Why Tweeter is Uncool

I read the stats some time ago that adoption of Tweeter in the world is very slow in comparison to Facebook. And those 90% of those who tweet very rarely do so, at a rate of just once a month. But I didn't know the reason why until I read an article (or a research note, as stated) written by a 15-yr old intern at Morgan Stanley on teenagers' media habits (television, internet, gaming, music, etc.).

The note got traction from many clients of Morgan Stanley who obviously are hungry with any fresh insight into the market so they can achieve a breakthrough with their products or services. Here is a snapshot of the research note:

Facebook is popular as one can interact with friends on a wide scale. On the other hand, teenagers do not use twitter. Most have signed up to the service, but then just leave it as they release that they are not going to update it (mostly because texting twitter uses up credit, and they would rather text friends with that credit). In addition, they realise that no one is viewing their profile, so their ‘tweets’ are pointless.

You can read the whole report here.

Technology Sabbath

To me it is quickly (or slowly) becoming a matter of necessity to take Technology Sabbath, as suggested by a recent article in Breakpoint. To unplug my life from the god of technology so I can focus on communing with the Almighty God (and spending quality time with my family) even for 12 hours would be a huge challenge for me. But the stats cited in the article is quite startling:

According to a 2005 survey, most Americans—including children—spend at least nine hours a day watching TV, surfing the web, or talking on their cell phones. Of those hours, one-third of the time is spent using two or more of those media at once.

While technology has many worthwhile purposes, it demands a high price from us. Studies have shown that our increasing media dependency is crippling our attention spans, wounding our ability to create meaningful relationships, and generating a false expectation that we should be able to be contacted at every hour of the day.

Do you think you will be able to go over the next 24 hours unplugged?