It’s Spring, and I’m all A-Twitter

Sheila Newsom
DTC 375
Dr. Farman
April 9, 2009
Word count: 831

In 1974 Arthur Fry and Spencer Silver accidently invented the post it note (Ament, 2007). Used widely in offices since its birth, the post it note has also become a staple in homes to answer the question ‘what are you doing?’ Jump to 2006, in walks Twitter, and asks ‘what are you doing?’(Sarno). To which one has about as much space to type as one would have to write on a post it, and one might reply about food they are eating, music they are listening too, books they are reading or a combination of all of it. Twitter combines our society’s desire for speed and information sharing with an easy to use application that surpasses the post it note in today’s fast paced culture by allowing one to quickly share thoughts with others.

On a post-it-note one may write a note that says ‘I am out back’, or ‘I went to the store’. Maybe the note says what one of my high school friend’s step mother used to write ‘Debs, cat box, NB’ (NB being her stepmother’s initials). Short sweet and to the point. Now NB could have used some of her fancy letterhead and written a lovely note explaining to my dear friend Debbie the she would like her to clean the cat box and take the whole mess to the dumpster outside, but even in 1988 we wanted speed, and the post it note did the trick. Pointedly so, since post it notes are quite small, the information has to be concise. Twitter has taken the post it note and made it environmentally friendly. There is no paper waste when one ‘tweets’. No pencil to find, and unlike a text, when one ‘tweets’ the love is spread all around, so everyone knows you’re cleaning the cat box, walking around with snot running out your nose, or eating French fries, but only if you ‘tweet it’ that is.

Twitter is unique in that one can share their daily activities through their phone, laptop, or home computer to a select group of followers. From a Wired article on Twitter author Clive Thompson explains the benefit of receiving tweets from friends, “when I get such granular updates every day for a month, I know a lot more about [them]. And when my four closest friends and worldmates send me dozens of updates a week for five months, I begin to develop an almost telepathic awareness of the people most important to me.” He goes on to declare that, “Twitter and other constant-contact media create social proprioception. They give a group of people a sense of itself, making possible weird, fascinating feats of coordination” (Thompson). Twitter brings a group together and creates a sense of solidarity even when a ‘group’ is separated by miles, or even an ocean.

McLuhan’s idea of a global village is the idea that we are interconnected through technology, Twitter facilitates this. It brings people closer together through our connectedness with our technological extensions of ourselves. McLuhan states, “As electrically contracted, the globe is no more than a village” (McLuhan, 1995). As part of this ever changing global village we communicate digitally and create bonds that transcend the span of our physical village. Prior to the invention of Twitter this bonding was done through other avenues of digital and non-digital communication, and as McLuhan theorized , “[t]hey are now involved in our lives, as we in theirs, thanks to the electric media” (McLuhan, 1995). One can follow celebrities on Twitter like Paris Hilton, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher even P. Diddy, right along with your favorite Aunt in Omaha and best friend in New York. And with McLuhan’s idea of a global village we are digitally intertwined in each others lives and further connected globally.

What's more, “[t]witter provides an opportunity for community participants to control their own experience. Each user can arrange their virtual space as they see fit, compose the content of their own posts, include content of others they choose to follow, and engage at whatever level of participation they desire” (Hazelwood, Makice, and Ryan). Our society loves solidarity within a group, and at the same time enjoys expressing our individual desires. We are a culture that is “all about me”. Twitter gives one their fifteen minutes of fame, while allowing those to stay in touch.

In regards to the interactivity of Twitter, Zhao and Rosson agree that, “[t]he brevity of microblog posts make them easy to update and read. Its pervasive accessibility (e.g., from website, browsers, and mobile phones) allows authors to update their experiences and thoughts instantly, as things happen and thoughts cross their minds. Readers can check others’ updates when they get a moment (e.g., in the airport, on the train, or in between of two meetings).” We are globally connected even when we are physically apart. Twitter is another way to keep in touch that it is quick and convenient, and with rising advances in technology Twitter will make the post-it-note obsolete.


Works Cited
Ament, Phil (2007). Post-it-note history. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from The Great Idea Finder Web site: http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/postit.htm.

Hazelwood, William, R., Makice, Kevin, and Ryan, William. Twitterspace: A Co-developed Display Using Twitter to Enhance Community Awareness. Retrieved April 2, 2009 from http://www.wrhazlewood.com/~whazlewo/publications/pdc2008.pdf.

McLuhan, Marshall. Essential McLuhan. Ed. Eric McLuhan, and Frank Zingrone. New York: Basic Books, 1995.

Rosson, Mary Beth, and Zhao, Dejin. How Might Microblogs Support Collaborative Work? Retrieved April 2, 2009 from http://research.ihost.com/cscw08-socialnetworkinginorgs/papers/zhao_cscw08_workshop.pdf.

Sarno, David. Los Angeles Times. Twitter creator Jack Dorsey illuminates the site's founding document. Part I. Feb 18, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2009 from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/02/twitter-creator.html.

Thompson, Clive. "Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense." Wired Magazine 15.07. 26 June 2007. Retreived April 2, 2009 from http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-07/st_thompson.