So, just to be sure

Cade - I just wanna be sure here - I'm getting the impression you think Twitter is for 'self-serving mini-messages'

Not sure what gave me the impression

He said WHAT?

"...They're all going to become intermixed in various ways. People will use email. They will want to use Twitter, Facebook."

No. I will not. I will not, ever, want to use Twitter and / or FaceBook, or anything of that ilk.

Some people do not have a pathological need to stay informed 24 hours a day to every burp and fart of a thousand other people, nor do we have a similar need to inform all about our every bowel movement. Some of us have, believe it or not, and I know this might be hard to comprehend, even, on occasion, turned our mobile phones off. Shocking, I know. Just Luddites, I guess.

Obligatory cartoon reference

This time, Penny Arcade!

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/4/23/

Where did it go wrong?

Granted, maybe we never really expected that the 21st Century would bring us silver suits, hover boots and slave robots (though I still live in naive hope), but it was never unreasonable to believe in the democratic power of the Internet, in the greatest information revolution since (forgive the cliché) the Gutenberg Press.

In Facebook, like it or not, we have a phenomenon: a single application that attracts millions of, ahem, contributors, providing them with a means of managing contacts and keeping them knee-deep in pokes, prods, hugs and mindless drivel as well as providing the means to compare subjective views on such diverse subjects as "what makes a good kisser" and "what do you prefer, chocolate or holidays in the sun?".

So how can it be, that with millions and millions of people now able to communicate on a level that obviates the need for a hierarchical broadcasting network, that allows people to talk cheaply and share views, to research and investigate what's going on with our ailing planet and stress-filled society... Britney fucking Spears and the god-awful, bile-inducing Sarah Palin are down as "most popular influencers".

Is it me, or is this really fucking depressing?

God help us

These most popular influencers include Britney Spears, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, and former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin."

If these are the best of the bunch, time to buy that cave and live in it.

I even had to look up Ashton Kutcher !

wtf!

I'm sorry. As a Facebook user I just don't GET Twitter. All it has are status updates... wtf! Facebook you get the status updates, photos, games, wall posts etc etc etc... why trade down? I just can't get my head round the point of it, sorry!

Errmm...what?

"These most popular influencers include Britney Spears, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin."

If ever another species reads this, they will think we're a pathetic bunch of f*cks in desperate need of extinction.

@Anonymous Coward

Or perhaps IT teachers can type faster than you?

@Chris Williams

Here's an idea. Instead of allowing people to harness the democratic power of the Internet for whatever they see fit, let's just do what Chris wants to do.

Fed up of this "Twitter's great / Twitter's crap" dichotomy.

As with pretty much everything else, it's a tool. If you find it useful / entertaining / functional then use it. If not, don't.

I find Twitter's detractors as irritating as its evangelists; it's not "the future of communication" but neither does it deserve the enraged hand-wringing it seems to get in these threads. As with all communication tools stretching back to the invention of writing, the balance of profundity and banality depends on the user, not the tool itself. I have found as much useful information on Twitter as I have "going to make a cup of tea" dross. I'm highly amused by the thought of us all sitting around in animal skins, bemoaning the latest cave painting: "some people do not have a pathological need to stay informed 24 hours a day about how you've speared yet another bloody buffalo."

@matt Nida

Brilliant point! Maybe there were also 'comment caves' where dissatisfied troglodytes could etch their furious ramblings into the wall with a blunt spear..