For the second time in weeks I am fascinated about the use of Twitter to spread news and information. First Twitter was credited in the Fort Hood shootings to help spread news, and alert the media to events unfolding in that dreadful happening. This weekend in Washington State where four police officers were slain news and updates were again disseminated by Twitter. As a source for more ‘on location’ news accounts I think Twitter has a credible purpose.
For the record I do not Twitter, do not text, have a cell phone only for long road trips and emergencies, and all landline callers to our home are ushered to an answering machine so we do not have to even hear a ringing phone….ever. We check the messages a few times a day, and the world has never stopped rotating as a result. Clearly James and I do not think keeping constantly ‘in touch’ with others is a desire or a priority. As we spend much of our day together it is true that we do not need to call or text one another to get updates on this or that. But even if that were not the case I could not fathom the following taking place.
On Saturday I saw a young man sitting in the aisle of a store with a cell phone trying to determine with his better half what headache medication to purchase. For Pete’s Sake….just make a decision! What did his dad do in a similar situation 30 years ago?
Perhaps my fascination with Twitter and texting as of late is that I wish to better understand the need people have for constant updates, calls, and texts. If they really wanted human contact why is it then that during so many lunches out and about, or other events I see people in groups where human contact is already established break away to call or text? Apart from the fact I think it is rude to exclude the people you are with to make new electronic contacts, I also just find it is perplexing.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 