Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Twitter Makes You Immoral?

Brian Hartzer, CEO of ANZ's Australian operations has just announced his resignation - on Twitter – ANZozCEO.

Brain has become the first major bank CEO in Australia to use Twitter. The main intention of Brian to be on Twitter was to listen to customers and provide better customer service, providing a channel for easy and fast communication. And now, Twitter has become a good channel to submit resignations as well. So, an executive using corporate handle will not only have to resign from the organization, but also has to convey the same to his fellow friends and followers in the social media. During the course of the building the network with customers or followers in the social media sites, one builds an emotional bond that makes the person to do so and share their opinions, thoughts or decisions.

And in UK, something else happened. A magistrate had to resign after posting messages about the cases on Twitter. This person intends that he just wanted to make the judiciary more transparent.

But, scientists claim that twitter can make a person immoral. This study says that the speed with which the news updates and interactions are happening, are too fast for the brain to process. The danger is that regular users of Twitter and Facebook may become indifferent to human sufferings because they never get time to reflect and fully experience the emotions of other people feelings. The impact can be more dangerous for young generations whose brains are still developing. I was unable to read anywhere in this article about the news websites or news channels which update the news every hour. I guess these channels should also have the same impact. You need to note that this was the study of just 13 users.

My opinion is that Twitter, Facebook or any other social media should be used in a certain way to get the benefits out of this. It all depends the way you use it and take the full advantage of these tools. You do not have to become addicted or spend whole time on these and make your life depended on this. There are other social things also important in life that you need to attend. Is it necessary to read every tweet posted by a celebrity? Is it necessary to post every action of yours – say every minute or hour on such channels? You don’t have to make your whole life public on these sites? Or want to read about the whole life of others?

2 comments:

j said...

Interesting take on Twitter. I hadn't heard this, though I'm kind of fascinated by Twitter psychology. I do think its fast pace encourages a sort of distance from the material - lest you go a little crazy. I agree with you, though. As with every networking tool, the key is in how you use it.

Great post!

Bob Bryant said...

Twitter streams are like stock tickers when you are following a lot of people, and you find that you key in on certain phrases and follow those links.

As to immoral, I can't agree with that premise. Do you listen keenly to every mention on the car radio of an accident or homicide? Are you immoral if you don't, or should you just turn the radio off?

Twitter expands my circle of influence and provides me with information I might otherwise never find.

I don't feel the least bit "immoral" :)

Bob Bryant
Interchange Merchant Services