Kari Byron, Mythbuster Mom: Dipping a Toe in the Twitter Stream

As I watched my 19-month-old daughter masterfully navigate my iPhone, I couldn’t help but wonder how far technology will innovate in her lifetime. I am seriously in awe: She unlocked the phone, found Yo Gabba Gabba on my iTunes, and played the video. She figured it out faster than I first did. That is the moment I realized, “I need to keep up or become obsolete.”

So the next stop for me: Twitter.

It may seem silly, but I have had an internal philosophical debate about synthetic intimacy since Friendster. My hesitation may stem from the fact that I am a prodigal daughter of the Silicon Valley. As the Internet was becoming a juggernaut, I skipped town and lived out of a backpack. My friends were drenched in technology by the time I got back. My refrain was, “Why would I want to be in a chat room? I can just go to an actual place where people are! Friends? You don’t even know them!” Since then I’ve always felt one step behind.

It’s time to catch up. As my nerd posse would say, “Resistance is futile.”

I agonized over opening a Twitter account. I have a healthy fear of the Internet; everything you say is written in pen. There are no “take backs.” Besides, what if no one follows me? What if I don’t have anything to say? What if I say the wrong thing? I suddenly felt like it was the first day of school and I was wearing the off-brand jeans my mom bought on sale at Mervyn’s.

But… Here we go! I just signed up. I am on the train. I tweeted my first tweet. Somehow it feels like the world just got smaller. I am in the club, part of the Matrix, connected. I may not have profound wisdom or charming jokes to share just yet, but…

I am a citizen of the modern world.

Yes, I know everyone is already on Twitter … but at least I got online before my daughter did. Maybe the next step will be figuring out how to fix my computer without asking the twenty-somethings in the office to help me.

Kari can be found on Twitter @KariByron.