I was skeptical about Twitter at first. Very skeptical. An entire website based on the question, “What are you doing right now”? Seriously? My life isn’t that interesting. I don’t feel like writing:

“Working.”

“Still working.”

“And yet still working.”

I slowly eased my way in as a way to update my Facebook status. Then I started following some news feeds as my way of keeping up with what’s going on in the world. Which was fine. I’d look at it about once a week and go on my merry way. I’ve noticed that a lot of celebrities and companies use it to answer the question: “What are you promoting right now?” I can see that. Good way to get a little advertising done. Or at least brand awareness. But after a couple months of using Twitter, the real power of it finally hit me. The most powerful question Twitter can be used to answer is not “What are you doing right now,” it’s:

“What are you thinking right now?”

What am I thinking? Well, that’s far more interesting than what I’m doing. And far more me. I am not my job. I am not my products. Really I’m just my mind and soul. And our minds and souls don’t typically express themselves in well-thought out blog entries or stories. They express themselves in random thoughts that pass through us like energy. The internet began as a massive connected world of anonymity. But it has grown to be just the opposite. It is now breaking down the barriers of anonymity and connecting the world by who we really are. Take John Mayer for example. Prior to Twitter you could listen to the songs he wrote, interviews he did, blogs he wrote, etc. Not bad for a glimpse into someone’s life. But still, all those things were planned out to some extent. And who we are is not planned. You saw John Mayer the recording artist, not John Mayer the person. But with his recent addiction to Twitter, you see what he is thinking multiple times a day. It makes us all seem more human. What is more human than our thoughts? Some say our actions define who we are. But more than that, I think our thoughts define who we are and our actions are an extension of that. Twitter is bringing people’s thoughts together on a second by second basis. It’s powerful. Intimate even. And a bit scary at times. But overall, there is something very liberating about sharing your thoughts with the world. It can make even the loneliest person feel connected. People are giving up more and more of their privacy in this age. Where past generations have viewed this as a heresy, I believe that it will be what joins us together in a larger community. I’m not afraid of the world knowing who I am. If anything, it challenges me daily to continue to be who I am and share that with the world. The good, the bad, the ugly, the funny and the not-so-funny.