Twitter

As if I needed another social media niche to deposit my energies and time. (Follow me on Twitter if you're my real friend! - Jokes.)

The truth is, I don't need it. None of us need it but since many social media platforms have begun to emerge, the space has been created! Now that we have that space it's hard to imagine a time and a place when we didn't have it. We're becoming increasingly independent with our communication and isolated from other people through these avenues. Isn't that one of the many paradoxes of life? The more we try to network, the more isolated it can be/feel. Who hasn't felt some twinge of jealousy surfing friends' Facebook photos and have entertained the thought that your life isn't as exciting? This is just a small example of the isolation that can occur within social media. We're connected in cyberspace but real-life connections seem almost obsolete. I do crave the real-life and physical presence of good people in my life even if it's short and rare. We need it.

Then there's Twitter. Unlike Facebook, Twitter provides me the disillusionment that I am friends/close acquaintances with famous people. I follow them and can reply to their Tweets and Tweet about them and maybe, who knows..., they'll Retweet my Tweets! I actually enjoy Twitter (Twitter-pated) much to my better judgment that my time can be better used chasing other pursuits (fine-tuning my violin skills, writing a novel, volunteering, etc. - I could do both though, right?)

The fact is, I like communicating and the new way that this generation communicates. I feel nostalgic for the days when the family phone rang and we didn't know who it was and I would dreamed that it was my school crush Nathan on the other side. I miss the days when lying about a phone call could guarantee me the best seat in front of the TV. I miss the days of getting letters in the mail with hand written notes and real photographs. Yes, the communication was less convenient and slower but it got the job done. I like the new way we communicate now. I like them both and yes there are advantages and disadvantages in both, too.

The advantages of communication now is that I feel as though our voices have a larger stage from which to present. Our influence can reach a wider audience and in turn we can be similarly influenced. There are so many ways in which to present, too. Youtube has provided me hours of entertainment. Lately it has become popular to have a Youtube video where you communicate via notecards and facial expressions with background music; thus, providing a 'voice' for painful truths too difficult to say out loud. There are some powerful videos like that out there.

I'm impressed with humankind and our ability to find ways to communicate. Yes, I could use my energies elsewhere instead of all the social media alcoves. And, they don't need to be isolating if we can do it right. It's not necessarily necessary :) But, it's another way to speak and hear voices, my own and others. And that my friends is what tightens bonds, deepens relationships, encourages positivity, inspires change and probably a bunch of other good stuff.