twitter

@fivetendavemike

That's my handle. 

That is where you'll find me.

Today I accomplished something that I didn't think was possible, I over tweeted. 

From twitter: Tweets: 1,000 per day. The daily update limit is further broken down into smaller limits for semi-hourly intervals.

So, I broke their semi-hour limit. 

Ouch? 

For one hour and twenty one minutes I tweeted. Straight. No breaks. One right after another. 

To who? @stevebowen12. 

Why? I have no idea. 

Something just overtook me. I kept going and going. 

It started with him criticizing a basketball coach at Rutgers. 

I asked him who he would rather play for, Bobby Knight or Coach K? 

It ended with me asking which mascot he thought was better, Swoop or Thor. Not too far off of the subject. 

But in between? 

Well, you'll just have to see. 

having a youtube channel

it has been awhile since i've seen a julian smith video. this is the first one that came up that i have not seen. it has over 4 million views.

having your own youtube channel, with a lot of followers, would have some perks of course, but ultimately, everyone is going to know how crazy you are.

twitter

If you don't know the story of Jack Dorsey, I suggest learning more about him. He is just as intriguing as Steve Jobs, Sean Parker, Mark Zuckerberg, or Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The dude has changed the way people communicate. The way we think, read, digest the news, keep in contact with others, and even the way money is handled (he is the founder of Square. He is kind of a big deal $$$).

In case you did not know, I love twitter. As a member of generation Y, I am all about instant feedback and gratification, and what better way to get that then from twitter. I fell in love with twitter when Laker, Metta World Peace finally replied to me, after a few months of my insistent requests to get a RT! That day changed my world. It was as if World Peace spoke to me face-to-face. Just baffling isn't it? He responded to one of my tweets and they allow him to play professional basketball for a living.

Speaking of Lakers, Kobe Bryant finally got a twitter account. The account is verified and it is exactly what I thought it would be -- all about him and depressing. He is only eight tweets in and it is barely more entertaining than Jimmer's twitter (which is so so so awful). So far he has tweeted about how he doubts himself, a picture of his niece on her 14th b-day, and what he has had to do to get to where he is today, i.e. icing his feet, acupuncture, dieting, practice, blah, blah, blah. Kobe is not human. He lives only to play basketball. Why do I love him so much?

I do not think I will attempt to get a RT from Kobe, as he has more than 500 K followers, which would take a lot of effort and time to get noticed in a crowd that size, which is bound to get larger. He is also known to be less than eager to interact directly with his fans, especially the crazies (me).

Besides, twitter has taken on a new feel for me. Now that I know that everything I say or do on the internet can be found, it makes me less eager to be careless with my words -- thus the black out with this blog. Speaking of, it was really depressing to see that only three people want to be apart of the in circle. It kind of felt like I was going to make an exclusive club, but not that many people wanted to join. Now I know what Reno Nevada must feel like. Damn you Vegas.

overload update

I have got on Instagram to look at some pictures taken at my grandfather's funeral, other than that, I have stayed true to my Facebook and Twitter abstinence. It has been rather difficult and I have to keep reminding myself every moment. I did not realize how habitual it is. I am beginning to wonder if this fast has really made a difference.

Overloaded...

I hate the phrase,"when I was on my mission," because usually it leads to some story that doesn't feel that genuine (maybe I should quit judging), that being said, on my my mission we were limited to technology. I had no idea of what Facebook was, or how awesome texting is, or any other innovative technology. When I came home I was flabbergasted by the number of headphones in people's ears. Everyone was plugged in. No one really interacted - head down, texting it up. It seemed that people didn't want to be involved with others - directly. Even now people, me included, are saturated in social media. Friends can see your location, who you are with, what you're listening to, what pictures you just took, it's endless. The weird thing is that you're in trouble if you didn't see that "funny picture" or read that "funny tweet" your friend posted.

Now, what I'm saying isn't new. There have been countless others, academics, social influencers, critics, etc who have articulated a much more in depth thought and argument. This topic has been on my mind for some time because social media is how the world communicates. It's impossible to ignore, or so it seems. There is instant gratification and approval given in these outlets, but are these avenues creating a bigger problem?

To me, the problem comes when out of habit, to just keep my self busy, or shield myself from real human interaction, I hoist up my iPhone in defense. I have no idea how I learned this tactic. I can't really remember someone telling or showing me that technology, the cell phone, the earphones, is the perfect solution to not feel alone, make new friends, or feel humanly connected. Technology, while world changing and very beneficial, has retarded my growth as a human.

I talked with my older brother about this feeling I had of disconnect with the human race.  He told me to go on a social media fast, he promised me that I would feel liberated. It lasted just six hours. I was so upset with myself. I had no self discipline. I had forgotten self mastery. Maybe I'm being dramatic, but I did feel like a failure. I couldn't say no to that damn blue bird.

So, starting tomorrow, the 27th of September, I will be going on a social media fast. I am not telling you this to sound cool (after all this idea wasn't mine), but rather as a form of accountability. Goals are often not reached because we do not write them down. I will not get on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for 30 days. Black out. I will be back on the 27th of October, and I will let you know what I find.