The Phsychology of Microblogging

Connections to "friends" on social networking sites can have their benefits, though, a bit like that 6th pint, can also have their detriments.

My plaxo account for instance, is spammed by inane one liners from someone whom I'm not that friendly with, but connected to flippantly during a moment when I was feeling needy.
Why is he telling me all this? I don't care that he is stuck in traffic/meetings/bored/hungry/horny. When I log in, I want reassurance, love and attention from those I have carefully chosen as my friends. I don't care what they are doing.

To understand why people bother with twitter, I signed up and went exploring.
I saw the hook almost immediately. It is a small icon that flashes "followers" when you mouse over it. What ever marketing freak dreamed that up was some special kind of genius. Suddenly I was like god (or was it jesus?...whatever) and had my own band of disciples hanging on every word I wrote. Soon, even people I didnt' know were listening.
4 seconds of Research turned up exactly what was happening. Micro Fame.

There are further benefits of course. I don't have to actually talk to people about stuff I micro blog. If you're famous enough, you only need to say things once, and that might as well be on twitter.

All these new technologies don't enhance communication like the publicity would like us to believe, but actually replaces it.
"I'm going on my OE, Dad. I won't write or call, but you can tune in to my micro blog and stay up-to-the-minute.... bye"

And my old-skool friends? The ones that don't blog/tweet/book/space/link? Well the path to fame is littered with the corpses of the weak.