Twitter Literature

I've heard that in Tokyo, people are getting novels published that they have composed on their cell phones. These "cellphone novels" topped the best-seller list in Japan last year. Pretty incredible. Most are written by young women and involve love stories written in short sentences with little plot.

I once kept a journal using the notes function of my cell phone. I loved the challenge of fitting my thoughts into such a small space. There's something about brevity that really forces you to prioritize your feelings and focus on the things that are troubling you most. And it was for this reason that I actually enjoyed Facebook's update function.

I'm told that Twitter is exactly that- the update function without the rest of the junk that comes along with Facebook. I like the concept but I refuse to get sucked into yet another social networking fade. However, journalists are now using Twitter to report on breaking news stories. Tweets are restricted to 140 characters and are therefore forcing reportes to be brief. Connie Coyne of The Salt Lake Tribune gave a great example of this using the Lord's Prayer:

R dad in sky: U r cool here & on high. Ur will is all. Feed & nurture us. 4 give us & we forgive. Let us evade temptation & evil. Amen.

This has inspired me to compose my next blog post via cell phone...stay tuned.