Tweeting, re-tweeting and Twitter, words now a part of everyday language for millions, yet to others these terms sound like something from a Saturday morning cartoon. Countless bloggers and members of the social networking intelligence have contributed their two cents to the cyber discussion, yet it still remains a challenge when explaining Twitter to Grandma or anyone else who is not a member of the 24/7 connected community.
The earliest definitions of Twitter referred to it as a micro-blog, blogging for the word impaired or for those who simply like to parse their words. This is not a particularly helpful definition for Granny, in that it in implies knowledge of what blogging is. The whole concept of blogs, rather super-sized or mini, may stump anyone who simply cannot understand why so many are so interested in the daily mundane activities of the masses.
Moving on, and assuming that Grandma is remotely familiar with the world of laptops and cell phones, explaining Twitter to Grandma may be easy. One can simply call it an easy way to use the computer or cell phone to keep in touch with up to the minute news as well as sharing your thoughts and activities with a whole bunch of people at the same time. If your Gran is old enough to have ever experienced party line phones, you might say that it is the modern version of being able to listen in to what is happening with literally millions of people worldwide. The nice diffe
rence with Twitter, compared to the party phone lines, is that you can choose to listen to only the people you want to listen to. If you don’t wnt to hear the ramblings of crazy Lucy two streets over you don’t have to. With Twitter, you select who’s “tweets” you wish to receive.
As to why all of this tweeting is going on and why it is so fascinating to so many, here is another analogy. Many of Grandma’s generation are big fans of the tabloid and celebrity gossip type magazines and for many people today, Twitter serves as a personal gossip rag with the latest celebrity dish being served up as it happens. If Grandma is a fan of Tony Bennett or the ladies on The View, she could follow their every thought and action if she learned how to follow someone on Twitter. See, Grandma, Twitter is just today’s way of staying in touch with millions.
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