Twitter is Sacred
Twitter, sacred? Well, maybe. A recent blog by Stephen Dinan started the ball rolling for me by asking “When something is wildly successful, as Twitter now is, I often ask myself about its higher purpose. In other words, what might be the deeper meaning of Twitter?”
Could a string of 140 characters have a higher meaning?
In his blog, Dinan makes the case that Twitter is propagating new ideas at light speed, helping to create a new form of intimacy and allowing us to connect with our individuality while tracking global concerns.
Let’s break that down. There’s no doubt that ideas propelled at the speed of light are spreading faster than ever before. The concept of intimacy and “friendship” is also changing fast. By looking at my Blackberry I can learn what my friends thought of exploding stereotypes in Julie and Julia or exploding bodies in District 9. One friend is getting metal rods in his foot after a 80 mph racing kart crash. Ok, too much information. Point is, this kind of intimacy doesn’t involve face to face, more like face to screen. You can have involved relationships with people without ever meeting them.
Decline of civilization, ya think? Could be. But I think it’s more about people craving connection and being inventive about finding it where they can. I can’t find the town square of Los Angeles on my GPS; neither can anybody else. 
So we have to invent a town square. Mine turns out to be on a screen. Is that a strange place to find “what it’s all about?”
“I am glad I wasn’t there. I hate crowds. In a field? No in-door plumbing? My sister will tell you that camping, to me, has always meant a Holiday Inn. Music? I’m tone deaf.”
-Mathew Tombers
Tombers wrote that in a blog about Woodstock, the cultural touchstone that happened forty years ago this month. Like Tombers, I too would have stayed away, but only because I can’t deal with using a porta-potty while on acid. The iconic moment of Woodstock has come around again in a surprising way – this time instead of mud and music we have pixels and social progress.
As people seek connection on the Internet they are also trying to do work that matters. The two go together because the exchange of ideas is accelerating while we remain connected with hundreds if not thousands of people. Businesses are going green. People are looking at micro-financing to help the world’s poor. The shows I’m pitching in my company are about healing or consciousness or science and spirit. Ideas travel fast when they’re wired and there’s the sense that we’re all thinking the same thing: How can we do good?
As Lynne Twist writes in The Soul of Money, “The communications explosion has awakened our natural relatedness to one another and the awareness of the fact that we’re interconnected. It has also facilitated a truly global conversation on important issues that affect us all.”
A global conversation on Twitter? That’s technology helping us put a lot of consciousness into 140 characters.
Lee,
I’m just beginning to use social networks. They do allow connections like never before. However, one thing I’ve found is that there is limited accountability online. You can’t view a person face-to-face and pick up on all the facial cues, tone of voice, breathing and body language that are hard-wired into our systems. Thus, you never really know what a person new to you is like. Online personas are the norm; in person, you could see through these facades in a heartbeat. Even on the phone you can deduce a lot. Online? That aspect concerns me.
Bob
Twitter and Facebook are becoming hugely powerful, and see it’s “need” in life well illustrated in the yoga community. As yogis, we often spend a large amount of time alone, either on the mat, in meditation, or just blocking out the noise of the world. But, we are still human, and require human interaction. Twitter and Facebook allow that, and even give a nice screen to hide behind, allowing us to be even more free. I have been amazed at how the yoga community has embraced Facebook, being the most active users of all my friends.
It is true, we have no town square. The closest we get to one is a yoga studio, and even those are numerous and not central. In yoga, I agree, Twitter is sacred
.
Namaste,
Ingrid
Thanks for this, Bob. It reminds me of the New Yorker cartoon that has a dog typing on a keyboard and he’s saying “on the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” The anonymity of this technology is liberating, powerful and even scary. It may be coming to us in a trivial-seeming Twitter package, but it’s a real game changer.
I am not a Twitter person because that form of communication feels a little ADD-inducing for me. However, I agree with you and Lynne Twist that, “The communications explosion has awakened our natural relatedness to one another and the awareness of the fact that we’re interconnected.”
The global conversation is exciting and I think is having a profound effect on our consciousness. Although I am not signing up for Twitter today, I am grateful to those who you are thinking in big ways like this and look forward to what’s next.
Good blog Lee.
Gathering for a yoga class lends power to each individual practice – seems to pump up the energy in the room. Same I think with social networking – only the room is virtual. Thanks for commenting!
Thanks for commenting, Tabby! I don’t know that I will use Twitter all that much personally but I’m well aware of the revolution going on right on my screen.
Best line ever…
only because I can’t deal with using a porta-potty while on acid.
Thanks for making me laugh!
WHO’S DRIVING TWITTER’S POPULARITY? Not teenagers. “Just 11 percent of its users are aged 12 to 17, according to comScore. Instead, Twitter’s unparalleled explosion in popularity has been driven by a decidedly older group. That success has shattered a widely held belief that young people lead the way to popularizing innovations.”