‘Failed Whales’ – a Sign?

So many people talking. Or tweeting. Or writing. Or communicating something online. Lots of press on all of this too: Mainstream TV CNN gives out their different Twitter accounts on the air, so do most of the other network and cable news channels. The Huffington Post is a giant series of blogs all connected to various other online sharing sites. The White House posts online, on Twitter, on Facebook, and yes, even on My Space.

Nice to know we are such social animals. But where is all the chatter leading? I know that I often randomly follow Twitter conversations and end up far from where I began. Sometimes it’s simply fun, sometimes informative. But I really have to scroll through a great deal of dross before getting something interesting.

I’m sure my posts add to the chatter, and may not interest everyone. I try to post things I find important, intriguing, amusing, outrageous – or even just polite. Wishing a friend a ‘good morning’. Even though using social media outlets is part of an overall strategy of multiple-point communications, the act of communicating itself can create a random pattern.

But I noticed this past week that Twitter has been over capacity a great deal of the time. The silly looking ‘Failed Whale’ image. And while I could not get to my home page, I have a Kutano sidebar, and read at one point a post saying “Twitter is overcapacity. Please wait a few minutes before posting.” Hmmm. Was that actually helpful or necessary? If we see the ‘whale’ – well, we know it’s busy. And if we shouldn’t be posting – why should someone be posting a message asking us not to post??

Twitter users seem particularly impatient, needing instant gratification. I confess I was momentarily annoyed. But quickly turned to one of another hundred things I needed to be doing. Truthfully, do I NEED to post a thought? Share a link? Is there a time urgency involved? I can’t believe that there is.

So while I continue to support the expansion of multiple online communities, and try to keep up with the millions of conversations threading along, I also wonder what it all will lead to in the grand scheme of – well, life. Or business. Or our sense of community.

With so many people making so much noise – the more the Whale appears, the less often I try to participate. What about you?

Donna