Mosey-ing into the 21st century

This morning I typed an entire post about signing up for Twitter yesterday then I noticed I’d spelled the title wrong and tried to fix the typo. Somehow, I deleted the entire thing! Crap! I’m going to try to recreate what I originally wrote, but now I’m perturbed by technology rather than excited about it. My commentary maybe tainted.

I like technology. It’s true! I’m always on the lookout for ways it can make my life easier/better. I love that I can keep a family journal, perform scholarly research, stay connected with friends and family, and do a million other things from the comfort of my living room couch. Plus, I’m a nerd and technology satisfies my information cravings like cake to a sweet tooth, but so often technology straddles the line between helpful and wasteful. 

Take Pinterest (no, seriously, take it!). I LOVE the site and the concept – a place to find/post/organize cool ideas for crafts, clothes, and food – but Pinterest is dangerous for me. The amount of self-discipline required to tear myself away from that place is monumental! I have a hard enough time concentrating on all that requires my attention already (can you acquire ADD?) that I don’t really need another distraction.

This is Kallie on the aforementioned couch. It really is a cozy spot!

Enter Twitter. I know it’s not exactly a “new” thing, but I’ve purposefully avoided it over the past few years. That said, no one was as surprised as I was when I opened a Twitter account yesterday! Let me explain. This semester I’m taking a class called Computers and Writing which focuses on considering the pedagogical viability of using different technologies in the writing classroom. I’ve seen a few texts over the past year or so that explore using Twitter in the classroom and they seem really interesting. So interesting, that I’ve decided to focus my research for the class on how Twitter is/can be used in the college composition classroom. Effective research includes experience, right? So now you can follow me @VaughnJennie on Twitter. Fair warning: don’t expect frequent or copious tweets! If it’s anything like my Facebook habits, I’ll be more of a lurker than updater. Also, I’m still figuring out how the blasted thing works, Twitter not Facebook, that is. 

Another thing about technology…it can be overwhelming! Everything changes so quickly. In my previous version of this post I noted that my sweetie just gave me a new iPhone4s yesterday, too. I’m excited about using it, but Siri is a little disconcerting. First, her voice. Y’all, she sounds like what I imagine the robots who will take over the Earth sound like. Second, I hate that she disconnects before I can say, “Thank you”! Obviously, she was not created by a Southerner. I still say thank you, but it feels like our conversation is incomplete.

Well, I’ve told you about my most recent technological overload, but I’m still left with one burning question…If I “tweet” on Twitter am I a “twit”?

Much Love, --J

PS – Since I inadvertently deleted the first version of this post (durn it), I’ve learned one important lesson. I will type my posts in Word then copy/paste them into my blog. Y’all probably all do that already, but like the title suggests, I’m a little slow.