If You Join Twitter Does That Not By Definition Make You A 'Twit'?

Everybody keeps on telling me I just "gotta" get involved in these social media websites and obviously I am strange but what for?

How "social" and "friendly" is a website?

Which social media website should you join? There are dozens of them in English and many in Spanish and you could spend 6 hours per day just joining these social media sites and for what?

To make "friends?"

Is a "friend" someone you only meet through a website, that you've never actually met in real life and probably never will meet face to face? Or is the hope that you might meet someone special face to face that persuades people to join?

They tell me it's great for business too..

So I ask how many "friends" have you made? And how much new business have you generated?

They all tell me that's it's early days yet?

Some people have told me that they have hired people to help them make "friends" and others have computer programs that help them make "friends."

These are "friends"?

Maybe I should join Twitter and "tweet" people?

But if I join Twitter does that not by definition make me a twit?

Forgive me! But I'm British and the word "twit" immediately springs to mind which - depending on the dictionary you choose - means "a foolish, contemptible person."

According to Twitter though, it's "free service that lets you keep in touch with people through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

What am I doing?

I'm busy!

Too bloody busy to keep on logging onto a website exchanging "quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

Aren't you?

It's really quite ironic because supposedly we're concerned about our freedoms and Big Brother watching us yet hundreds of millions of people are voluntarily joining these social media websites and publicly sharing really intimate details about their lives and revealing exactly what they are doing all day long...

Some people have also claimed that Facebook began with some CIA funding which has raised a few eyebrows...

Yesterday I received an email invitation to "connect online" from someone yesterday to join Facebook and according to his email, he has "957 friends, 14 photos, 0 notes, 160 wall posts and 77 groups."

957 friends?

What is the definition of a friend?

It means different things to different people but let's be honest with each other, if you have two or three good friends you're a really lucky person but 957? Please!

Maybe I'll change my mind in the future but for the time being, I love the friends I have...

My friends are not email addresses, they're real people with whom I can spend an evening where we have a long chat and a few laughs over a good meal and a few bottles of tasty red wine and maybe a cigar after wards.

These are people whom I know and trust, who share hugs and kisses when we see each other, people who I can count on if I ever need help...

But hey! What do I know?

Written by Scott Oliver, author of How To Buy Costa Rica Real Estate Without Losing Your Camisa and Costa Rica's Guide To Making Money Offshore and the Director of Costa Rica Living & Retirement - Secrets To Happiness, a new DVD which reveals all with 14 in depth interviews..