Twitter is a free microblogging service that has been around for quite a while. I didn't think much of it when it was first launched and never thought it would become as popular as it has become now. It looked (and is, in some ways) like an appropriation of the likes of the "status" field found on Facebook and seemed silly. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a spin a few months ago and ended up finding it suprisingly fun and addictive.

Now, I find Twitter to be an amusing application/service that is more than just a status field - it extends the human. Telephones made the globe small and instant messaging (chat) applications make the world even smaller by keeping people easily in reach and in touch of each other regardless of the physical distance between them. Microblogging and status updates, like that provided by Twitter, I think, take another step to make the world tiny. Almost all of the people that I "follow" on Twitter update their status regularly and I remain aware of (some of) what they are upto and (some of) their thoughts - given that their Tweets are honest, ofcourse!. It is sort of like seeing, hearing or just "knowing" what a group of people are upto even though they are beyond and away from the capacities afforded by my biological sensory organs. It reminds me of the Borg collective conciousness as on Star Trek and the truth maybe just that these are modern day precursors towards such. Maybe that is letting my imagination run a bit wild but I can really see that happening if (and when) the man and machine merge further...

Anyway, coming back to reality, follow me on Twitter if you like... and perhaps join The Collective even.