Bogie & Bacall by cameramanron

“The girl gave him a look which ought to have stuck at least four inches out of his back.”  Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye

In my opinion, Chandler’s quote is the greatest metaphor that I’ve ever read in the English language.  He’s taken a minor incident of human behavior that was noticed only by the targeted character and created a bold image that audaciously assaults the reader’s sensibility with incredible violence, both literally and figuratively.  This timeless phrase, written in 1953, has not lost any of its power and wallop and would fit as perfectly in futuristic sci-fi written today as it did in Chandler’s hard-boiled detective novel.

And, being less than 140 characters, Chandler’s line would fit perfectly into someone’s Twitter stream today.

Wit Isn’t Twit
As a group, Twitterers are an incredibly bright, social and generous bunch of people.  Via links, they share a lot of material with the followers that range from the informative to the humorous.  However, the temporal nature of the medium means that few people are attempting “Twitticisms”…or tweets that will stand the test of time in the same manner as Chandler’s phrase above.

When the ADD affected Tweeters (most of us) are scanning through our Twitter stream, we have pre-ordered expectations of what we’re going to see (Daily Activities, Opinions, Story Links, Humor, etc.).  A Twitterer who occasionally goes against their reader’s expectations with a high-quality idea can cause the reader to stop and pause in their “automatic” scanning behavior in order to reflect upon what they just read.  Much as Andy Kaufman used a series of really lame comedic sketches to set up his classic Elvis impersonation, a Twitterer’s normal Tweet activity can be used to make a really witty Tweet extremely effective.

(…for those who don’t get it 419, 420)

Cutting Up
One doesn’t have to rely on one’s own witticisms to create timeless tweets.  The people you follow will give you plenty of material that you can work with.

Lee Odden is one of the most important bloggers in the online marketing space.  He’s also an absolutely terrific presenter at conferences.  I’ve met Lee very briefly a couple times but never got a chance to say more than hello.  Had I been able to chat with him, I would have treated him with a high level of respect that I feel somebody who has contributed so much to our industry deserves.

However, the Twittersphere dynamic is such that, with good intentions, I can have a little fun at Lee’s expense.

Though the moment is temporal, this sort of “classic comic banter” will make perfect sense to readers finding this thread well into the future.

Conclusion
Those of us who lifestream know we’re creating a permanent record our activities and thoughts.  However, in order for folks in the future (besides yourself and your loved ones) to be remotely interested in referencing your history, you need to provide material that will make sense to them.  Sure, much of your stream will, by necessity, be situational but you’ll have to spend some time engaging the universal in order to interest a reader totally removed from your present circumstances.

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3 impressive comments

A novel and interesting “Twitticism” would stand the test of time and in some tiny way immortalize our mundane existence. Novel concept. Interesting post.

Metaspring  ^#

A Twitwit I like that. Now thats funny
I can see that being a Sienfeld routine.
"Some Twitwit stole my Tweet"

Gary McElwain

Gary McElwain  ^#

Hehe, funny title. I've been twittering sometime now, and I like it. Oh, also max 140 here? Ah well.

Webdesign MicroDesign  ^#