Twitter is like water

"I hate Twitter," said the CNV director. "I absolutely hate all that tweeting. It's a complete waste of time."

I'm not shocked by it, it's something I hear more often. I call it social media denialists. The CNV director was one of them.

The driver gathered his things, stood up and shook my hand.

"I'm stuck with my Twitter account for the rest of my life. I don't feel comfortable with that." I said, "That's just the way it is. Make peace with it."

Twitter brings us new possibilities. We follow big and small news closely, we all watch Pauw and Witteman and make lame jokes about Jeroen's socks falling down. We try to attract the attention of celebrities. Usually without success, by the way. In the past we did that via fan mail and were ignored. Now we are ignored in real time.

Human life is based on the schoolyard feeling. All the children in the schoolyard belong somewhere. All our lives we are afraid that we are that pathetic, pressed against the wall, poor thing. That poor thing who is not allowed to participate. The poor soul, the pariah. On the medium of Twitter we all matter. We wish our friends a nice day, we respond to their grumbling, we brag about our busy schedules. We laugh at each other's jokes, never miss a discussion and give our opinions without being asked. If we are ignored, we are ignored. No one notices.

Sometimes I suspect myself of Stockholm syndrome. You know; genuine affection for the hostage-taker. Or forced attachment to the boring village where love brought you. Because of Twitter, everyone is on stage. With an alert audience or with half-asleep fans, but we are there.

David Foster Wallace, essayist and writer, told the story of the two fish. “How does the water feel?” asked one fish. “Water? What is that?” asked the other fish. The point David Foster Wallace was trying to make was the acceptance of the unchangeable. There is no harm in continuing to feel the temperature of the water. But right or wrong, this is our water. Twitter has become a part of our social life. Twitter is here to stay.

Follow me @HansRuinemans