When I was a young girl...
we walked to school (it was uphill both ways)... we listened to records (on record players, and you had to stay in the room to listen)... someone had to walk across the room to the television to change the channel (by twisting the channel knob)... we generally had only one telephone in the house (and it was attached to the wall)... we shared pictures of our family vacations by either "treating" our neighbors to a two hour slide show, or showing them pictures in an album...
"twitter" and "tweet" were the sounds that happy birds made...
Enter the technology age.
You all know that few young people actually walk to school any more (and all the hills have been leveled); you can take your digital music with you anywhere; no one would consider buying a TV without a remote (do they even make them without remotes?); most homes have cordless phones strewn throughout, and/or every member of the household has their own cell phone; and pictures, well... (email, Flickr, digital picture frames, camera phones.)
And now "Twitter" and "tweet" mean something different altogether.
Most of my knowledge today about cool internet stuff is a direct result of happykatie being a part of my life, my family, my heart. She was the one who taught me about podcasts - knitting podcasts, specifically. But I have to admit, when I first heard about Twitter.com, I didn't really get it. I couldn't fathom why I would want to "follow" someone's short (140 characters or less) messages (tweets), or why someone would want to "follow" mine. Why not just call them, or send an email or a text message?
Then the Yarn Harlot announced that she was on Twitter. Suddenly a light began to glimmer, ever so dimly. It grows, and I am beginning to get it now. I'm not likely to be exchanging emails with the Harlot, but I can "listen in" on small events or thoughts in her daily life through Twitter. And I can listen in on other people who interest me, including people I actually know personally. I'm trying to get more of my family and friends on board now, but always have trouble articulating why they should give Twitter a try, until now.
Come on now,go to Twitter.com and click on "Watch a video!" for a great explanation of the Twitter experience. Also, check out The Internet Bloke's post on using Twitter. You can thank me later. And follow me on Twitter!
Thank you Katie, for making me feel like one of the cool kids!
