Is Judaism twitterable?
I’ll confess: I briefly joined twitter way back when I started my blog, because “everyone” said that bloggers “have to” be on twitter.
It was awful. The relationship ended very quickly.
This might completely be due to my inadequacies, and I’m delighted to own that. But I wonder if there’s more. One of the things that freaked me out about twitter was that when you tweet a link, it’s in truncated code. You can’t tell until you click what website it’s coming from. It’s like going down a dark tunnel with your eyes closed.
Also: since you can’t monitor who has access to comment on your output (not that Facebook is foolproof here, but the gates are somewhat more manageable), anyone who vehemently disagrees with your general approach to life is eligible to argue you down every time you tweet (who has time for these things?).
And the space limitations means that you have to pare down, pare down, and pare down your message once again to fit the space. That’s not terrible, but if someone wants to respond to you and actually have a conversation, your defense/response is severely limited.
Finally, all of twitter is in code, for a newbie (yes, an apt metaphor for newbies in Orthodox environments; I am not oblivious to the irony). It’s like going to a wedding where you don’t know anyone and they’re all speaking a foreign language. There are #hashtags and RT@ all over the place. #goodluckwiththatstupid.
I departed quickly with my tail between my legs, feeling like a blogging failure. I went running back to Facebook and cried myself to sleep at home where everyone knows me and likes me. It was a dark time. (Kidding, sort of.)
But then I read an interesting article that got me thinking: maybe it’s not that I personally was a failure at twitter, although that’s certainly possible, but also/instead that depth in Judaism and twitter are simply incompatible partners.
To my first point, in Judaism it matters deeply what the source is. Travels down dark tunnels are not recommended. Learn from a teacher, but first learn about your teacher.
Second, Judaism is both accessible to all (Torah was given in a desert, teaches the midrash, to indicate that it belongs equally to everyone and no one) and not completely readily accessible. The student must try to find it; exert effort; discover a teacher; and schvitz it out a bit. Even putting this kind of information on the web for all to see opens it up to ridicule and worse by those that are disinterested and hostile to its message. Good or bad? You be the judge.
But it was the forced terseness that ultimately ended the relationship. I NEED the time, the space, to fully explain, with compassion and nuance, what my message is. Otherwise, I’ve learned, it’s better to remain silent. A half message is worse than no message.
And the code was just kind of inhospitable.
But maybe I’m just sensitive.
Anyway. Here I am. Blogging, with Facebook as my friend. I come in peace, as my 11-year-old says. Those that are open to my message or are searching for depth and understanding, here I am. Those that are opposed or hostile, shalom unto you. And those that have questions, by all means. I have all day, and all the space in the world.
Tweet that.
Your comments about twitter sound like mine about Daf Yomi.
Lol! Are you a Daf Yomi participant?
Nope. Neither am I on twitter. A friend of mine once said "Daf Yomi is like speed dating – you spend just long enough to get the idea there is something interesting there, and then you have to move on to the next one."
I love, love, love this, Ruchi. I, too, am twitter-deficient in that I still don't understand (nor do I have the time or interest to learn) how to really connect in this forum for exactly the reasons you say. It is simply a tool for me to get my writing out when I do publish posts. I learned as much as I needed to know to add hashtags to my posts to get my stuff read, and that's all. There are only so many hours in a day. I find out from you that I subscribe to many more Jewish practices than I realize. Maybe I'm more of a Jew than I thought I was. 🙂
As I said on FACEBOOK (take that, twitter) I felt much better after reading your comment! And about the Jewish practices… yeah 🙂 That's really interesting. An unanticipated benefit of the blog, I guess!
Ah, well, I think I know the problem. Twitter really doesn't work as a place to broadcast any kind of idea or message the way FB does, or, even more effectively a blog does. People on Twitter will not tolerate any whiff over-promotion.
Twitter is for making connections, discovering other blogs, and well . . . making more connections. It works well for some people more than others, and I'm not sure why. Twitter and I clicked from the get-go. I started my blog BECAUSE of the connections and opportunities that came out of Twitter. I got guest posts that way, etc. Actually, believe it or not my post on Wednesday will relate to this issue so I will say more then.
I agree though–it's a lingo and you have to learn to speak in that lingo (yes terse and different) if you want it to work.
I don't think a blogger "has to" be on Twitter. I think FB brings more traffic anyway so if you were forced to choose one, that's the way to go. In my opinion!
I disagree about Judaism and Twitter not being compatible though I cannot be articulate as to why. I follow tons of interesting rabbis and institutions from every inch of our wide Jewish umbrella and it seems to work.
I love Twitter though! I just do! 😉
I think that's very profound, Nina, and you may have answered my question. A few times in my post I mention my "message" and you said something so true: Twitter is not a place to broadcast a message. Wow, did I find that out quick.
But that's why blogging and Facebook have worked really well for me – because they are.
"Even putting this kind of information on the web for all to see opens it up to ridicule and worse by those that are disinterested and hostile to its message."
Very true. That's why I try not to read comments on some websites. I've read articles (not necessarily Jewish ones) and wondered what other people thought about the subject, only to be horrified by the venom in the comments. On at least some subjects, civil discussion seems to be rare. I find it very painful.
YES. Exactly that has been my experience.
I never got the Twitter thing either. I understand it's a way to broadcast ideas, but important or thought-provoking ideas often can't be reduced to 140 signs or less, so tweets easily turn into witticisms at best, self-important rants at worst, with a whole range of boring information in the middle.
Twitter also seems to make many people feel that quantity is more important than quality. It often enables some kind of writing frenzy, and honestly, few people manage to be THAT interesting 10 times a day…
Yeah. I actually asked in a blogging forum about re-posting a blog link on Facebook more than once and everyone was like, well on twitter that's OK but annoying for FB. Interesting. I don't know why. But I'm guilty as charged, because I'm a Facebook crazy woman. I'm probably one of those annoying posters!
I've never had anything to do with Twitter (or any interest in it), but why SHOULD it be an effective tool for explaining Judaism or anything else? Explanations are by definition longish. A 140-character limit essentially creates headlines, not explanations. Headlines have a function: to prompt you to read the article. But if you only read the headlines, you'll be sadly misinformed.
So in understanding better, I guess it seems to be a headline kind of forum.
I had to kill my own Facebook account once I had all of 14 friends and it became too addictively time-wasting for me. I'm not allowed to touch Twitter because I could probably get hooked easily. And in fact I "Should Be Working"!
.
Guilty! I'm a junkie. I justify that it actually is "working" for me!
Was it the FB reading and posting that was the addictive aspect, or the games?
Reading the posts, checking in on friends, getting caught up in following links to wherever, trying to figure out what friends were alluding to, wondering what happened to other friends that I would glimpse on other people's pages . . . pretty much everything Faceook does so well. Lured me in totally.
I still have an account, but I'm invisible except to friends, whom I all deleted. The only GOOD reason I still have the account is to check out potential babysitters. Sometimes I still peek in at former friends' pages when they are open, or stalk around wasting time. I wish I could set it to not let me do that.
The problem with twitter is that PEOPLE CAN DISAGREE WITH YOU? Are you new to the internet?
Thanks Ari, that gave me a good laugh!
You may be new to the blog (and welcome if you are) but people disagree with me here plenty, as you just did.
The difference between here and twitter is twofold:
1 I monitor comments here, so rudeness is out
2 I have the space to respectfully explain my position and have a real conversation.
Ironically, your comment would have worked just fine on twitter.
I remember when you were on twitter. I don't know why people were so mean to you, but they were. In any case, I've been doing this Twitter thing for about a year and a half, and I think I *finally* figured out what on earth I'm doing with it.
Twitter is definitely not the place for any in-depth conversation. I liken it to a group of mommies standing around in their yards while their kids play. Can they communicate? Yes. Can they introduce an idea? Yes. Can they make a brief recommendation? Yes. Can they express any idea longer than 140 characters? No.
I use the site to follow other bloggers, music stuff, Jewish stuff, and to read interesting articles. And to be amused. But never to get into a deep discussion of anything philosophical or metaphysical or anything like that.
I feel so validated.
I like your analogy. Maybe I was trying to discuss the meaning of life over the swings.
How do we get a look at that exchange?
I googled @ruchikoval but I think most stuff is gone.
Having set out on a personal quest to prove that Judaism and twitter are indeed compatible, I respectfully disagree. I'm @tprismic. I tweet divrei torah and links to interesting Jewish content elsewhere on the web.
My defense of twitter: I think twitter forces you to pare down an idea to its essence and really understand what you are trying to say. Sometimes the depth of a thought is compromised by that pruning process, true, and I have on occasion had to resort to follow-up tweets to clarify my meaning. But the vast majority of the time I have surprised myself at how much meaning you can pack into a mere 140 characters.
Sure, people can misuse twitter like any other tool. But the people I follow for the most part tweet interesting and meaningful things and I often hear interesting news over Twitter before I hear it anywhere else. As for privacy, the rule is the same as anywhere else on the internet- don't post what you don't want people to see!
And I just tweeted a link recommending your blog, before I even saw this post actually. So that's another positive use of twitter! 🙂
Thanks Tehila – that was nice of you! I still feel left out when I read about this one tweeting this or that… but as my father in law likes to say, you can't dance at three weddings. Thanks for your comment and welcome to the blog.