Pro Defensore Twitter
By Trub Okkil
There is no reason a complex thought cannot be expressed in 140 characters or less.
Writers who cannot write with brevity have not thought enough about their subject.
…Or maybe they write to satisfy their own egos rather than to communicate. I don’t know.
If a longer-form essay truly is required, that’s what links are for. Embed them.
As you can see, a 140-character limit does not preclude good punctuation or spelling. Neither does it preclude high level, nuanced ideas.
Has it embarrassed famous people, politicians? Sure. It lets you see how they think. Hell, that’s a genuine public service!
It’s not all teenagers gossiping or insipid partisanship. News breaks on twitter first, and opinion leaders publish there first.
What’s more, it’s funny. Brevity is the soul of wit, and “wit” is built in to the name.
Twitter’s speed cannot be beat. Nor its popularity. Nor its effectiveness. Why? Efficiency, my friends!
Efficiency in expression IS a virtue, isn’t it? Tweet more, please.
On Opposite Day, we do our best to argue in service of a position that, under normal circumstances, we argue against. Coke people might sing the praises of Pepsi, Cat people might talk about why Dogs make for superior pets, Political Types might put forward the position that is usually held by their opponents. After all, *ANYONE* can beat up a strawman.
Sorry, I can’t buy that this is your best effort. You’re usually quite good at Opposite Day posts, studiously avoiding the temptation to do a parody of the opposing argument rather than the best version of it you can render. (I’ve always admired you for this, as I openly admit to never having been able to identify a topic where I could do an Opposite Day post with the kind of charity that the exercise calls for.)
Here, though, you fall headfirst into the parody trap. It’s so bad, in fact, it almost seems like you took a conscious decision to be the opposite of your usual highly magnanimous Opposite Day self, and leap headlong into the parody approach intentionally, though I don’t think you actually did that. Rather, a departure this dramatic from your usual Opposite Day generosity suggests me you’re dealing with a really strong prejudice that is part of your motivation for your real position that is rarely present in your usually highly rational approach to analysis. Perhaps, though, you’re just very out of practice; it’s been a while since we’ve done Opposite Day.Report
Sorry to disappoint you, but there really wasn’t any need to write more than this.Report
I don’t follow.Report
BOOM! RT: @Trub Okkil Sorry to disappoint you, but there really wasn’t any need to write more than this.Report
Brevity is the soul of wit, and “wit” is built in to the name.
Nice.Report
Having a competent plan is vastly different than a well-executed one. Building Afghanistan versus rebuilding Germany.
[not a comment on the post. just taking the challenge myself]Report
I’m not counting characters in each para, but I assume I see what you did there.Report
Not a single hashtag, mention, cat, meme, or Vine, or humorous photo to illustrate your points? You, sir, do not get Twitter! #cluelessoldpeople #noIwillnotgetoffyourlawn #EmergencyKittens
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2ntjxNdhK1ru4tdpo1_500.jpgReport
It hurt my eyes to read that.Report
R U SRS? LOL. #HRY-VI-2-iv-iiReport