Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior is a big advocate of Twitter. During keynote addresses at major trade conferences, she’s hailed its utility as a way to share ideas globally, and almost instantaneously.
She’s not alone — millions of people Tweet using Twitter, including many of us here at Network World. Now comes the disturbing revelation that Twitter may be damaging our brains.
Self-described social media “expert” and author David Seaman issued a press release this week that claims Twitter causes “serious brain damage.” Twitter’s 140 character limit boils down complex ideas into “overly simplistic soundbites” that Seaman finds annoying, according to the release:
“Basically, Twitter has some good uses, but it’s making us all a bitstupider.”
This user might concur.
Um, maybe use Twitter for something else other than complex ideas? Maybe those are best left to conferences or meetings, be they real-time or virtual? Maybe use Twitter for little 140-character updates on where you can find longer, more detailed and descriptive prose on those ideas? Or use it for indicating where you are or what you’re thinking? What flowers or birds or bunnies you’ve seen today while out for a social media sanity walk?
Seaman also notes that Twitter is making all of us a little more immature too, to the point of sickness:
“We’re seeing thirty and forty year olds acting like overly emotionalteenagers on Twitter,” Seaman said. “It’s not all that healthy.”
Perhaps he’s been reading Warrior’s Tweets.
Or maybe she’s using it as it was intended — to inject some levity into our dull, overworked and un-fun lives. Sure, you can share soundbites on ideas and provide indicators on where to look for more detailed information on those ideas; but anyone trying to use it for anything other than “stupider” soundbites is missing its purpose.
Right, David?
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