The Overtaking of Social Media, Twitter is the New Thing

I may sound a bit old-fashioned when I express my frustration towards this new media that is taking over classical personal communication, but I can't help but feel overwhelmed by those who can 'tweet' more than I check my Facebook page (which is more than regularly). I joined Twitter a little short of a year ago, and I must admit that my original intentions were to follow what several speakers and professors urged on me in classes and discussions. Everyone's on twitter, so you should be too. I joined, and left it dormant until Rain Pebble's Writing Class this semester when she forced the task of 'tweeting' on a regular basis. I have learned a lot more about the mechanics and details of this new tool, and I will credit the medium as a valuable source, especially for people who are on the go and just want news flashes or updates within reach. I do not doubt Twitter's usefulness to its audience, but the problem lies in the fact that I've already allotted my social media time to Facebook. Getting used to checking Twitter as often as I do Facebook was kind of a hassle, because I felt I needed to provide newsworthy information bites on my Twitter statuses. Through my unwillingness to update my Twitter, however, I did get access to very unique and specialized information about my field through the people I chose to follow, including Big Shoes Network, FVEverything, MediaBistro and MediaPost. For this, I respect this information-sharing venue, but I still can't ignore my slightly cynical views on how everything these days is turning web-driven and online savvy. I can appreciate the way that social media tools-Twitter specifically- globalizes our society. We can attain information within a matter of seconds from people across the globe, and we can have the opportunity to network with respectable sources that would probably have been overlooked otherwise.
Overall, Twitter exemplifies how our news world and information gathering techniques are converting to become more available for everyone. I am slowly jumping on bandwagon for actively using these social media tools because I feel you cannot avoid it. Nearly every professional organization or workplace has shifted to move with the technological shift--- now I suppose I should make the same progress.