Note: This should have been posted yesterday, but I fell asleep at my laptop and then it was after midnight, so I'm posting it today and will post again today... but later.

Yesterday morning on the way to work I was listening to Wisconsin Public Radio.  The show was discussing taking a break from technology.  If you want to listen to the full show you can stream it here.  I only caught the tail-end of the show, but it got me thinking.  Could I give-up technology for a day by choice... not because I had to.  We went on a backpacking trip last May to Isle Royale National Park, the only thing I had with me was my iPod Nano.  We had no contact with the outside world.  I survived, but I sure missed being able to check my email and Twitter. 

Yes, twittering is probably the thing I missed the most.  I feel like when I twitter I am telling my story in short snipets--140 characters to be.  Sometimes I share the mundane day to day life, sometimes I TRY to be funny, sometimes I rant, sometimes I rave and sometimes I just share something interesting to me. 

In a blog post from March of 2008, I posted the following about my experiences with Twitter:

Twitter is something I discovered last spring with the help of a friendly reference librarian (also known on the web as tinfoilraccoon) from my local library (now--my place of employment). According to Twitter's FAQ...

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Bloggers can use it as a mini-blogging tool. Developers can use the API to make Twitter tools of their own. Possibilities are endless!

How do I use it?
Tell us what you're doing in 140 characters or less! Send your thoughts, observations, and goings-on in your day. Whether you're "eating an apple" or "looking foward to the weekend" or "Heading out of town" it's twitter-worthy.

But... what is the point?
As it turns out, your best friend is probably interested in knowing if you're "loving the new Radiohead album." And yes, your Mom may want to know if you're "skipping breakfast in favor of a latte." You might want to know if your significant other "feels like taking a roadtrip." Find out what your friends are doing; keep each other abreast of your quotidian rituals.

At first, I wasn't so sure of the point of "twittering" (even after reading the FAQ, but now almost a year latter I am hooked for more then one reason...

1. It has become a major form of communication between my husband, Joel, and I. Joel started a new job with Accenture. He travels 100% of the time during the work week. When he and I use twitter especially the text messaging feature we can keep up on what each other is doing wherever we are.


2. It makes me smile, especially the posts from people I know offline--husband, co-workers, friends and family, so for those of you already twittering keep it up and for those of you who haven't tried it yet--what is holding you back? You can make it as private or as public as you want it to be. Right now Joel and I both have our updates set to be public, so that our friends and family who don't want join in, can still see our tweets. It also allows us to publish our tweets to our Facebook accounts.


3. I have learned new things from people I would have never met or encountered any where else.

I could probably go on and on about the reasons why I am hooked on Twitter, but I'll stop with the three big ones.

If you would like to check it out go to www.twitter.com or visit my twitter page. You can also find Joel on Twitter. We both would love to follow more of our friends and family on twitter, but beware it can be addictive and fun!

Check out my del.icio.us page for links that I've come across for what others are saying about Twitter and how they are using it.

Twitter has become my addiction even more so then Facebook or other social media sites.  I think there are so many ways it can be used (and abused).  I am currently taking a class for my grad program called Social Media Software in Libraries.  We have focused on a variety of social media sites, but Twitter is the one I most use and look forward to some day integrating into work.

So, could I give up technology for a day... absolutely, could I not think about it or not attempt to grab my phone or got to my laptop... that would be much more challenging!