Tuesday, April 7, 2009

relationships, tricky

Okay, so in the two years I've been on Twitter, I've experienced more relationship fluctuation (read: 'followers' and 'qwitters') than the whole course of my Twitterless life.

Normally, the loss of a friend is followed by some period of emotional mourning:
Why? Please, let me make it up to you!
or an anger-infused binge of self-justification:
I'm better off without that pebble-chucking misanthrope anyhow!
But with Twitter, the celerity in which I've seen followers come and go leaves no time for reflection. And I have no desire to find out why people 'qwit', and even less need to mend any severed connections.

I guess that's the real power of Twitter.

2 comments:

Damian said...

People come and go for any number of reasons; sometimes, they even come back (I've been followed, unfollowed, refollowed, reunfollowed, rerefollowed, etc. by a few people). What gets me is the response some people have to it, either online (snarky or inquisitive @replies) or in person (see David Jakes' Tragedy of the Commons post).

I can't tell from your post if you're OK with or bemoaning the fact that you don't care to reflect on what causes one to follow or unfollow. Personally, I think that if a few people unfollowing me on Twitter is the worst thing that happens all day, I'm doing all right. The only circumstance under which I might reflect is if I was unfollowed by someone with whom I have or have developed a personal relationship beyond basic Twitter pleasantries or info sharing.

Investment in a networking tool is OK, and I think desirable, to an extent, but some people do take it to extremes.

Ken Rodoff said...

Far be it from me to compose a post that is unclear!

I'm in complete agreement with you that the connections that matter most are those that have, wherever they began, extended into another avenue of my life.

For example, meeting up with someone I've met 'online' at, oh...say, an indoor moon bounce facility.

I just find myself wondering if "that tweet" offended people. Or if that "other tweet" seemed too shallow to some.

At least with talking, you see reactions.

I think I miss reactions.