Exploring Twitter

Twitter has taken the world by storm. It's a great way to say exactly what you want in 140 characters or less. There are so many interesting people on Twitter. Some want to share links to grand discoveries and breaking news, others want to share their disdain at the lady in front of them at the checkout line because they're paying with a check. We are all connected on Twitter. We want to hear what others have to say and we want to share our thoughts with others.

I followed a few tweeters that seemed interesting. @JoeRogan tweeted an article by comedian @JimNorton in regards to public figures apologizing for saying something they really meant. It seems that as of late, you can't really state your unpopular opinion without being placed in a box labeled "destroy contents". Comedians seem to be the last to apologize for saying something that goes against the grain. You know the apologies, a public figure says something that is taken out of context and it goes viral. The audience then crucifies the offender and demands an apology, which the offender will usually give to quell the masses. Jim Norton perfectly summarized this phenomenon: For a country that claims to want an open dialogue, and to treasure free speech, we sure seem to enjoy mob justice against people who give an opinion contrary to the one we are comfortable hearing.

@ForbesTech tweeted an article about Smartphone Loss Anxiety, the anxiety you get when you phone goes missing. It explains that our smartphones are Life Interface Devices and because we use them to store important information, losing them could place them in the hands of a third party who will have access to everything in it. Imagine if it were your work phone. Losing a work phone could potentially have non-public information in it and could have grave consequences for your employer. That kind of information we entrust in our smartphones is why we get anxiety when we don't have it on us. It's probably why I will turn around and go back home if I forget it there, without thinking twice about it.

One of the coolest things I like about Twitter is the photography. Since we are all connected, we can communicate and observe different people and cultures. @Big_Picture has some interesting photos and I learned about a festival in Bunol, Spain called La Tomatina in this article they posted. The festival evolved from a parade dispute in which people used tomatoes as weapons to defend themselves. The various photos depict scenes from the festival and everything, from the people to the streets, is covered in scarlet red tomato paste. Before this tweet, I didn't know this festival existed which is why Twitter is so amazing: it shows us parts of the world that may not be interesting for cable news, but is interesting to me.