You're a Twit

I love the Twitter debate. Just love it.

What I love most is how polarizing it seems to be. Love it or hate it? And everyone in between just seems so overwhelmingly perplexed. I think almost without fail, the first 'post' (or tweet, or twit, depending on your level on contempt) seems to be something like the phrase "seriously? is this it?"

No one needs to make a list of internet fads - websites that are wildly popular one moment and leave the public's care just as fast seems to happen all the time. In fact, it surprised me to hear recently that Myspace was celebrating just its 5 year birthday. I feel like Myspace has been around forever! Facebook, Purevolume, Napster. All have had huge staying power but overall have not been around very long - especially when one thinks about how long the internet has been around, and will be around.

Where Twitter falls on the proverbial dart board is a heated debate. I for one, believe it will have huge staying power, with the potential to become almost, but not quite, as integrated as Facebook and Google into the fabric of the internet. When I tell people this though, I get some extremely heated responses. I love that.

There always seems to be three very clear, distinct, and immediate reactions to something new, and not just in the technology sphere. There's one circle that immediately rejects, another that immediately embraces, and the third, a "silent majority," if you will allow me to utilize some 70's political lingo. The third group is the wait and see, the independents, and they'll be the ones to actually decide which way things go.

The thing is, I see the potential. One day soon, when everyone's phone is also an mp3-playing, internet-surfing, GPS, walkie talkie, video game consol, emailing device... I expect a tool like Twitter to be ideal. I do not yet have one of these contraptions; my bulky Verizon LG is doing just fine thank you (yeah, that one >>).

The key to the success of Twitter will of course be if can come up with a realistic business model for revenue. Twitter has said it plans to announce a revenue plan this year.

Dont' be surprised if Oprah's show - yes, that Oprah Winfrey who has had a love affair with Michael Phelps and is also #6 on my list of really rich people who are most likely to pull off being Batman - becomes the platform for such an announcment later today. Ashton Kutcher - who’s on track to be the first with 1 million followers on Twitter - will be her guest. Twitter co-founder Evan Williams is also expected to make an appearance.

One day, when I'm in downtown DC for some reason, and I tweet this fact into my phone, and a friend calls me to hang out soon after because they too happen to be downtown, and knew where I was because I told my phone so, then Twitter will have improved my life.

And while waiting for my friend to arrive, I can check the daily major headline news just by being on Twitter because my cheap and effective subscriptions to news services like nbclocaldc will keep me updated with news and links to their website, then Twitter will have improved my life.

And when planning my weekend, I can Tweet to a pre-specified circle of friends asking what I'll be up to later that night to let them know, then Twitter will have improved my life.

And when bored out of my mind, I can check Twitter for random links from friends and stalk people like we all used to with AOL - except now with less effort - then Twitter will have improved my life.

And when I stop talking to people eye-to-eye and only have conversations through Twitter, I will officially be a twit, and Twitter will have ruined my life.