“Get Your Twitter Out of My Face”[1]:

An examination of the online status-update phenomenon

 “Lacy is feeling blue,” “Marvin is at the airport,” “Jen wonders where her left shoe is.”  It’s happening on Facebook and on blogs all across the ‘net: the online status update.  But what motivates people to post their moment-to-moment thoughts and feelings?  And what makes these seemingly inconsequential updates so interesting to read?  Let’s face it, the online status update is remarkably popular, both to the posters and to the readers.  In fact, it’s become so popular as to warrant its own website: Twitter.

 Twitter is a social networking site with a purpose similar to that of Facebook: to keep people connected.  However, unlike Facebook, Twitter doesn’t bother with complex profiles and add-on applications; Twitter has one primary function – to provide a forum for continual status updates.  On Twitter, you can update your status as often as you like, and you can set your account to be visible publicly, or only to those you choose to add.  Through Twitter, you can network with friends and family and stay informed as to what every person is doing at every moment.

It’s undeniable that having such direct, immediate access to the events in loved ones’ lives provides a sense of connectedness; it bridges the gap of time and distance, making it feel as though everyday occurrences are shared experiences. 

This sense of interconnectedness is one of the marvels and great benefits of today’s internet-dependent society.  I am astonished by the ability this technology has to bring families and friends closer together – that is, until I realize that before Twitter and Facebook, I may have actually just picked up the phone and called the person.  While I believe online networking sites like Facebook and Twitter do have great benefit, especially to those with hectic schedules, there still is something lacking in replacing a phone call or conversation with a maximum-140-character status update.

However, my main concern lies in the underlying principles the online status updates of sites like Twitter seem to be communicating.  Twitter includes a “Find and Follow” feature which allows members to look up other people and add them to a “follow” list.  While there are safety features, including the ability to block unwanted followers, I can’t help but be startled by the whole vernacular of the thing.  It’s a bit of a “creepy” factor:  the very language used in “find and follow” evokes the idea of stalking, and brings to my mind images of shadowy figures with cell phones following behind me down the street, tracking my every move as I post updates on where I’ve been and what I’m doing. 

I realize this is an exaggeration.  Most people, at least any with sense, would not post every move they make at any given moment.  But that brings me to my next question, which is: What do people use Twitter for?

Unlike the picture I’ve painted above, people don’t really use updates for moment-to-moment occurrences.  Rather, they pick and choose events from their lives, carefully selecting which to post about so as to portray a particular image.  “I just saw an SUV get hit by an umbrella” makes a person’s life seem much more interesting than “I just ate a bowl of cereal.”

One of my professors recently suggested having our entire graduate class register with Twitter and post hourly updates, describing exactly what we are doing every hour, on the hour.  Though I felt it would be a fascinating experiment, I can’t deny that the thought of sharing my hourly activities with a group of strangers made me anxious.  Yet I willingly post status updates on Facebook regularly.  What’s the difference? The difference is the freedom of selective self-depiction: I am free to choose when and what I post.  I am free to use my status updates to construct an online persona, filtering my everyday experience and presenting only what I choose to display to others.

This is part of what makes status updates on sites like Twitter and Facebook so popular: the fascination of creating a tailor-made version of yourself for others to behold, and then viewing the depiction others choose to present of themselves.

This brings up another question: Why do we feel compelled to present our daily events in the first place?  This question evokes the entire issue of blogging, of why people feel compelled to publicly post what used to be considered the private and personal.  I believe it all relates back to a desire for interconnectedness, to share our lives with others and to have others share their lives with us, to feel as though our lives are interesting and significant and worth others’ attention, be that friends, family, or even strangers.

One last thing: in our world of wireless technology, the Twitter phenomenon is nothing new.  The public announcement of daily events to present a particular self-image has been going on for years with the help of cell phones.  Apparently, many people fake cell phone calls to draw attention to themselves and appear more popular or busy.  An April 2005 CBS News article states that many cell phone “yakkers” are, indeed, faking it.[2]  A New York Times article from that same month declares that one-fourth of a Rutgers University class admitted to faking cell phone calls when out in public.[3]  Wikihow.com even suggests that fakers have a “clever quip prepared” for when a person passes by to overhear the conversation[4]. 

It seems the Twitter phenomenon is old news: for years, people have been employing whatever technology was available in order to create a more favorable public image, proclaiming carefully chosen statements, and throwing their “Twitter” in others’ faces; the only difference is that now it’s done online, to a much wider public.  (And unlike an annoying cell-phone talker we might be stuck in an elevator with, online updates allow us to pick and choose whose updates we “follow.”)

The next time you see a status update online (or post one yourself), pause and ask: What image is being conveyed here?  Why this update, and why now?  I think there is a fascinating amount of information to be gleaned from an examination of what we post, when we post, and why.

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