I've stayed away from Twitter for a long time because I sort of didn't trust myself with such an intimate but very public way of relating to the world but I feel like I've studied it enough.
I'm equally guilty of using technology - I Twitter I text people I chat. But I think there's something strangely insidious about it that it makes us think we're closer when in fact we're not seeing each other we're not connecting.
Social cohesion was built into language long before Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter - we're tribal by nature. Tribes today aren't the same as tribes thousand of years ago: It isn't just religious tribes or ethnic tribes now: It's sports fans it's communities it's geography.
I enjoy what Twitter is because I can really connect with the fans and it's a great way to share information with them and it's also a great way to entertain. I like being able to put a smile on people's faces and letting them know what I'm doing.
Teenage readers also have a different relationship with the authors whose work they value than adult readers do. I loved Toni Morrison but I don't have any desire to follow her on Twitter. I just want to read her books.
I just recently joined Twitter. It's very positive - I love all the accolades. If my ego is hurting I can just open my Twitter account and see 'Oh I love you! I love the show!' and it's great. I'm trying to find the balance between trying to be funny being honest and just being a promoter as the guy on 'Royal Pains.'
For me Twitter works best as a way of taking pictures of being stuck in traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. If people really want to read really funny quips about life parenting and pop culture then by all means read Michael Ian Black's tweets.
The whole Twitter phenomenon is really indicative of what's happening in this country. And I say this in condemnation of myself as much as anyone else - we are growing into a nation that has no time desire or capacity for truth. All we can handle is 140 characters of knowledge.
All the people who follow me on Twitter know my sense of humor. I sometimes forget the blogosphere will give it more weight than I intended.
But as far as Twitter I'll be in a restaurant and I'll get home and somebody tweeted and they talked about what I ordered and what I was wearing. In some cases that could be dangerous because you don't want everybody to know where you are every second of every day.