Twitter is (Potentially) Where People Talk to Each Other

I'm old enough to remember the days when wanting to socialize with people you had to...go somewhere. In person. Picture it, Sarasota, 1997. In High School I had many acquaintences but only a few true friends I spent time with outside of class. Worse, even those friends were on-campus friends: if we didn't see each other at a club meeting or school event, most likely I wasn't there. My parents were both hard-working and I went to a magnet school 15 miles from home. Getting me to extra places other than school was a stretch for them. So when a friend of mine invited me to the school gym after school, I mostly said yes because I could connect with them for longer periods of time. And I was fat and didn't want to be anymore. I have been obese since the age of six...but that's for another post. We didn't know a whole lot about weight training, cardio, or anything to really make a change to our bodies back then. But we bonded. One of the students I worked out with and I stayed friends. Neither of us were consistent with our training, but we don't give up. On our health or our friendship. Now, Web 2.0 is our reality and I spend way more time on my phone than with other people. Heck, when I'm with other people, I have to interact with my devices in some capacity: to remember where I was going, what I wanted to discuss, what I can eat when I get there (trying to improve the health thing). I'm conscious of it: I try to turn my screens over at the meal tables and mute my devices for quiet and important encounters. Yet, in the idle time, the hands do their work...socializing on Twitter. Twitter for me is the most desireable of the social media platforms because it combines the shared virtual experience with fierce curation. For nearly every major event for the last eight years, I check Twitter after the news comes to my attention to react and find out the behind-the-scenes information. Users can use the trending page and hashtags to see, comment, and immerse as they wish. Just follow a few popular verified people and you'll see opinions of the hot topics of the day. Yet, I don't see what I don't want to see. I only follow accounts I care to see. Even when Twitter suggests other accounts or brings them somewhat forcefully to my feed, I use the tools to say "no, thank you" and keep the experience the way I want it. Better than that, I use Twitter to enhance my IRL conversations. Especially if I'm disputedly too old to comment on something popular, I use my Twitter cred to find out and form an opinion quickly. I say to people in person "I saw on Twitter" as often as I say "I saw on TV" or referencing another live conversation. For me and many others, Twitter is the water cooler, the rumor mill...and the Sunday paper. Where people gathered in person to hear and be heard back when I was growing up...those spots have been bested by social media platforms like Twitter. Neither Facebook or Instagram quite give the same level of interactivity. Facebook was the predecessor but I blame the constant changes to formats and algorithms that break up the flow of conversation. Instagram is so visually focused I find myself just moving images around and the commentary within is about what where the eyeballs are today. Twitter is where the words and pictures and videos and games can live and die. When our elders lament that people don't talk to each other...I make a noise. And check my tweets.