Today, my tutor at the Open University pointed out a blog posting to me written by Seth Finkelstein for the guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/07/twitter-is-a-suckers-game

He sees Twitter as supporting an

attention-seeking game, where everyone enriches the contest runner and surrounding marketers for the privilege of aspiring to be one of the very few big winners.

I beg your pardon? Am I so small minded or have I missed anything? Twitter’s a

one-to-many broadcasting system that serves the needs of high-attention individuals, combined with an appeal to low-attention individuals that the details of one’s life matter to an audience?

I think in his arrogant "I know that. I’m well into a third decade of being on the Net" manner (one of his comments below the article) Seth completely missed the point.

I just adore Twitter and here’s why: http://www.commoncraft.com/Twitter.

It is a highly useful tool to stay in touch with people who matter - not with some experts or stars or anyone socially "important".

Let me tell you a story: I am personally awfully weak when it comes to socialising in my private life. I have to stay in touch with so many people in my job that I’m happy to be an island when I’m in private. I do appreciate going out with folks or visiting or inviting someone. I just don’t like to "stay in touch". Not on the phone - I practically never phone -, only occasionally by eMail. There were times when my father and I didn’t hear from each other for weeks, not to mention some of my friends. It’s not that they don’t matter to me, but I just can’t stand hanging another hour on the phone when in reality I’d like to do something completely different.

And then came Twitter.

People who matter post short messages, I know what they’re doing. 140 letters don’t harm, so I squeeze some in myself. They see what I’m up to and might react. When I turn on the computer in the morning, my father had already sent a tweet saying what he’s done and how’s the weather like and hence puts a smile on my face. The situation described in the sensational video above really works for me!

Sure there are lots of other devices you can use to stay in touch - but I simply don’t. I use Twitter because it’s fast, simple and straightforward. I don’t need useless games included in Facebook or hours of chatting on Skype. Twitter works for me and helped me to stay in touch more often. Regardless of what some "stars" post who have thousands of followers. "Serious" discussion about education or eLearning is possible; there are such groups. But in my understanding Twitter is a purely private thing which has nothing to do with being (or not being) elite at all.