To begin, all Twitter users know the difficulty in converting others. We usually get interrupted by the inevitable question, "But, why would I want to do that?" Our response is often an ineffectual, "No, but it's fun." Not a ringing endorsement. What I mean to tell others is that it's not about what you had for breakfast (well, sometimes) or keeping to the 140 character limit. It's about developing a group of friends or connections who happen to--usually--share interests and opinions.
One trait I think most twitterers share is curiosity. Curiosity about the arts, the news, the world at large. Other cultures, other ways of thinking. Twitter is a natural magnet for those people. In the same way that those with a more parochial outlook may truly find the social network useless.
Sometimes, a friend will ask, "So, who's in your followers and following lists?" I'm never sure where to begin or where to end. I think I have the most eclectic and fascinating group of people in the twitter universe. But, I always hesitate before replying because I'm well aware that I could sound delusional. "Let's see, " I might begin, "along with friends I hang out with here--one very cool friend in particular, there's a really talented, crazy-busy film editor in New York City, a notably impressive photographer, a wonderful Apple expert, a Venezuelan rocker, a gourmet Libertarian, a composer who always makes me laugh, several solid filmmakers and writers (talk about crazy-busy!) --including one who's got a lovely French film project in the works, an encouraging fellow writer in Chicago, a whole TRIBE of terrific geek friends, an outstanding-in-many-ways artist at The Ranch, impressive English writers, two great people in Australia, a creative woman in Michigan who shares my insomnia and humor, ..." as they glaze over, I may add, "Oh, and an astronaut." It all sounds just a bit deranged.
The next question is even harder. "But, are they friends?" Hmm. On one hand, that would be dependent on the way each individual would answer the same question. Yet, we check in whenever we have the time, often throughout the day. We share joy, dismay, anger, humor, and elation. Often, when everyone else is fast asleep, we're at our keyboards, wondering why we're so sleep deprived. We encourage each other, we challenge each other.
I'm really not sure what else would be needed to define "friend".
Posts
