Twittering: Raising my white flag

OK, that’s it.

I surrender. I give up. I give in.

My friend Kelly invited me to join Twitter. So I did.

I’ve actually been meaning to try out the Twitter thing for a while now, but I’ve always felt it was kind of redundant. I’ve had coworkers ask me to explain it — coworkers who only recently signed up for Facebook. When I explain that it’s basically your Facebook status without the photo albums or the hyperlinked favorites or all the other bells and whistles, they generally seem confused, disappointed, or both — and then I’m left asking myself, “Really, what is the big deal about Twitter?”

The ironic part, if you ask me, is that I decided to join Twitter for the opposite reason that Michael left Facebook. I’ve really only used Flickr when I was required to for class, and I can’t stand how clunky and ad-heavy MySpace generally is. But I can’t imagine my online social life without the occasional Facebook message, poke, or photo tag, so I don’t see abandoning Facebook any time in the near future at all.

Twitter just seems so minimalist and pragmatic — and I’m curious if that’s the attraction, or if it’s something else. Generally my Facebook status is simply a song lyric that I’ve managed to make into a reflection of my mood (Yesterday and today, it’s been “Christopher takes a walk” from the Eels song “P.S. You Rock My World”), but, for some reason, I don’t feel as tempted to do that with Twitter (Currently, it’s “Christopher is mad at Kelly for finally getting him to try out Twitter.”).

So I’ve decided to give Twitter a fair shake and see how it all goes — currently I’m following six people, three of whom are also following me.

If you’re curious, check out what I’m up to.

Edit: From Kelly on Twitter, 13 minutes ago: “hehe. i am awesome.”