According to literary legend, Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story containing only six words. His response? ‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn.’ In barely a sentence, Hemingway had managed to write a story to rival many full length novels out there: curious, provocative and sad. Inspired by this story, Smith magazine launched a project via Twitter called Six Word Memoirs, in which people were asked to write their life story- in just six words. The result was often intriguing, sometimes astonishing and could be hilariously funny or absolutely heartbreaking. Whatever the story, however, they were all part of a larger conversation, as strangers connected with strangers whilst sharing something of their lives and personalities- a bridge made of pebbles.
I agree with Steven Johnson that the idea surrounding Twitter does leave a bad first impression, especially for lovers of literature and communication- how can restricting the amount we can say possibly contribute to meaningful conversation? I admit to being highly sceptical of Twitter when we first started this class, and I’m not going to pretend that I’ve completely warmed to it; however I am beginning to become convinced by Smith magazine’s philosophy- limitations can (but do not always) inspire creativity. Having a word limit can force people to consider what they have to say more carefully.
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I’ve realised that although Twitter is not my favourite form of communication and some people will never understand it; that it does have worth. I consider it especially useful as a very flexible public conversation tool which, as Johnson notes, links to more substantial content. Similarly, I believe much of the attraction of Smith magazine’s collection is due to their ‘teaser’ nature- it is the memoirs which hint towards a much larger context and more substantial life story which are most enticing. I appreciate Twitter and similar platforms much more when I understand their context. Six words can never sum up a person’s life… but they were never meant to. Instead, they are there to provide a glimpse and sometimes invite a closer look.
Summing up things in six words is one of the main reasons I hate Twitter. I can appreciate how it forces people to think creatively however, Twitter makes people use u instead of you, ther instead of their, there and they're and n/& instead of and. Being a grammar nazi, I hate these people, but when tweeting about DIGC202 I found these constraints forced me to use the things I hate.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't like the one way nature of Twitter which makes your point of inviting for a closer look difficult. On Facebook we can comment and like things however on Twitter it's difficult to provide feedback and often feels like when something is Tweeted it's just out there to be scanned over.
Lauren, I love your grammar rant! I feel the exact same way. I think that Twitter can be a useful tool for spreading information via links, however, I simply don't care about the meaningless chatter found on Twitter to sort through the clutter to find the interesting posts.
ReplyDeleteIn saying this, think of how much Twitter has done in providing a platform for citizens to create change in MENA. Even by just providing a space for citizens to challenge mainstream media, and provide their own accounts and angles of stories , Twitter has developed a fairer and more transparent system in regards to the large news conglomerates. Although I'm not a fan personally, I can more than see the merit of Twitter.
P.S. Nomi, awesome Ernest Hemingway reference. That's a great story.
Ok i want to start of by saying i love the shins, and my god your youtube clip just put me in a good space.. thankyou!
ReplyDeleteI love how diverse twitter can be! its content never stops amazing me. I was too in the beginning not a twitter fan, i was quite the opposite, but this weeks reading has helped me understand twitter and i feel we are now on better terms.
Yes, like you I was not excited about having to use Twitter and to be honest I am still not a huge fan. I do appreciate its use for sharing links etc but I struggled with it and still do.
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