Twitter is filtered by default. Following an account is selective unfiltering of the stream of everything.
-
-
Replying to @nouswaves
Following allows us to make selective perception a conscious and upfront choice.
1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes -
Replying to @nouswaves
It also allows us to re-use and hone this filter over time.
1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes -
Replying to @nouswaves
However as we tend towards larger "following counts" the operations that we can perform on this filter become less significant.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @nouswaves
Which is in contrast to the nature of most real spaces - filters that are shared and therefore generally immutable to meddling.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @nouswaves
There we immigrate to subscribe. We emigrate to unsubscribe. A far coarser operation.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @nouswaves
The nature of virtual space is that it is so cheap we can each own one of our own.
1 reply 1 retweet 3 likes -
Replying to @nouswaves
And the ability to follow a person is actually the ability to silently immigrate them to your own island.
1 reply 1 retweet 1 like -
Replying to @nouswaves
It has to be noted that the analogy breaks a little as they do not perceive their existence in your virtual space.
2 replies 1 retweet 1 like
This relates to the concept of privity described here: http://szabo.best.vwh.net/privity.html "ideal for specifying a variety of cyberspace relationships"
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.