My Thoughts on Written Communication and Why Twitter is Pointless

[Wolframium]

OK, here is the thing. Besides my irrational dislike for twitter, there is a good reason why not to use it. 140 characters. Yeah, that’s right. That’s all that you get. How are you supposed to communicate nuanced position? How can you go deep? Here is the thing, this age is rushed. Everyone is in hurry to go somewhere. Or so I’ve heard. So people don’t give much time to anything. And here we have it, short attention span. And then here comes twitter, ideal for that, right? Yeah. But…

Written communication is the most frequent communication on the internetz, which we all love (if you don’t…why are you here?). But human communication is about much more. Tone and volume of your voice might indicate sarcasm, irony, normal, conversational voice, or something else. And there are facial expressions as well. I’m a guy with AS, poor communication skills, so I’m writing this from a unique perspective. But I know one thing, the more information you have, the better. Ideal? All of them. Every position of every insignificant particle in every moment in time. As I said, ideally.

Now, written communication can introduce many misunderstandings. I’ve experienced my fair share of it. With some people, you just cannot talk online. In real life, it’s fine. So we already have limited means of communication, and now we limit the length? Oh, boy. Recipe for…misunderstanding and conflict, which are easily preventable and pointless. And yeah, you get twitter, for whatever reason, a relevant site. Right, many people with short attention span, I forget.

In every conversation it is important to remember this: You have some concept in your head, some thought. If our species would be more technologically advanced, that would be the thing which you’d transfer to whoever you are talking to. But…sadly…we care about money. Not advancing as a species. Sad (to put it in Trump words). Now, this idea of yours needs to be put in words. So…you do that. And…you know how some things in your head sounds way better than when you actually say them (or am I the only one?)? Yeah, this happens. So you speak your mind. Cool. Tone of your voice, body language and everything goes with it. Now, the other person is in certain mood, has a certain personality and experience, he hears you, his/her (SJWs are triggered right now, I can imagine) mind processes that into thought. Exchange is complete.

There are many steps and in each of them there can be little errors. Mostly insignificant, since we still have civilization. But they happened. Aka. I’ve meant A, but you think I’ve meant B. Now, strip down the transferring process to text only. That’s a pretty huge blow. Tone of voice is important. We should have something like HTML tags for that, or something, I don't know. Now, this extremely limited communication channel is limited to 140 characters. Do you see now why I dislike the very concept of twitter?

But it’s not only about that site, it’s about communication in general. Because you also can be like me. Deadly honest, direct, communicating like computers, only with substance so you cannot small talk. Your brain just isn’t wired that way. And you say something which is an obvious joke to you, but someone doesn’t see it that way and suddenly you are the new Mao Zedong. And…since the other side is usually locked in anger, you cannot explain yourself.

[Dan_Mike]

I agree, that's a VERY unique perspective. I liked a lot and mostly agree this my take!

> But it’s not only about that site, it’s about communication in general. Because you also can be like me. Deadly honest, direct, communicating like computers, only with substance so you cannot small talk. Your brain just isn’t wired that way. And you say something which is an obvious joke to you, but someone doesn’t see it that way and suddenly you are the new Mao Zedong. And…since the other side is usually locked in anger, you cannot explain yourself.

The issue here started way back when when the FIRST social media was created (aka when hoooomans started too belive that their lifes had more meaning that everyone elses, and that their opinion was more worthy than the other), so yeah, the problem didn´t started on Twitter. Fun fact tho, a practice tha we started to see in thw las months is to post screenshots of our thoughts on things, AFTER we had written those on our note app - cheating Twitter's character restrictions /What do twitter and GoT have In commun? Both have 140 characters lol/. Yes, the fact that Twitter doesn't has any type of word graphic edition (*like* **Markdown**) is shame, as it would enphasise ideas and stuff like that.

I may not have Ankylosing spondylitis, but I do have SAD (even tho it is self-diagnosed, because SHUT UP), and in this specific issue, I belive they have the same final consequence. The thing is, I personally LOVE Twitter. I'm kinda supect, since I've only created an account one month ago (Yeah, I know, a 14 yr old without a Twitter? Nowdays it does sound crazy - now I get why people like it that much).

It may not be the best social media (it´s not far tho) but has some pretty good features for sharing things with the world. Changing the subject back to me again - I'm also eadly honest, direct, communicate like computers, "only with substance" and belivie me, If I were to say I'd say that literally 95% of the people around me HAVE a short atention span, and belive me, your life is way harder when you're the one that always talks too much.

Anyways
I'm just giving my opinion I guess
- with 2175 characters lmao

[Dan_Mike]

*with this

[lizziepooh03]

140 characters is too limiting, especially for me and I imagine for someone like you.

However, 140 characters is great for others. They can be concise and pithy and meaningful and accurate all in a 140 characters or less. I admire that.

For people like you and me, it does not work. I can not say in a tweet that you may think this if this is true or you may think this if this and this is true. In a tweet, I need to just say this is true. Period.

For me it does not work since I want clarity. I want to be clear that I only believe this to be true if this and if this is true too. With twitter, I need to drop if this then this and just say as a fact that this is true even though that is not what I think since I only have 140 characters. I no longer use the words like should or may.

For you, who I imagine, is very particular about being very accurate with things, this would never work. You can not be very particular and be very accurate with Twitter since you only have 140 characters.

I know twitter does not work for us but written communication can and does work, at least for me.

Tone is hard, like you have stated, but other than tone, the written word is awesome. Actually writing out a response helps me clarify my thoughts. In order to explain my thoughts to someone in written form, I have to crystallize my thinking. The act of writing a response to a question helps me in understanding my own thinking on a question so written communication in my book will always be a plus. A huge plus.

It seems you are not sure about that. Or I misinterpreted your thoughts, please clarify. :)

[Wolframium]

Yes, for me it’s impossible. I must conceive my thought, which I want to communicate in such way, that it would fit. So I don’t have to delete something. But I don’t like to do that, because you had a correct observation: I write in length. Why? I’m in process of writing article about it. Second version, to be precise.
Well, it’s a sill, I guess. And yes, in a tweet…you must be kind of simple, to the point, without branches, nuances and so on.
I would agree with you on the clarity thing. Reality isn’t that simple, and for describing some things, you need a lot of chars.
Oh, you are imagine it very correctly. :-D I am. God, you are making me melt. :-D No, it’s because I have this feeling, that you get me. And I don’t have that often.
Written communication does work for me too, but…I also know, that there is just some information lost. Like the tone of your voice, when you writing something.
Well, writing works differently. As you write, you might find out, that your thought just…

[Wolframium]

…ends in the middle and it’s kind of…silly. It happens to me here more, than you might think.
To me, it’s exactly as you writing.
I think I didn’t really get into this aspect of written communication. It has its upsides, I knew it in the writing process (my brain was like „But…mate. You ALWAYS want mail, not call. You like text more, because I (brain) have shitty memory). Why don’t you mention that?“).

[sp33d]

Don't know or care enough about Twitter. As for having conversations electronically, you can also improve your expression, make it more lucid or transparent. Work on logically structuring your sentences.

"But…sadly…we care about money. Not advancing as a species."
Based on your narrow views, I assume you have made this comment out of spite. It may also be that we think on different scales.

Don't see why you keep mentioning some X character limit and why it's relevant to the point you are trying to make.

Your thoughts on electronic conversations seem to stem from your own experiences and judgment or lack thereof. How is the cynicism working out for you?

" If our species would be more technologically advanced, that would be the thing which you’d transfer to whoever you are talking to."
For your purposes, the world's technological achievements are sufficient.

[MarcoIsAFailure]

I never understood what I could possibly say in 140 characters that is worth saying in the first place.
I guess it's great for companies and stuff and I get it. But I did never see value for the average folk except for shitposting funny memes.

[Wolframium]

I also see a lot of celebrities using this. So…I guess it has some use after all. But just not for me or people, who write longer, more nuanced texts.

[Browneye57]

This is what I keep saying - you get no emotion and zero body language so you miss out on at least half of what's being communicated. Which leads to confusion and misunderstanding.
You simply cannot forge a relationship by texting. It's amazing how many of the younger set think they can. But then they come here all confused. LOL.

[RealandGenuine1991]

I have a Twitter and it can be useful for promoting. other than that, i see no other use for it... I'm not one of those that tweet everything I'm doing or what's going in. or venting , I use it for business purposes really.

[Wolframium]

That is actually good use of it. Sure.

[meatballs21]

You can compensate to an extent when writing - pick your words and phrasing. You are correct, though: the actual words are only a small part of the complete experience of communication.

[Prof_Don]

This is the reason I don't post much on Twitter; not enough characters. I'm a vivid and descriptive writer, and almost every time I want to post I run out of characters on the first draft. :-P

[Sojex]

Whenever I see someone rant on Twitter and they need easily 10+ posts to get their entire opinion across, I never finish reading what they have to say. It's such a ridiculous thing.

[Wolframium]

Wait…what? But…I’ve posted only 1 post. Here. In „twitter units“, I would need 27 of them (ceil (3362/128) = 27, 128 because 12 chars for part number in format „Part __/__: “).
Did you heard of attention to details, nuanced position and so on? :-)
I think you have short attention span.
So, you are basically letting me know, that…you didn’t finished reading? Somehow, I sense something like „you are better than long text“. OK. Good luck with that.

[Sojex]

You completely missed the point of what I wrote and your response makes no sense outside of your math. Saying I have a short attention span also contradicts what you yourself said.

[Wolframium]

OK, upon further inspection I’ve noticed some error on my part (parsing „on“ as „about“. Hey, my internal parser isn’t that great, considering that I’ve never learned English). But…the short attention span, I stand by that.

[Sojex]

You make absolutely no sense.

[Wolframium]

Misunderstanding. As I've stated in the article. :-) Oh, the irony.

[John_Doesnt]

Twitter is pointless because people only use it to stalk celebrities.

[Wolframium]

I absolutely agree on that. I mean…yeah, It's one of those things, which must be said for me to realize them.

[Phoenix98]

Twitter was always pointless now it's just a cesspool.

[Vyrakh]

Twitter is useless because it doesn't support an in-depth customized profile the way any social network should.

[Anonymous]

You can pm on Twit. Take is trash.

[Wolframium]

You: „You can pm on Twit. Take is trash.“ Article: „But it’s not only about that* site…“ *referring to twitter.
OK. You can. Only to people, who are following you, right? So…that’s limitation. Another is, that it goes, by definition, to one person only. So…again. That’s not what I’m looking for.
What about my other points? Oh, you just…won’t even bother, because I didn’t mentioned PMs on twitter. Gotcha.
So…yeah. Way to go, anonymous girl. :-) Or woman. And don’t worry. We get it. You like twitter. But you don’t have defend them, it’s not like you have financial interest. Right? :-)

[Opinion Owner]

You can pm whomever you wish. Doesn't have to be a follow. And no defense on them. But it is personal personal touchy touchy to you. Because and I quote your "irrational dislike for Twitter"
Pegged bish, game ova😉

[Wolframium]

I‘m sorry, but…no. You cannot. Just for you, I’ve setup fake account, and just for fun started following some people from YT, who I like. And for the love of god, I cannot see option to send them PM. I can tweet at them, but just their name already use my character limit, which is just retarded, but there is no option to write them. So either it’s possible to disable, or…because my fake profile doesn’t have followers, I cannot do that.
It is personal? OK, I don’t like the site. But I put arguments, why I don’t like it. So…what’s your point?
I know, what I’ve written. Yeah, the hate towards twitter from me, is irrational. I shouldn’t feel it. OK. I’ve said that. Later on, I put some reasons, why I don’t like the site.

[Opinion Owner]

The person who you are trying to write might only accept private chats from follows. There are privacy settings, you know.

[Wolframium]

So…basically you just defeated your own argument.
It seems like you don’t get it. I want to be able to post without limitation. So many people can read this. PM doesn’t do that, people blocking PMs are even „worse“ for me. Sure, this privacy setting is important and it should be there, and I’m not against that.
And you see? More nuanced position. How the hell do you expect to communicate that in 140 characters? :-D Our language is unable to do that and we don’t have better one.

[404filenotfound]

You're not saying anything that I disagree with.

[Wolframium]

Good enough for me. :-) I like the wording. A lot. :-D

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't say pointless...

[Wolframium]

I mean…yeah, sure, not that pointless, but…how do I use it? When I want to have an actual conversation and celebrity news are considered as spam in my book? I…can’t. For me, twitter is just…pointless. And this site is exact opposite of it. This place is like made for me.

[blondfrog]

All social media can be pointless.

[disgustingweebtrash]

Thank you for your thoughts

[KirstyW]

Good take.

[Anonymous]

I never use twitter

[Anonymous]

It's not pointless

[CT_CD]

I agree

[razor97]

agreed