I’ve seen the pattern repeated over and over again when someone is introduced to Twitter for the first time. There are four classic phases:
Denial: There is NO way on earth I will EVER use a silly chat service like twitter. I have no use, time, nor place for it in my life.
Surprise: You mean my friends and colleagues are here? It’s not just teenagers with nothing better to do?
Acceptance: Okay, I like having twitter in my life. This is pretty cool.
Addiction: OMG Twitter is doooooooownnnnnnn!
Tags: socialmedia, socialnetworking, Twitter
EverythingCU.com World 2.0 Adventure 
July 28, 2008 at 11:50 am |
Love this!
Is there any Recovery or Rehab phase? =^.)~
July 28, 2008 at 11:52 am |
What about stage 5: disillusionment? Disillusionment type A: “It’s still a great service, but it’s down again.” Disillusionment type B: “If I’m not really careful, my Tweets could be misconstrued by other Twitterers. I’d better be really careful about what I put out there.”
July 28, 2008 at 11:55 am |
@johngonnella Nope, there is no recovery once hooked on twitter. I got a fever, and I can’t cure it with more cowbell. Glad u like!
@cjsteven It’s stage 5B that you really have to watch out for. Tweets written in the privacy of one’s own laptop go out to the whole world. This isn’t just a conversation inside our own heads, much as I am constantly forgetting that. 😉
July 28, 2008 at 11:58 am |
Also, there’s overcommunicated exhaustion. “Ouch. My ability to have a consistent thought for more than 30 seconds hurts.”
July 28, 2008 at 12:13 pm |
Sometimes you reach a fifth stage: Overload. You take a break and inevitably end back up at stage one.
July 28, 2008 at 12:14 pm |
You’re right. There’s nothing worse than “Twitter down.” 🙂
July 28, 2008 at 1:04 pm |
Pretty spot on. I’ve introduced a couple people who at first only found value in limited situations and now they can’t go without.
But lately, I prefer FriendFeed, especially since it can be a front end to Twitter (or just about anything).
July 28, 2008 at 1:42 pm |
So how bad is it that after “Denial” I realized that few of my friends and none of my colleagues were on Twitter and I still advanced to “Addiction”?! LOL.
July 28, 2008 at 3:06 pm |
I’m currently in a 12-step program…
July 28, 2008 at 11:58 pm |
[…] 28, 2008 by tinfoiling Morriss recently wrote about the 4 stages of Twitter which was as close as it gets to emulating the stages […]
July 29, 2008 at 1:56 am |
Stage 4 and I’m OK with that. I don’t need your help. I can handle it.
July 29, 2008 at 3:20 pm |
are you inside my head?
July 29, 2008 at 4:51 pm |
Twitter addict? Help is available
July 30, 2008 at 1:38 am |
Great post Morriss 🙂
My fav’ Twitter joke (from the “Geek and poke” blog) :
“I’ve broken up with Jim”
“Really ? How could he cope with it ?”
“He doesn’t know it yet. Twitter is down”
August 4, 2008 at 6:03 pm |
[…] Twitter has been getting a lot of press lately. As more and more people hear about it, they tend to drift between what Morriss Partee calls the 4 Phases of Twitter. […]
August 11, 2008 at 2:18 pm |
Very true!
I remember talking with you Morriss at the GAC get together about Twitter and soon after that, I overcame “denial.” Now I’m firmly addicted!
August 11, 2008 at 11:23 pm |
Why, was I not informed of this post sooner? I so need to send this to various friends who are presently in Phase III after going through the Phases I & II and shall soon…be with us in Phase IV.
1st step) My name is Suki & I am an addict… 🙂
August 12, 2008 at 4:21 pm |
yeah, I wanna know too…is there hope for recovery?
August 12, 2008 at 4:23 pm |
This is so true!
When I was first introduced to it, I was all like Twitter what? I don’t need no Twitter.
Then I realized how many smart, inspiring and truly amazing people were on and wanted to join in and be like them.
Yes, I am an addict now.
August 12, 2008 at 4:42 pm |
this is SO getting bookmarked and referred to often. ZOMG, and, like, tweeted! 🙂
August 12, 2008 at 4:44 pm |
This is fantastic. Now I know how to explain twitter to the world!
August 12, 2008 at 4:59 pm |
Nothing short of brilliant.
Going to be Internet deprived for over a week. Don’t know how I will cope.
August 12, 2008 at 5:04 pm |
Hi everyone, glad you got a chuckle out of this.
@pistachio – Thanks for retweeting it! You added 50% to my daily traffic with one short sweet tweet! (Even though you credited Todd for it and not me.)
@Stales – Well, this doesn’t exactly help explain the appeal of twitter to non-twitterers, just helps to explain the denial-addiction cycle of twitterers.
@Jessica- I just returned from a week of camping with my Webelo cub scout. And no, I didn’t check twitter from my iPhone, and yes, I did survive, even thrive, without my hourly hits of twittaine. It can be done! In fact, I recommend it for Phase 5, which is twitter burnout, which if survived, can result in reduced twitter dependancy. (as pointed out by @itsjustbrent and @creeme earlier in these comments.)
August 12, 2008 at 6:39 pm |
Great post and thanks for keeping me laughing for another few hours!
September 10, 2008 at 10:04 am |
We are supposed to have friends outside of Twitter? DAMN! I knew I should get out more.
Step 6: First thing in the morning, tweet “Good Morning” to everyone.
November 9, 2008 at 10:36 pm |
Hilarious! So perfect and absolutely accurate!
I know many people stuck in the first phase, but am helping them move to Phase 2 one Baby Boomer at a time.
November 10, 2008 at 9:31 am |
There is no escape…
(Good Thing!)
Great to meet you at BOSup! 🙂
November 10, 2008 at 11:28 am |
Truth is funny.
December 22, 2008 at 8:39 pm |
[…] just getting started with twitter, here are my beginners’ twitter tips, and here are the four phases of twitter. (It ALWAYS begins with […]
January 9, 2009 at 5:53 am |
[…] 9, 2009 by sunflowerluv Back to my twitter way. Check out the four phrases of Twitter by Morriss Partee. I have also seen this pattern lately when asking friends to try and see how twitter is: There are […]
January 13, 2009 at 2:04 am |
[…] of Twitter when first hearing about it… then they become addicts (as has been documented in The Four Phases of Twitter). Also, as you absorb other people’s advice and opinions about Twitter, it helps to keep this […]
November 18, 2009 at 1:16 pm |
[…] To tweet or not to tweet: Is it even a question? By Morriss Partee Like everyone else, I was dragged kicking and screaming into the twitterverse. I think nearly universally, everyone hearing about Twitter for the first time thinks that it’s a dumb idea, one that has zero business use, and only marginal personal use. I think this reaction happens nearly universally because you can’t see or understand Twitter until you get inside it. […]