LINDA COSTA COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

Schooled by a Sibling
06.29.09

A couple weeks ago, my younger brother Shane lambasted Twitter as another social network fad. You see, he has always chastised social networking tools as pointless and powerless distractions from reality.
I did concede that Twitter could be a waste of time. But, I argued that you can follow those on Twitter who offer excellent insight into topics that interest you. You just have to look beyond what celebrity magazines consider tweet-worthy. Shane rolled his eyes and joked about me doing PR for Twitter.

Then late last week, Shane wrote me an e-mail saying he admits that Twitter can serve people in a good way – as illustrated by the recent post-election events in Iran. The Chicago Tribune recently had a good story about the phenomenon and its impact. Here’s what Shane wrote me:

“I have wondered long and hard over many of our breakthroughs in technology, but this twittering thing seems to have a silver lining. Much how e-mail was touted as a pen-pal’s dream, Twitter has been a great place to catch up on friends we lost years ago and a good way to find out what our celebrities eat while they watch things we have not heard of. But in the hands of good people who are actually trying to better their situations, against odds quite daunting, the tweets from the Iran election were finally heard ’round the world. The situation in Iran really has made me rethink the power an Internet social network may hold. So Doreen: 1, Shane: 0.”

Well, with a mature response like that, I can’t match it. So I concede the score – Doreen: 1, Shane: 1. My baby brother schooled me.