Twitter Brain: The New Condition Which Torments Me

by Kevin Jones on December 2, 2008

The human brain

Image via Wikipedia

My brain has made a strange transition and it is continuing to mold.

@KevinDJones has been active for some months now with 350 updates and 112 followers – neither of which even compare to many. It wasn’t until DevLearn, however, that I really started using it. Sure, every now and then, but that conference planted a twitter seed that started my brain reformation.

Now, unconsciously, my brain is starting to think in “twitter-bytes”. With every (OK – EVERY is too much, but you get the idea…) experience I have my mind goes into twitter mode and I rehearse how I might relate this in 140 characters. “How would I describe this experience/thought on twitter?” Then logistically my mind (still, all in the background) comes up with ingenious phrase:ology which will ensure brevity yet preserve substance.

Overall this is great for my writing skills, but I find it annoying that I am trying to think in twitter-bytes. Am I crazy and alone or do others feel this affect of twitter taking over your brain as well?

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  • Josh Bancroft

    Welcome to my world, man. :-)

  • Dawn

    I’ve become so annoyed with that prosey, twittery voice in my head all day that I’ve decided to take an official Twitter break (much like my post-election news brown-out). Twitter has definitely influenced the way I think.

    Have you read: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google ? I have wondered (and tweeted my wondering, as a matter of fact) if my kids’ brain structures will be different from mine, since they are growing up online.

  • http://twitter.com/wajiii Bill Jackson

    You are definitely *not* alone in this experience. In time, I fully expect this condition to be given a formal medical name and make its way into the DSM. ;)

  • http://engagedlearning.net Kevin Jones

    Sadly, I agree. I think that there is a formal name for just about every condition, lame or not. All the voices in my head agree, as well.

  • Kevin

    Dawn – sorry, your comment was moderated for some reason and I missed it at first. But thank you for sharing that link. What an incredible article! I learned a TON.

    One part is stopping me and making me really think: The industrial age automated our labor. The result? We sit in cubes, sedentary, allowing machines to do our work while our bodies deteriorate.

    Next, the Internet is starting to think for us. Will our brains follow the path of our bodies or will it take on a new, more powerful role?

    I need to think about this some more…

    But thank you very much for sharing.

  • http://daveswhiteboard.com Dave Ferguson

    Kevin, I’m an easygoing technoskeptic. Twitter has a place, though I think individuals need to figure out whether they have a place for Twitter.

    To say that everything ought to fit into a 140-character virtual sound bite is as silly as saying that everything ought to fit into 20 PowerPoint slides.

    Thiagi (Sivasailam Thiagarajan) often does exercises like “describe your company in 16 words.” Then, 8 words. Then, 4. The goal isn’t “get to four words” — it’s “focus.”

    A tweet can be a crisp encapsulation, an invitation for short replies — or, honestly, just a brain fart.

    As the noted social commentator Christine Lavin said,

    There’s a mighty fine line

    Between a groove and a rut

    A fine line between ‘eccentric’

    And people who are just plain nuts.

  • http://engagedlearning.net Kevin Jones

    “Twitter has a place, though I think individuals need to figure out whether they have a place for Twitter.” That is a classic line, Dave. So true. And your other points are well taken.

    Whenever a new tool comes out it is overused and abused. But that is done so to test the limits and see where it does belong. Doing that people will naturally abuse it. But it eventually focuses – to your point – and then the real use comes out.

    Great thoughts. Thanks for sharing!

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