The Twitter Obsession: Twitter as a Ritual

The Twitter Obsession: Twitter as a Ritual

The theory of rituals would apply to the current fascination and obsession with Twitter. I would categorize the use of Twitter as a public ritual performed by an individual for the purpose of social bonding.  Twitter is simply a place to post very short comments, thoughts, ideas, and generally anything that comes to mind at any time of the day, called tweets. With Twitter, you can sign on to “follow” other people and view their tweets.

The theory of ritual describes our obsession with Twitter because so many people have formed a strong habit, or daily ritual, of tweeting and checking other people’s tweets. The ritual comes into play when tweeting has become such habit that a person tweets at specific times of the day, every day. For example a person who would be considered to have a ritual with tweeting would not be able to get ready for the day without tweeting, might have to tweet before breakfast, upon arrival to work, during lunch, afternoon break, and so forth. They would be tweeting at specific intervals and these tweets could even interfere with their daily job, family life, social life, and other areas. A simple search of “Obsession with Twitter” turns up hundreds of blogs and articles of people who are admittedly obsessed with Twitter.

I think that considering tweeting and following other tweets as a ritual brings more understanding to people being obsessed with Twitter. According to Elizabeth Hartney on About.com, “people with addictions tend to develop rituals in the ways that they carry out addictive behaviors. Rituals are an important part of the addictive process, since addicts may expend as much energy in the rituals of addictions as the behavior itself” (2010). Since I am exploring the topic of twitter as an obsession, which is also considered an addiction, the discussion of tweeting as a ritual is very valid.

References

Hartney, E. (2010, Aug. 6). What is a Ritual?. Retrieved November 26, 2011, from: http://addictions.about.com/od/sexaddiction/g/defritual.htm.

Sibberson, F. (2011). Addicted to Twitter: How did it happen?. Retrieved November 26, 2011, from: https://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/870.cfm.