Tweeting The New Year Away

By Jack Kean

They say that to keep your mind young you should learn something new every day. (I don’t know who “they” are either, but they do say an awful lot of things.) However, in order to meet my more realistic personal standards, I try and learn something new every year. You are in luck. This column will be your very own year’s worth of new knowledge.

“If you follow me on Twitter, I’ll be posting tweets, and you can keep up with what I’m doing.”

“I usually tweet several times a day.”

“Jump in and send some tweets yourself.”

“Do you get your tweets on the cell?”

If you heard this conversation, would you have any idea what it was all about? Would you know it has nothing to do with birds? In the interest of keeping us seniors up to date with the latest trends in how to stay in touch without actually being in touch, we’ll delve into Tweets and social networking. No, Tweety Bird, a tweet is not something sweet to eat.

Maybe in the U.S. it began with the pony express. A short-lived experiment designed to move mail from St. Joseph, Mo., to Sacramento, Calif., in the fastest time possible. It seems the ability to communicate rapidly has been something we’ve wanted to do for a long time. Of course, the telegraph replaced the pony express in rapid communication. I guess the telephone; land line of course, was the next big step. Do you remember party lines? Honestly now, did you ever listen in on a neighbor’s conversation?

For a few years, it seemed that pagers could keep everyone in touch. Then cell phones made talking on the phone so much easier since you just take your phone with you wherever you happen to be. I should also mention text messaging, which seems to be the way all those under 40 stay in touch. Somewhere in between, computers became the rage, and the whole world changed. E-mails, e-mails every day, mostly advertising stuff I don’t want.

So, just when you begin to think that sending messages couldn’t be easier, somebody comes up with Twitter. The one good thing about Twitter is that it limits your messages to 140 characters. This means you will not be subjected to lengthy discussions of your sister-in-law’s gall bladder problems.

So, if you can’t wait to start sending tweets here’s the deal. Just go to http://www.twitter.com and open a free account. Then you can send e-mails to all your friends and tell them to sign up as well. You can follow lots of famous people, along with football coaches and grandkids. When you follow someone, you are able to can read their tweets. Of course, a tweet is just a short message. You can see the messages each time you log onto your Twitter page.

It was the 1950s, and I spent a great deal of the summers with my grandfather. He would eat lunch at my house, and I would go with him as he visited a neighbor or two before heading home. Remember when staying in touch meant a face-to-face visit and time on the porch?

Now I’ve got “friends” on Eons (http://www.eons.com) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com) that I’ve never met and only possibly have even seen their picture. This is great for those who cannot get around as we once did. I’m going to post a special Tweet for all Modern Senior Living readers in January, so sign up and let’s Tweet. P.S.: My Twitter name is kean54.

Jack Kean is the author of three novels: Being From The South Doesn't Make Me Stupid, Deadly Sacrifice, and What If The Winner Dies? Prior to retirement, he was employed in law enforcement on the federal level. He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law in Oxford. Jack is a native Mississippian, but he currently lives in Alabama, having moved there from Woodstock, Ga.

You may contact Jack and read more of his writing at http://www.keanwriter.com.