Twitter ... seriously.

What exactly is happening here?

Do people actually want to know - or want others to know - where they are at any given time? "Answer on your phone, IM, or right here on the web!" What does this mean in relation to what we already know about social networking and the importance of physical proximity in human relationships? (I wonder if this will also justify the use of GPS tracking devices in consumer mobile phones.)

So, then, in answer to this simple question, "What are you doing"?, let's see what some people are doing as of 14.36 BST:


dsanchezbote Preparando el abstract para mandar al congreso de Moodle less than 5 seconds ago from web. (Thank you to this user for introducing me to Moodle)

sooyin Watching Heroes. Advert break! less than 5 seconds ago from web

yubbie Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, wonder where the birdies is? And my as is stuck inside. less than 5 seconds ago from im

bartknows The Twitter following feature is another channel of passive rejection. less than 10 seconds ago from web

pmuellr @sogrady Say hey to my boss-man, Paul Buck less than 10 seconds ago from web in reply to sogrady

RiesMeister Wants his windows fixed. Not the glass ones though... less than 10 seconds ago from web

tomharpel Seeing about flying home on Friday instead of Sunday. less than 10 seconds ago from web

aingeru Lanean berriz bazkaritik etorri ostean. less than 10 seconds ago from web

I don't really know what to conclude from this. Most posts are clearly more mundane than profound, but not in all cases. Can this be considered a form of socializing? There are links to friends and follow-ups, but it seems that a site like this takes more dedication than, say, Myspace. It's a bit like blogging in snippets. Still, Twitter does seem to be an appropriate name for it. I'm consistently impressed with the ever-increasing selection of social networking sites emerging daily. It seems clearer and clearer to me that trying to grasp the many varied ways in which Internet and mobile technologies are being used today is a daunting task - one which can have no end ... which is good. Isn't it?



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