I have never met Biz Stone, Rachel Sklar, Susan Orlean or Jay Rosen, but every morning when I sign onto Twitter, there they are, whispering in my ear with a disconcerting intimacy, telling me about their lives, what they are concerned with moment to moment, their fears and desires. I would have to say that I’m getting to know them on a daily basis, better perhaps than my own husband. Recently when Susan, a New Yorker writer, complained about the humiliations of acquiring blurbs for her new book, I could feel her pain. And when Jay, an NYU journalism professor, and Richard Nash, the former Soft Skull Editor, worried over the future of publishing, I hung on their every word, and chased down their bit.ly and TinyURL links and retweets.
When I compare this Twitter feed to the stream from my real life, I wonder if I would even want this sort of continuous consciousness-updating from my family and friends, say from my husband, for example, who at the moment is worried mainly about his aging parents and making a living in a down economy. The Top Twitterers, though, they are concerned with things much more interesting and current. Recently, when former Huff Po editor and media diva Rachel Sklar was flitting about the social scene, I followed along. And when actor/writer/director Kevin Smith went to that film festival—to say nothing of his smutty posts about sex with his wife—well, I wish I could say that I looked away. I didn’t.
The truth is, I get far too much vicarious pleasure out of tagging along with this crowd of thought leaders and media and tech celebrities, and it feels highly voyeuristic to me. But I refuse to shut it off, perish the thought. Why? Because I am the sort of writer who usually works in more than 140 characters. I am busy churning out two to three essays or long-form blog posts a week, as well as penning assorted poems and stories, and usually maintaining some kind of longer work in progress.
Article comments
1 - Jessica
I think the voyeurism frame is more titillating than the actual experience of Twitter. For one thing, very few people actually share anything truly personal about their lives. The suggestion that everybody on Twitter is posting about their eating habits or when they do their laundry is a frame invented by the media. Jay Rosen called the opposite of this "mind casting" - the sharing of resources, questions or other intelligent commentary not related to one's activities or personal life. It's the type of Twittering I do and it's the type of Twittering 90 per cent of my educator friends engage in. With some exceptions there are some personal tweets (particularly on the weekend). But do I feel I'm peeking into anyone's life - in any intimate way - not really. Do I feel I know these people better than I know my spouse? Thankfully not.
The article I'd like to see somebody in the mainstream media write is about just how LITTLE anybody is sharing of any really personal import. Nobody tweets, "my life is a disaster. I feel like such a failure" or "my financial situation is perilous. I don't know how we're going to pay the bills" or "my brother's life choices really concern me." Nobody talks about their real troubles, worries or fears in these services and yet we're in a recession. I know people in real life who are losing their jobs. And yet, if you check twitter, people are tweeting about their new iphone app or where they flying on vacation (the most personal thing I've seen) or some other material index of success.
If anything, people are using Twitter to project ideal images of themselves and their lives that are consistent with a public image of success. These aren't safe or truly private spaces so why on earth would anybody share anything truly personal and risk losing their job, their friends, their security or create conflict in their relationships. Few people are so stupid. Is that a bad thing? No. We need, more than ever before, a sense of control over our lives. And as much as we may well be "sharing" on these services, much of it is a carefully constructed fiction designed more than anything to help us establish the ideal self that we need others (even ourselves) to believe in. And there are very few exceptions.
2 - Kimberly Davis
Jessica: Thanks for your long and thoughtful comment. Leaving aside exhibitionists like Kevin Smith, I still think people who are asked to update minute to minute often give away far more than they think about their worries and concerns. Hence the voyeuristic element. But I love your argument about the self as a construct. That is so true, isn't it? It's something you often see in "persona" poetry. But these days everyone has an online persona that they are trying to project, and in many cases it borders on fiction. Kimberly Davis (author)
3 - Wayne
Very nice article.
Here's my latest Twitter web comic.
4 - KELLI2L
Has anyone other than me, actually realized or care that the folks behind Twitter are actually tracking YOU.
5 - Jet
It would appear to me as if Twitter is for those who have tons of time on their hands and not really worth bothering with... unless you're really bored with your life.
Or am I missing something?
6 - Sofia Bustamante
Hi Kimberley
Loved this post. I also have days when I don't get out of my nightie :-)and despite my deadlines log into twitter. Can feel like a vortex that pulls me more forcefully the closer I get. I tweeted once that that after a couple of days away from twitter, reading the stream of eclectic tweets :-) is like a brain massage.. i literally feel stimulated in different parts of my brain.
and actually for this reason i do like the presence of non-nerds because the contrast itself provides a more interesting one (massage)
Jessica: I do agree with you in the point you make about sharing the not-so-welcome-self. I am in the middle of writing about my own failures and reflect actually how hard it is. The notion of the safe space.
I have actually just written about Paolo Coelho's post "in search of the perfect leader" which discusses how we don't allow our leaders to make human mistakes.
Seems like it is one big collusion to only show the shiny self.
thanks for thought-provoking writing from both of you.
Sofia
7 - Tan The Man
Now that Oprah's on board, I think Twitter will be less cool -- not less used -- and more trendy...
8 - writerkols
Kim, thanks for such a great article.When you think clearly, Twitter is indeed the new voyeurs' platform and unconsciously, we do reveal things that we may not normally reveal to even family and friends. Moreover, it robs us of our time and in the long run, it almost becomes an addiction.