My wife and I are in the midst of an interesting low-burn argument. She claims I am addicted to Twitter. I claim she is addicted to the Facebook app Scrabulous.
By any definition of addiction (compelled to do it, gets in the way of other things, harmful behavior) we're both right.
The interesting part, I think, is that it subtly defines different meanings of "connecting". I'm not a very social person at heart, the idea of playing games online bugs me out a little (too intimate). For me, sending 140 characters to a bunch of people is extremely social and is about perfect for how I want to interact with my social graph (new coinage: social peeps).
For my wife, a person who enjoys human company, Facebook gives her the opportunity to play a game she loves with people she knows. Cool for her. Not something I'd ever do.
the wife speaks:
so, right now i am "addicted" to scrabulous. since i don't have the time in my life for playing actual games of scrabble, scrabulous lets me get my word on. it is not harmful, nor does it get in the way of anything. i'm naturally competitive, and if i have a game going, yes, i will log on a few times a day to see if my opponent has made a move. i will also log on to certain blogs a few times a day. and send email or im a few times a day. i don't really see a difference. am i connecting? who knows. i'm playing with friends i don't get to socialize with much any longer. i would never "play games online" with strangers. that creeps me out too.
also, when i'm not home and near my computer, i do not think about playing scrabulous. that's more than i can say about you, mister twitter fingers. i do not have a problem with twitter in general. but instead of living your life and twittering here and there as an afterthought, you have started living to twitter. you need twitterehab. (yes, yes, yes.) why? it is not normal behavior for a 37 year old man to grab his blackberry and type 140 characters to his "social graph" every time he farts. this is not extremely social. it is extremely annoying. you saw a hawk eating a squirrel in washington square park. great! share. you just ate a sandwich. who cares? if i were 19 again i might see the appeal of "connecting" by having all of my friends know my every move, but come on. grownups have private lives. twitter is networking for narcissists.
Posted by: Dorie on December 11, 2007 9:58 PM
"Mister Twitter Fingers" !!
BURN!
Posted by: ANP on December 29, 2007 1:33 AM
This is Ari Paparo's blog. It generally concerns itself with Internet product development and marketing. 