a coffee shop that posts the daily coffees/specials on Twitter for customers. Shockingly, even the Dalai Lama utilizes this gross misuse of modern technology. One would hope people would be curious or intelligent enough to want to read more than just one short sentence from him rather than merely glance at bite-size words of wisdom, but I can see how it would be useful for someone with no time to actually read.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: this is one trend I refuse to take part in. Not trying to sound all high and mighty to those of you who like Twitter or actually do use it for something meaningful. I do realize there is a percentage of intelligent people using the site who don’t let you know how often they breathe. Unfortunately, it’s a small percentage, microscopic, even.

Comment on Current.com.

Penny Arcade's Take on Twitter

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[EDIT: Thanks everyone for all your responses (on Current.com). I appreciate different opinions and found it very insightful to hear everyone's take on the social phenomenon. After reading through all the comments, I have a different opinion of Twitter. It seems there are INTELLIGENT Tweeters out there, after all. And shame on all the dumbasses that give those people a bad name.

Since writing this article I have been forced to realize that when it comes to marketing your blog or business online, Twitter is a force to be reckoned with. I myself have joined, begrudgingly, as an Anti-Twit.]