There are many advocates for Twitter, but the drawbacks are plenty. Yes, you might actually stay in touch with your family on a more regular basis, but you can also find yourself suffering from cravings or depression if no one contacts you. Twitter addiction could destroy your relationship. Look at Jen Aniston and Jon Mayer. How romantic, going on a date with someone who’s describing their feelings to the world, instead of telling the person across from them. That lack of personal connection increases the chances of a break-up.

How is this affecting communication? Compiling all of your thoughts into 140 symbols, every time you think, is good for self-expression. Sacrificing your realities, however, into sound-bytes isn’t. As if we weren’t dumbed down enough by abbreviations and lack of real contact, we have less space and time. There’s also the fact that social networking sites were already hotbeds for opening the cheating door. Twitter doubles the speed, doubles the fun. It allows for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it transgression. And don’t forget that the details can be publicized after, to entire communities of people. Quadrupled humiliation in a fraction of a moment.
Twitter might be the little black dress of gadgetry at the moment, but it won’t be long before someone comes up with even shorter, faster communication. Perhaps one day soon it’ll be the freshest, hottest trend to just send electronic grunts, reverting back to caveman speech. Via technology.