Twittering Dad vs Texting Daughter

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My 13-year-old daughter loves to text message. In fact, she texts faster than I type, and I can type really fast. Over the past week, I've been using Twitter to connect with my e-friends. I installed Twhirl desktop Twitter client, which has made it significantly easier for me to engage and participate. As I was driving home from a meeting tonight, it dawned on me that Twitter is to me what text messaging is to my daughter.

What do I mean by that? We get similar benefits, only they are derived from different technologies. So, what are the reasons we share in common for using these technologies?

Socialization. The primary reason my daughter text messages her friends about every detail of their lives is to socialize. Everything for teenagers is about socialization. Similarly, I've made some friendly connections with people on Twitter that are social in nature; however, this is not the primary reason I use the service.

Networking. The primary reason I use Twitter is for networking. It's awesome to build new relationships with bloggers within my niches, and it's also beneficial to build relationships outside of my existing group of contacts. You never know when you may need a particular service or recommendation, so it's good to have experts to call on for advice. Twitter provides a vehicle to connect with people in the know. As for my daughter, she networks a little through texting, but I don't think she is concerned with building professional relationships at this time.

Information. Another reason I use Twitter is to find new and relevant information about topics of interest to me. I like to try new things, and I'm a borderline "early adopter" of certain kinds of services/technologies. I also like having the ability to throw out a question and see what kind of responses are Tweeted back. Every time I use Twitter, I learn something new. By the same token, my daughter uses text messaging to get information from friends and various other sources. It is one way that she stays abreast of developments in areas of interest to her, although, to my chagrin, it is usually about boys.

Entertainment. Texting is entertaining to my daughter. It is a ubiquitous means of communication for teenagers, and 'talking' is one of things they like to do best. Her friends share funny messages, songs and pictures, and I often hear her giggle when looking at a new message on her phone (teenage boys are funny looking, especially the little dorks who send her pictures of them flexing their muscles). For me, Twitter is equally entertaining. The people I follow have a good sense of humor, and they are quick to share light-hearted links or thoughts. Also, it's fun and challenging to try and find ways to communicate thoughts in 140 characters or less.

Branding. Twitter is a place where many users are building brand awareness around themselves, their blogs, companies they work for, and services they provided. Self-promotion is an important benefit of using Twitter, even though certain strategies work better than others. You have the ability to enhance (or degrade) your image by the way you interact with other users. Similarly, my daughter uses text messaging to make her presence known among her group of friends. The better and more consistent her contributions are to the group, the wider her sphere of influence expands. When you're in Eighth Grade, everything is a popularity contest, so kids take advantage of multiple avenues to promote themselves.

So, when you take a look at the benefits I receive from Twitter and compare them to the benefits my daughter receives from text messaging, which one is better?

The return on investment from time spent by each of us is probably equal; however, I think Twitter might have a slight edge. Why? Twitter is free, whereas my daughter's cell phone bill is...well...ridiculous!

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