Twitter as social support system

I’m listening to Derek K. Miller’s most recent podcast where he talks about life, death, and blogging. Miller has incurable, stage 4 metastatic colorectal cancer, and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Miller mentions using Twitter (and blogs, Facebook, flickr, and conferences) as an ad hoc social support system which made me think about the role Twitter plays in my life these days.

Twitter has replaced just about every traditional method of online communication I’ve ever used. I still use instant messaging, but I really only talk to G. with any regularity.  I’ll occasionally send an e-mail to R. (primarily because he hates to IM), but for the most part, Twitter is my preferred method for reaching out to people when I need a little support. I’m not suffering from incurable cancer or any other life-threatening diseases, but sometimes I get pretty lonely up here in Vancouver. When the mean reds hit, I turn to Twitter to talk to friends old and new. 

I’m online almost all day long, so it felt natural when Twitter started to occupy such a large role in my life. When I was out of work I kept a steady stream of nonsense going through Twitter (and I’m pretty sure I lost a few followers as a result). Entertaining myself and others in 140 character bursts helped me cope with my fears that I’d never find another job in Vancouver. I never really told anyone just how afraid I was, nor did I talk about how much of a hit my confidence in my skills took after leaving my last job.  I didn’t have to dwell on those fears because I could snark, crack wise, and generally focus my attention on Twitter. So imagine my surprise when earlier this week I found myself feeling a little blue.

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I found myself missing Twitter. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry, but the feelings of separation I felt were very real. I love my new job, and I genuinely like the people I work with, but my community is on Twitter, and this voluntary separation is causing stress. Twitter brought my world and the people in it a little bit closer, and suddenly I’m experiencing feelings similar to those I experienced when I left Atlanta in 2001. 

If that doesn’t make Twitter a killer app, I don’t know what else does. 

Tagged as: community, support systems, twitter