Twitter and Facebook bring to mind the extensive, style-obsessed correspondence of the Roman Senators in the years leading up to 476, when the western Roman Empire collapsed.
Perhaps we're climbing out of a recession, perhaps not, but who cares? If you can be on twitter, you can follow this celeb, or that non-celeb as they do their not so interesting things. And they can't be interesting, because there's not enough characters allotted for anything but the bare minimum, like I went to the museum and saw Degas. Yes, and? Or, so what?
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And the 25 things about myself that facebook asks? The inanity of these "things" is truly incredible. Is this what technology will make of succeeding generations: boundless inanity, superficiality, and maybe, good on-the-scene reporting of the apocalypse? (The Mumbai bombings were reported on twitter, apparently in real time.)
I wouldn't want everyone to know 25 inane things about me; I wouldn't want them to know any 25 things about me: maybe two or three if I knew them, but for people I've never laid eyes on? Why? Because they've posted pictures of themselves, and I'm supposed to post pictures likewise? Everyone wants to become a celebrity despite having nothing to offer. It's true that most celebrities have nothing to offer, either.
What has become of personal relations? How many hours do bored office workers flip to their facebook, or twitter to their followers? Must make them real productive.
Do you know more about the world from Twitter? Do you know more about yourself? Does it help you to do anything better? Does it lead you to profound questions about life and the universe? Does it even entertain?
My impression, from looking at an admittedly small sample of
twitter
people, is that there is, to quote a former President, no there there. Is this what affluence engenders? Maybe our society and economy should collapse. Of what value will it have if it continues developing more vapidity via emerging technologies that will reduce us all to grunts by way of expression? I've noted that people increasingly "write" with videos, even if they read something prepared--which is doubly deadly. More commonly, they just spout, unscripted. Why is it so fascinating to see a guy or girl standing or sitting in front of a video cam and sounding off? Most don't even display much expression, or personality.
Apparently, in China, the single child generation interacts through computer games in which they take on (and pay for) different personae, like a plain girl becomes a bombshell, wearing a revealing dress she'd never think of wearing in real life. And this becomes a new business model: how to make money on the web itself; you "buy" the dress and the jewelry. You can be sure we'll see more of this.
Maybe it would be better if we just pulled the plug!
Maybe we are, anyway.
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If the Obama recovery just recreates the recent past, with slightly more regulated behemoth corporations and slightly fairer distribution of income, and token gestures towards slowing climate change, then we might as well hang it up. Too little might as well be nothing at all. Climate change and another financial collapse will do us in.
We can twitter about the downfall of western civilization. Actually, in my study of fifth century Roman society, what was dramatically obvious in the literary exchanges between the educated, was that they had no idea that the end of their civilization was happening before their very eyes. The only ones who did, apparently, were some of the religious figures yelling doom from the rooftops; but then they'd been yelling doom for centuries.
It's likely that the twitterers will keep on, oblivious, until the power turns off. Then what will they do?
I don't think I'd like it, either, if we didn't have power, but mostly because I'd have to carry water from a stream; I'd still be able to write--by hand. I'd have to improve my handwriting, but that wouldn't be such a bad thing. But no one would be able to read. It looks like we're headed in that direction anyway; where's that video cam?
I suppose that facebook and twitter fulfill the need of humans to express themselves, but somehow both medium and source (their platforms, and the participants as people) conspire to eliminate any quirkiness--except for quirkiness posed-- and erase any real originality, thoughtfulness or love; contributions are all compressed to predigested bite sizes. Samples: "One of my favorite songs of all time is the jazz song “Lullaby of Birdland” and I’m still waiting to go to the namesake jazz bar in NYC." "I am addicted to the ass-slap dance move. Sometimes I don't even notice I'm doing it." "I’m sometimes intimidated by girls with fab manicured nails and slightly put off by guys that get mani’s."
At least Senators like Sidonius in their final hurrah pretended to have some style! They had little else, but twitterers don't even have that.
