Issue date: 10/8/09 Section: Editorial/Opinion

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I never thought I'd be in the position of defending Twitter.

I once was suspicious of the site whose only function was to pose the question, "What are you doing?" But, unlike the Twitter-bashing author of the article "Less than Twitterpated," I have actually given Twitter a chance. And now, seven months and 139 tweets later, I am an unabashed Twitter believer.

Perhaps you, too, are convinced that no value can be communicated in such short blurbs. I'll take a bold step here and assert that sometimes we might actually learn more about a person from these 'insignificant' updates than we would from normal conversation. Now, I'm not suggesting Twitter as a replacement to quality time or conversation, but rather as a surprisingly effective complement. I even have an example that demonstrates this crazy claim.

I have a second cousin who recently moved from San Francisco to Chicago. Unfortunately, our usual correspondence consists only of annual Christmas letters and visits every few years. Until very recently, I had a very vague idea of my cousin's identity. I knew she was married, with three children. I knew her occupation. I knew where she lived. One might say these are the most important statistics to know, but I still felt like I didn't know her at all.

That is, until we started following each other on Twitter. Twitter can do something that letters, e-mails, phone calls and even visits cannot always do - it helps you learn the details of someone's everyday life, including likes, dislikes, habits and frustrations.

Through her tweets, I learned that she likes Paul McCartney and watches "House," that she plays Wii Golf with her teen children and that she uses Twitter to try to seek advice and support from other tweeters who struggle with being a mother to a schizoaffective child.

Through Twitter, we are able to learn the details about each other that you can only learn from spending a lot of time together. Unfortunately, quality time just isn't possible for us because of the distance. But thanks to Twitter, giving her a real glimpse into my day is only 140 characters away.

Even if you are still offended at the fact that we are communicating via short sentences (gasp!), there is another side to Twitter that most people are not even aware of. Many people do not use Twitter for social interaction. Soon after joining Twitter, I learned that following friends is only the tip of the Twitter iceberg.

Continued...

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