Tweeting about Twitter

So I have succumbed to the latest social networking fad, Twitter. If I collated the amount of identities I have established on the web, and received a dollar for each, I think I’d have enough money to buy the Korg M50 I have been wanting since last year.

Anyway, now that I can also be found on Twitter, I begin to wonder about the fascination (mine in particular), with personal-profile building online through social media. I find that while I’m encouraged by such software to be quite free in the presentation of myself, many factors make me think twice about how I am, in a way, ‘marketed.’

One’s profile on any of these sites, Facebook, MySpace and the in-question, Twitter, is very much an advertisement of a brand, one that doesn’t seek for money, but rather for popularity. Yes (since the advent of online technology), there’s already been discussion about how social networking enables those normally isolated in society to feel a part of something, but it’s still interesting to consider how garnering an interest in your persona through social media contributes to one’s perspective on self-worth.

I reflected on this during my first year on Facebook when I barely had fifty friends and pitied myself while my networks built on their hundreds. I later found sense in the meaningless of a number, as such a count could not possibly justify a person’s value in life. But as we all are, at some point, vain beings, we cannot help taking advantage of social media to propel our identities into stardom by developing our profiles to be as unique, interesting and marketable as possible. Twitter just helps us do that even more effectively with less words.

I finally jumped on the bandwagon after some consideration and am intrigued by the new prospects it offers for social networking. Short bites of information, as the web-savvy have become accustomed to, enable us to stay informed quickly and easily (indeed, about what others are doing- which could be a little voyeuristic) about an array of different topics, from trivial things like what a friend is eating to an important newsworthy issue. This of course, all depends on who you follow.

The following feature on Twitter is a very biblical idea- shepherds and their sheep- and I am a little lamb. I am excited to learn from the people I have chosen and will choose to follow. I hope to soon be somewhat follow-able too.