It's a Tweet, Tweet World...

It has been a few weeks now since I've become a part of the Twitter phenomena and I can still say that I'm not very fond of it...I suppose I haven't given it a valiant effort, but I don't have an interest in doing so...maybe my views will change in time, but for now they are frozen at this state...some may say that Twitter is beneficial because it is lightweight (limiting you to 140 characters) compared to blogging in which such a quick statement wouldn't be worth the effort...but the problem is that it seems too often people are posting mindless comments about their day... I suppose one could argue that friends and family do care about these "mindless" statements (especially if a parent/child is out of town and can't ask how their day went or what they are going to be doing...)
I think a huge part of my problem is that all of these social networks are getting to be too much...it is like reality television...a new show will come out, but it is so much like one that is already airing and after a while they get to be obnoxious! You can use Facebook to post a short status update, so why have Twitter? You can use Twitter to access links to websites, but you can do this on Facebook as well...Facebook allows you to stay in touch with friends, family members and coworkers through chat, pictures, videos, groups, etc...so why is Twitter necessary? This is just one example... I guess my question is, "WHAT THE HECK WILL BE NEXT?...will it be something a bit more unique than what we already have?"
When I think about how Twitter could be implemented into a classroom, ideas do come to mind but I don't think these ideas are anything to brag about...Twitter could be used as a homework help space or a class poll space (like we often use it for CEP)...it could also be used as a way for students to follow statements made by public figures in regards to current events....parents could use it as a message board too, but then I feel as though too much time is being taken away from face to face interaction...we already have text messaging, which can be frustrating even when you are face to face with someone because your conversation becomes interrupted...I think it is important to utilize technology, but to a certain extent. One downfall to Twitter in the classroom is that it encourages abbreviations (much like text messaging, which is bad enough) which lead to poor spelling and grammar...Kids are trying to say something, but they are limited to the amount of words they can use so they are becoming more and more familiar with, or inventing, text lingo which shows when they go to sit down and write a paper...
"That's all I've got to say about that!" Forest Gump