Twittering

As a CNN junkie, I've been noticing the recent publicity stint the good ol' Cable News Network has staged. It involves the 24-hour news juggernaut, barely an actor Ashton Kutcher, and Twitter, the social networking service frequently touted as the fastest growing site on the Net. Normally, those three things would probably not be uttered in the same sentence, but somehow they have now been connected. (Only in America...) CNN's Breaking News feed and Kutcher, both with a massive load of Twitter followers, pit themselves against each other in a race to 1 million followers. Today, it seems Kutcher, with the help of some fellow celebrity "Twitterers", has won the battle, which surprised me when I saw the headline on my homepage, Google News.
Twitter is undoubtedly a fascinating new phenomenon that has grown exponentially in the last year. Therefore, you've probably heard of it and might even use it, unless you've been living under a rock and/or have no friends. (I don't suppose that applies to any of you tech-savvy bloggers!) For months, I've tinkered with the idea of possibly creating a Twitter account, but I have doubts as to what I would do with it. It seems like it's just another version of Facebook's status update. Basically, you post statements or "tweets" up to 140 characters about what you're doing, how you're feeling, or whatever floats your boat.
Like status updates on Facebook, Twitter seems like it could get monotonous if you don't have anything interesting to say and just post something for the hell of it. I bore myself with my Facebook status updates and waste a few minutes every now and then trying to conjure up something slightly worth reading. I imagine I would have the same issue with Twitter.
A month or two ago, I read an article in Entertainment Weekly about the growing number of celebrities using Twitter. Some of them post incessantly about pointless details, like pooping. (I love John Mayer, but dude, we really don't care when you have to go to the loo.) And yet, people still busily monitor their updates, even with these unfiltered thoughts. Although according to the article, Kutcher once posted ''feels like a slow news day. I have to be careful not to say anything too stupid.'' Apparently, we share the same concern!
All in all, I see why Twitter, like many websites of its kind, has millions of addicted "webbies", and I think it would be worth giving it a shot, perhaps as a fun little experiment. Hmm...I'm not sure just yet.