Twitter Haiku


I’ve made a change in the way I post updates at Twitter.
Twitter is another one of those web sites that I file under the category called “Dig Me.” It’s basically a public blogging site/bulletin board where you answer the question “What am I doing right now?” in 140 characters or less. It’s sort of like a blog, only with shorter messages and you don’t have to visit multiple sites to see the entries of the people you’re following.
While it’s strangely addictive, I’ve struggled with finding a real value to Twitter. About 20% of the time I can share information on something useful (like one of my Twitter friends’ asking questions about buying a Mac), but the other 80% is pretty much noise, with varying levels of relevance to, well, anything.
Some people incorrectly use Twitter as a personal communication device to all their Twitter friends– I’ll log in some mornings to see an entire page (about 20 entries) by one author to several different people, and many of those messages will be along the lines of “I hear ya, man.” I usually wind up “un-following” those people.
Others seem to think the 140 character limit is optional, so they post two or three Twitter messages to get their point across. Imagine someone telling you that they’re at McDonald’s and they ordered a 6-piece Chicken Selects with Barbecue Sauce, Fries, and… only they tell you this across several 140-character messages. Almost like Water Torture, isn’t it? Many of those people get dropped from my “follow” list as well.
It was this latter group, though that brought a challenge to mind.
Last week, I considered dropping Twitter completely, but then I realized I could make it more of a creative outlet for myself. There’s already a 140-character limit, so why not challenge myself further and only post in haiku? Not only will this force me to limit the size of my postings, but it will cause me to think even more creatively about what gets communicated and how.
(This also reminded me of something said in a play I saw a few years ago— one of the characters referred to limits, like those in haiku, as being very freeing.)
Some examples of my recent postings are on the next page.
All that said, my postings on Twitter will remain in haiku, at least until I get tired of the whole thing. 🙂


sitting on the train / bald guy’s head invades my space / a marker could work
first meeting over / a waste of time, but at least / my coffee’s still warm
graphs, charts, and spreadsheets / serve to show the obvious / *now* do you get it?
morning’s work is done / now I’m Starvin’ like Marvin’ / White Castle? I wish…
@bcbeatty: Silk Road’s specialty / we called it “spicy pigeon” / unnervingly gross 🙂
cheap cheap cheap candy / World Market’s Christmas clearance / a dangerous thing
For more, follow this link.

jtl