Twitter Sixth Sense

In a true activation of this article’s premise, I was reading through some Twitter messages for the first time in a long time and found this one from KG. Here I was stepping through the process that Clive Thompson was talking about — re-extending my virtual limbs after an absence. And where did I find myself? In a shared space of old friends …

There was Drew McLellan welcoming me back. Scott Monty was asking about Spock invites. Ariel Waldman was marvelling at her life as a quasi-sex-blogger. David Armano was being "supervenient".

Why is this all important? Why should anyone care? As Clive says, "because it’s experiential" … it fulfils the desire to connect but in a completely mediated way. It means you can reach out without effort. It provides you a space to play … not EXACTLY private but certainly within earshot of others. You don’t need to be geographically close, but you can still feel part of a community. A group.

It doesn’t take a sixth sense to figure out that this sense of belonging is important.