When Twittering Gets in the Way of Real Life - WSJ.com
After all, Twitter is probably made having just one person in mind, and takes away from real life interaction in favor of online interaction. I would wholeheartedly sing the praise of twitter all the time if it wouldn’t make you dissociate from your physical surroundings like it does.
I don’t have a smart idea to improve that. Hopefully, at some point others will.
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Article except:
“That was a really cool group,” Joe said to me. “How do you know them?” “Twitter,” I answered. Back home last Friday night, I powered down the iPhone, got the kids to bed, and Joe and I talked, undistracted. “I think it was good for me to see in Austin that there are real people you’re talking to online,” Joe said. “It made it seem like it’s less of a silly time -suck than I’ve assumed it to be.”
But, he added, “the problem is, if you were talking on the phone to these people, at least I’d hear one side of the conversation. When you talk to people online, you disappear into the computer.”
Good point, I thought. When I was growing up, my mom talked on the phone to her friends, Carol, Linda and Nanci. They called and when I answered, I spoke to them too, responding to their questions about school and softball. I heard Mom talking to them endlessly about who was playing golf with whom and who was up for a power walk. Those friendships echoed from the kitchen; they were a part of the family fabric.
Mine are private.
