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Twitter at 10: Looking Back at the “Cocaine of Blogging”

Twitter at 10: Looking Back at the “Cocaine of Blogging”

The first twt is forever embedded in our minds, with co-founder Jack Dorsey broadcasting a few words, which is probably akin to “Hello World”.

Who would have thought that 10 years later, Twitter would be a dominant force in our lives – both personal and professional? 

Well, some did.

Back then, according to TIME’s Lev Grossman, Twitter was considered as the “cocaine of blogging or e-mail, but refined into crack”. Here’s a snippet of the fascinating piece he wrote about Twitter.

One early front runner for the title of the “YouTube of 2007” is a service called Twitter. Twitter enables you to broadcast to the world at large, via the Web or phone or instant message, tiny snippets of personal information: what you’re doing, what you’re about to do, what you just did, what your cat just did and so on. Twitter does the Internet equivalent of splitting the atom. It creates a unit of content even smaller and more trivial than the individual blog entry. Expect the response to be suitably explosive.

There’s something delightfully self-deprecating about that name, Twitter—we’re all just a bunch of happy birdies, tweeting away in our trees!—but it also makes me nervous. It’s like the cocaine of blogging or e-mail but refined into crack. Internet addiction is an old story, but we’re on the tipping point of a new kind of problem that might more broadly be called an addiction to data, in all its many and splendiferous forms.

Was he right, or was he right?

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So, when did you first start using Twitter? How has it impacted your life?

I’ll end with this. You all received the same thank you email from Twitter as I did, so let me ask you this: Did you expect more from the thank you message, or is it reflective of what Twitter stands for?

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View Comments (2)
  • I’ve been using Twitter for 3 years, but I honestly don’t know if I’ll keep using it for longer. There are so many bots and Spam accounts you almost have to celebrate when you meet an interesting person out there… Can you imagine Twitter alive in 10 years?

    • I think Twitter will still be here in 10 years although it will probably have gone through some significant changes. You’re right with the bots and spam accounts, but it’s a matter of being picky about whom you follow. I also have to say that Twitter serves as an excellent source of reading material for me as the people (and pages) in my stream share relevant news and articles.

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