In Defense of Twitter and Its #Failings...

I have an agent friend (who shall remain nameless) who has a problem with Twitter. (Last week we got in our latest debate about it in a series of email messages of 140 character or less.) "I think there's a direct line between things like Twitter, people's attention spans getting shorter, fewer people reading books, and publishers having problems/wanting to publish fewer books," he told me.

I say he might as well be reviewing a movie he's never seen. Personally, I find being involved in Twitter exciting, often invigorating and sometimes even inspiring. People are having conversations and creating community, not just posting things like, "just took a sip of Darjeeling tea" as my agent friend seems to think. Look at the impact the Twitter community has made with #amazonfail, creating an uproar and an awareness of the alleged Amazon glitch deranking LGBTQ and erotica books.

More from my agent friend: "I get how Twitter can help people connect with their fans, but do they really need by-the-minute updates? I think it can really be argued that it's bad for writing and, in a larger sense, bad for books and for what we do. I think the reasons why it's bad are pretty obvious--not taking the time to write thoughtfully and clearly. Everything being quick, on the go, abbreviated, etc. News not being fully covered; everyone wanting a quick, easily digestible answer. It's terrible. It's the dumbing down of our world...little by little."

First, I suggest he read the Jennifer Blanchard's post on Copyblogger about how Twitter Makes You a Better Writer. Quick and short is not necessarily not thoughtful. It's often challenging to make a point/answer a question/share an opinion or philosophy in fewer that 140 characters--it can take a lot of thought (and self-editing). And I think, in general, people are as informed as they choose to be. They can see a newspaper headline and choose to read the whole story. They can hear a soundbite and choose to stay tuned for the full report. And they can read a tweet and choose to follow a link and read more. Twitter is a great portal into myriad news sources and allows a user to quickly see what interests her and delve into that material.

#amazonfail is not the first hashmarked discussion of its kind. Publishing-related Twitterverse #fails include #queryfail and #agentfail. (And if I had a dollar for every time I saw that adorable fail whale...) Whether this trend is negative or productive is up for debate. But I think it's terrific that Twitter exists as a forum for these conversations and a place where the writing and publishing community can chatter about what's on their minds 24/7 whether it's just for fun or creates a furor.