Recently, I have entered the world of Twitter or, as it’s website describes it, micro blogging. It has been somewhat interesting to know where some of my colleagues spend their time and I was certain that Anne Lammott’s tweets were written especially for  me until I noticed that she has almost 20,000 followers.  (I currently have 53 followers.)

One of the challenges of Twitter is trying to express yourself in 140 characters or less. Great for telling the world that you are going to the grocery store. Not so great for expressing emotional nuance. A couple of weeks ago the United Methodist Church had it’s quadrennial (every four years) meeting in Tampa. This year the conference was covered by a live webcast, which was true four years ago. What was new was that there was a concurrent twitter feed, which became at times the United Methodist version of angry birds.

And so I have some thoughts about using Twitter for good and not for evil. (No, it is not a super power, although some treat it as if it is.)

First of all, try to assume good intentions on the part of others. After General Conference, a friend of mine posted a blog in which he describes a Twitter exchange between him and an unknown “tweeter.”  What was interesting to me was that he continually assumed good intentions on his own part and thought the other person should as well. But he constantly made assumptions about the other person’s posts which tended to vilify that person’s intentions.  I have noticed this tendency in a lot of electronic venues which is why I am more apt to send someone an email if I want to complement them but prefer to have critical conversations by telephone or face to face.

Secondly, it is rarely helpful to have deep philosophical conversations via Twitter. If you want to talk in depth find another means to do it. The advantage of Twitter is that it is in real time and keeps you up to date with your friends. It isn’t really designed for depth of expression. It can, however, point you to a blog, Facebook page, or other venue where these kinds of conversations can take place.

Finally, I have learned to block people I don’t know and who are merely trolling the ethernet looking for sparring partners. If the person has a screen name that is clearly meant to hide their identity then I give them a wide berth.

Having said all of this, I am enjoying the interaction I am having on Twitter. Yesterday, I connected with a group of young pastors in our conference who want to read through the standard sermons of John Wesley together, one per week, and share their thoughts together through tweets. I have a few friends who do Twitter and don’t do Facebook and so I enjoy hearing their thoughts and keeping up with their activities. And I have, cautiously, made some new friends.

For the time being, however, I mostly listen in on conversations (or lurk, in electronic parlance) trying to get the feel of this short burst of words world.  In time, I suspect I might put forth my opinions but for the time being I make this request: Don’t tweet me if you don’t love me.  I have enough conflicted ambiguity in my life already.