Nov 30th, 2009
Twitterpated
First of all, I confess that I don’t go in for Twitter. I’m way behind John McCain on that one. I just don’t feel the need to send off a comment about my breakfast (granola and copious cups of coffee, if you must know) or the dust bunnies under my desk (dog hair, actually). Brian, on the other hand, twitters constantly. Nothing’s sacred, though usually it’s comments about music or work or the dogs. Hopefully not too much in the way of personal stuff about me (gasp!).
I’m more of a Facebooker. I like the give and take of posting to people I actually know and getting feedback. Like the day I noticed there is a variation on raindrops on weather.com. Your basic rainy day rates six drops; a gullywasher, a couple more. We take our rain seriously here; so any time someone else does too, even if it’s only a rain graphic, it’s cause for an appreciative nod. When I noted that on my status, I got some almost instant comments from fellow Northwesterners — a couple of Washingtonians, an Idahoan, an Oregonian, even a Californian.
So, regarding the people who partake in Twitter, here’s my question: What do you call them? As an editor, I need to know this. Those of you out there who do imbibe, so to speak, let me know. I’ll fire off a reply to ex-AP Editor Norm Goldstein who writes for Copyediting magazine and who wrote on the subject recently, sharing my burning question. He’s probably a Luddite like me, so I’ll use old-fashioned email.
I should point out that the question Twitter asks has changed from “What are you doing?” to “What’s happening?” This illustrates how Twitter has evolved from simply tracking personal info to a broader role as a source of timely information and commentary. In that sense, Norm Goldstein should be embracing Twitter. Thus, the appropriate thing to call people who use Twitter is connected, well-informed and even smart.
c.w-i.e.s. — that’s not even a good acronym. And it begs the question: if you’re spending so much time connecting, when do you work?
Thus, the appropriate thing to call people who use Twitter is connected, well-informed and even smart.