I wrote another post about Twitter and on it I already said that Twitter seemed to me potentially addictive. Well, some days "twittering" have confirmed that intuition.
Twitter can be extremely addictive. Enough said.
I run multiple blogs and they demand a lot or work, sometimes. But I've always felt FREE. I never thought of them when I was doing something else. At least for me blogging has never been addictive.
Even if someone has a lot of time, I think it would be sound advice to say this: be absolutely cautious in the manner you use Twitter. It can be a good (and powerful) tool, but has also considerable risks.
I know that many people are doing great and positive things on Twitter, and it can be a powerful resource of information, good links, advice... but nevertheless it continues to be potentially addictive. Even you can organize most of your life according to the tasks you do on Twitter.
I absolutely don't like to be, for example, in the fields, or travelling, and at the same time thinking on what I'm missing on Twitter (new followers, new messages, expectatives of other people, trying to keep up with them...) I must repeat that writing my blogs I always felt, generally, fresh and relaxed. In few cases has been a stressful activity. If having just started on Twitter and having few followers I can foresee potential addiction, what could be said of people who have, for example, 900, 4,000 or more followers?
I know, some people are more prone to be involved in addictions than others, and so this kind of people must be very, very careful.
Being Twitter a powerful tool, and in some cases an extraordinary tool (if you look for specific information and advice) you can take advantage of it, but we must be on our guard.
As an example of the power of Twitter, you can read some short poems that I've written subjecting myself to the well known restriction of characters on Twitter. So they can be called "literatwitter". In the same fashion, Twitter can mold many areas of your life. If we control, that's ok, we have access to a powerful, useful tool, if not, it can make of our lives "twitterlives".
In conclusion, at least in my opinion services as Twitter or other social media, can be wonderful if we know how to use self-discipline in our lives; if not, we can miss in the end many wonders and peace because of an addiction.
Obviously I'm not a psychologist or specialist on addictions, so what I've said only represents a personal opinion.
I'll continue using Twitter (as long as I feel in control of the situation), basically to inform people about updates on my blogs, but I'm aware now that I'm dealing with dynamite.
Juan Bielsa
