Why not twitter?

Hello

I think I've misunderstood a key element of twitter when writing my post 

Why twitter?

As in the above clip I was only considering what impact or relevance messaging may have on the wider world. I thought it a litle vein of people (lol, says' me with a blog! I'm a TOTAL hypocrite).

Granted you can't deny that some people do use twitter because they think they're a bit special, I'm sure there are also some people who use it because they long for someone to take that level of interest in their lives. 

The missing piece of the puzzle. 

But I've realised that actually twitter is a very powerful tool to aid good mental health. (As apose to being a clear indicator of bad mental health.)

You're probably wondering how on earth this can be the case. Well... 

"the act of observing alters the reality being observed" - Common variation on Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.

Whilst this principle is primarily designed to describe a principle of Quantum Mechanics. It also applies to psychology. 

The number of people that have said to me. "I can't join a gym, if I go by myself I'll never go." or "I've got to bet this done or my boss will be really pissed" or "I never thought I could do that, but my kids counting on me" or "My parents would be soo disapointed if I did X, Y or Z" 

There's something about pinning what we do, and how we act on the expectations, interation and needs of others. Just knowing that what you do it's just about you makes it more relevant. It makes you more determined to act appropriately regardless of what you personally want to do. 

The internal filter

I was driving yp to see my mum today and I realised that I was thinkblogging. (What's that?) Well, thinkblogging is when you discover you start thinking the same way you blog. Almost subconciously you apply boundries to what you think and structure your thoughts as if you were typing straight into a blog. You avoid certain topics that you wouldn't discuss on a blog, you think things through in a more structured way and you filter the way you think it just incase someone who knows you might read it and learn too much. Your thoughts become a blog post.

Because you're paying more attention as to how you think you naturally think differantly. I realised that I was thinking more positively, more protactively and I was thinking as if I was accountable for those thoughts, rather than them just being meaningless things that crop into my head. 

Being accountable to our thoughts by someone else can often be enough to motivate us to change our perception of things. 

What's this got to do with twitter?

Well you see, twittering isn't so much holding yourself accoutable to your thoughts as it is holding yourself accountable to your actions. Because your tweets are  public (even is no on reads them ( like this blog)) they have power. You wouldn't want to twitter your constant failures for the world to see would you? Something kicks in and you want to tweet the things that make you feel good. Even if you tweet something that seems meaningless like "I got to work and I was 5 mins late." To you this might actually mean your doing well today, because your normally 15 mins late. If you tweet "watching a film with my partner." You are probably actually saying to yourself, "I value my partner, we do fun things together, I'm happy". If you become a twitterdict  or twitter adict you probably find you exercise much more control over you actions because they suddenly seem to be more relevant. They carry meaning and they are of value, even if no one's reading them. 

Is this a new concept? 

No. There are many examples of how we've given relevance to things through our perception of what others might think rather than what we want. Here are a couple.. 

Keeping up with the neighbourhood. Ok, so the grass is getting a little long, but I'd rather be watching TV.... but what will the neighbours think? I'll do the lawn...

Religion. No one would notice if I did X, Y, or Z, but God (or Santa) would and he's keeping track. I can't be seen to fail in their eyes.

Deceased people. I would really like to do X, Y or Z and I know no one would care.... but my Nan said I shouldn't and I'd hate it if she looked down and saw me. 

These examples are arguable and really based on your own personal beliefs. In today's society we are less and less incluned to change our behaviour because of any of these values. These beliefs tend to seem more irrational than in the lives of our ancestors. They seem lesss real and therefore loose their effects. 

But it's much easier to have a solid belief and connection if you actually write something dwn and share it on the net. he person who's sitting in judgement, we may not know. But knowing that someone, somewhere may be. This pushes us on to be better than we otherwise would be.

So, why not twitter?

I'm forced to consider whether twitter would help me achieve my goals and be a better person through my actions in the same way I feel this blog is helping me to have more healthier thoughts.  

What would the world be like if we all twittered? Who knows. But for the first time I'm starting to think it might actually be a better place for all of us ot live. What do you think?