I am observing the current, rocket-like ascent of "Twitter". Twitter is, among other things, a one-to-many text messaging system. The "one" is you or me. The "many" can range between a limited size, private group such as your friends or a universally large, public audience such as CNN viewership. In its smaller setting, group members use the system to keep others informed of daily activities...(sort of a never ceasing human exchange). In the more public setting, Twitter is a real-time news reporting tool.
The meteoric climb of Twitter is based, in my opinion, on its popularity as a medium for the "never-ending human exchange". I have seen this previously in many other electronic forms. Despite their visual differences each of these sort of does the same thing. Here are some examples:
The popularity of these mediums reminds me closely of the fashion industry. Each year designers are required to create new themes and visuals that satisfy the eye and offer a slightly vanguard way to humans for expressing themselves. The great design houses can completely change the user experience from season to season. The designers know the user experience needs to change because the old experience ceases to satisfy the user as an expression of the self.
The whole concept is a derivative form of something called "attachment" whereby we humans entrust things external to our selves with the power to determine whether or not we are happy or sad. Do I have enough money..I want more chocolate cake...if I just had a bigger house....etc...because none of these things individually brings peace to the soul we find ourselves hopping from one hope-filled attachment to another.
Now the difference between any of the human-exchange mediums described above and the fashion industry is: a designer clothing brand can change its feel sufficiently to accommodate the endless human journey of self-expression ( cloth is a medium capable of a very wide range)...a piece of software, in general, can not change enough to help here. As a result....social software gigs seem to pop up and then slide down (they sell the same dress year after year).
If I step back from these platforms and am honest with myself...I believe they are promising me some upside...a differently perceived future me...I can be a YouTube star. As a result, my mind is stuck in a YouTube/Facebook/Myspace/Twitter future. It is this very thing that many human philosophers and at least one eastern religion say is the source of human unhappiness. Not being in the present. I am still looking for the social networking site that puts me in the Now..this will be a big thing.
The meteoric climb of Twitter is based, in my opinion, on its popularity as a medium for the "never-ending human exchange". I have seen this previously in many other electronic forms. Despite their visual differences each of these sort of does the same thing. Here are some examples:
- Facebook: An organizational tool for building a personal profile that may be shared with a few or many.
- Youtube: A publishing tool for letting all comers have a visual understanding of you...who your are...what you can do...etc.
- MySpace: Same as "Facebook".
- Twitter: See above.
The popularity of these mediums reminds me closely of the fashion industry. Each year designers are required to create new themes and visuals that satisfy the eye and offer a slightly vanguard way to humans for expressing themselves. The great design houses can completely change the user experience from season to season. The designers know the user experience needs to change because the old experience ceases to satisfy the user as an expression of the self.
The whole concept is a derivative form of something called "attachment" whereby we humans entrust things external to our selves with the power to determine whether or not we are happy or sad. Do I have enough money..I want more chocolate cake...if I just had a bigger house....etc...because none of these things individually brings peace to the soul we find ourselves hopping from one hope-filled attachment to another.
Now the difference between any of the human-exchange mediums described above and the fashion industry is: a designer clothing brand can change its feel sufficiently to accommodate the endless human journey of self-expression ( cloth is a medium capable of a very wide range)...a piece of software, in general, can not change enough to help here. As a result....social software gigs seem to pop up and then slide down (they sell the same dress year after year).
If I step back from these platforms and am honest with myself...I believe they are promising me some upside...a differently perceived future me...I can be a YouTube star. As a result, my mind is stuck in a YouTube/Facebook/Myspace/Twitter future. It is this very thing that many human philosophers and at least one eastern religion say is the source of human unhappiness. Not being in the present. I am still looking for the social networking site that puts me in the Now..this will be a big thing.
