• Awkward TMI is welcome. College girls navigate a complex web of what is okay to say where. On Facebook, you really shouldn’t say awkward personal things in your status at all. Doing that on Facebook usually means you’re seeking attention, and that’s something that people generally frown on. On twitter, the only rule is “don’t be boring,” and the more awkward the details you share, the “realer” you seem (“I have touched so many screens thinking they were touchscreens that were not in fact touchscreens. #21stcenturyproblems”). It’s win-win, if you’re inherently awkward anyway and therefore bad at making facebook statuses. I do not mean to insult twitterers. I consider myself in this category.
  • Twitter is like a drunk diary. Not everyone has friends who will blog about the things they say drunk, but don’t you wish you did? Twitter is that friend. Few things are more entertaining than waking up in the morning and reading your drunk tweets from the night before. (“Being dunk is the best. I am having so much fun. I love everyone.”) Sending off a bunch of drunk tweets generally also has fewer repercussions than sending off a bunch of drunk texts. You could even say that twitter minimizes bad decisions. But let’s not go that far.
  • You’re allowed to be obsessed with yourself. Don’t you hate it when you have a really clever thought, but no one is around to hear it? With twitter, you can save it for posterity (so that the tree of your brilliance falling in the forest makes a sound, etc). You’re also allowed to be catty at strangers, and because they will probably never know, it’s generally harmless (“I’m the only girl in the room wearing any color, and it happens to be my hot pink lilly murfee scarf. #risdgirls #sorryimnotsorry”).
  • It requires minimal commitment. How long does it take to think of one witty sentence? Not very long. If it takes you longer than three minutes, get off of the internet and go find some wit. If even that doesn’t work, steal the wit from someone else. More than half of my tweets are simply things someone made the mistake of saying in front of me (“I keep losing my cursor. CURSES!” courtesy of my linguistics professor). The point is, twitter will not consume some large chunk of your life like facebook does.
  • Everyone is really nice. Most of the time, when I tweet at someone, they tweet back. Even if they are complete strangers or somewhat famous, they say something nice back, and it’s such a good feeling. You know when you’re out in public, and you’re having a funny conversation with someone, and complete strangers start giggling? Being tweeted-at feels sort of like that. Total strangers think you are pretty cool.

Come on guys. Now that I’ve convinced you, you should definitely follow me on twitter.