Twitter isn't really new at all. My great-grandmother kept a journal where she recorded the weather, her projects, and the events of her day. This entry from January 1933 would have been perfect for her Twitter feed:
Just got over having bridge party. Everyone seemed to have good time. Served apples & candy. Lovely day. Making sheet & pillow cases for Dorothy.
Some will argue that sharing such mundane details isn't serious or dignified enough. Some might even chide my grandmother for reporting on silly things like party refreshments. Bridge parties may be frivolous, but the local newspaper in her small town delighted in reporting on them in detail. Maybe that community desire to share and to know what other people are doing isn't so newfangled, after all. To a great-granddaughter who didn't have the opportunity to know her, this is priceless. I have glimpses of her because she shared them and because someone took the time to save them.
My grandmother kept the same kind of journal. Your post makes me think that maybe Twitter is a way of not only micro-blogging, but more importantly, of journaling. I guess the application I am using to keep track of my tweets in a .csv file may be more worthwhile, after all, now that I have read your post. Thanks!
Posted by: Russell D. James, CA | March 18, 2009 at 07:42 AM
Good post. FYI - and following up on your theme: Here's a link to the Twitter feed from an Iowa farm girl, 1937.
http://twitter.com/Genny_Spencer
I've been meaning to blog this myself...
Posted by: Arian | March 18, 2009 at 07:58 AM
Thanks, Arian and Russell! My great-grandma was a Missouri small-town girl, and it's nice to know her journal is in good company.
Sometimes the mundane details tell us the most interesting things.
Posted by: RobinRKC | March 18, 2009 at 10:06 PM