Posted by
Bill Crawford on Monday, June 22, 2009 8:33:17 PM
I was introduced to Twitter last year. Being the technophobe that I am when I have the chance, I checked it out.
It is an interesting medium, with a palliative softness to it that allows it to translate simultaneously into many media. You can blog and, if you have "followers", they can track you on I.M., blogs, cell phones, etc.
While this has possibilities, I am not a casual communicator. Far be it for me to pose "are you there?" starting with "RU", which, while a time saver, takes the magic away from the written word and turns it into a cross between a new level of Halo II and an alarm clock. Not for me, I said. This was cemented into conviction when I learned of the millions following the likes of Anton Kuschner babbling on about choosing boxers or briefs for the day.
Historical interlude: long before it became the joke it is now, even the naysayers who were convinced that the UN would go the way of the League Of Nations when the new body got it's start in 1945 had to admit that it's time had come during the Cuban missile crisis.
Well, Twitter's time has come, and the youth of Iran are the ones bringing it. It's flexibility is posing a nightmare for the Mullah's I.T. people to keep up with and step on. The ruling clerics there are learning the hard way that controlling communication in the modern world can be a Hobbsean task.