I know, it wasn’t that long ago that I posted comments about my concerns for Twitter – but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it (quite the contrary)… I just have concerns about how Twitter might be perverted by those seeking the next-gen attention-getting-spam-effect.

However, by and large, I like Twitter. I’ve heard many reasons expressed, by others, as to why they like Twitter but for me – it’s all about the water cooler.

I think I give the “water cooler” factor such high marks because my life took a dramatic turn some years ago and I’m getting more and more entrenched in it – I became self-employed and work from a home office.

I have a pretty high tolerance for reclusiveness. The internet is a great way to enjoy reclusive socialization (is there such a thing?). Twitter, however, is beyond email and news aggregators (the latter being something I think is a thing of the past). Twitter isn’t as formal or demanding of a response as an email. It’s also not as “official” as a blog post. Instead, for me, Twitter fills a void in my work-from-home-life I’ve missed for a long, long time – congregating around the water cooler (or photocopier or whatever) and just sharing tidbits of information for a minute or two, or until the boss comes down the hall.

Twitter can be as spontaneous or well-thought-out as you want it to be. It can be trivial (“hey, I just ate cheese!”) or it can be important (“I was laid off of my job today.”). With the 140 character limit it’s sometimes just intrinsically funny because of brevity (“Burritos shouldn’t require salt. Yet, here we are.). Heck, the obtuseness of Twitter posts (called “tweets”) is often worth the price of admission (“Damn right it’s OCD, dog-pimp!”).

It all brings back the valuable water cooler experience. Sometimes you read things that you won’t read elsewhere. Sometimes you read things you wish hadn’t just taken second out of your life to read. Other times you read things that entertain or simply let you know you’re not stuck in your own echo chamber.

So, for me, after all its other good qualities, I value Twitter because I can loiter around and hear the gurgling sound and watch the bubbles every time I press the button.