Twitter is so 2007

One week ago I met Kara Swisher in Rome. She asked me about Twitter in Italy and I told her we were about Twitter in 2007 but now we've moved on (we had read about Twitter here and here). Mainstream web users are all on Facebook (Facebook has been huge here since last summer) while web-savvy people interested in microblogging now prefer FriendFeed with its richer features.
I thought it was the first time something Americans where going mad for was already out of fashion in Italy.
Maybe that is why Kara was not satisfied with my answer. She was attending an adsellers meeting, and the people she had talked to were not exactly web addicted. I would say not one of them knew who Arianna Huffington was before reading her name on the speakers panel (Arianna! Don't fire me! Italian bloggers love you!). She stayed at a wonderful hotel near Via Veneto where they know all the tricks to make you believe Dolce Vita still lives on.
So her conclusions about Italians and technology were a bit simplified and some of her italian readers protested, but it wasn't her fault. We all try to understand countries by talking with the cab driver.
Actually, we're doing many good things with the web and with technology in Italy. Just as americans do, I would say. Except for Twitter. I guess that we share the opinion of Doonesbury's Kim Rosenthal, from last saturday's strip: "It's just a simple oversharing tool. It's like a frisbee: harmless interactive fun. It has its practical uses. But I predict most people will come to realize it's a banal timesuck and move on. Until then, enjoy!".
We will wait for you, for once in our life.

Comments

[Dea Elmi]

Dear Mr. Sofri,

I am so disappointed in your blog post re Twitter. I am an american living in Italy and I have to tell you that the digital divide is alive and well here where I live. People actually still have business cards with no email address and website information.

I found your tone to be sarcastic, condescending and patronizing and quite frankly I resent being condescended to by someone who is from a place where there is precious little innovation, very little productivity and an almost feudal political and power structure system. Despite your predictions, I love twitter, I am excited about it and am convinced that it has leveled the playing field for small and medium businesses. I think that it will become a powerful search engine one day and give Google a run for its money. While not an Italian citizen, I am a resident in your country and quite frankly I found the tone in your post and its content t to be short sighted, irrelevant and embarrassing, nothwithstanding the fact that you are entitled to your opinion. Non amo gl'atteggiamenti "sfottenti" Dea :(

[Dea Elmi]

Dear Mr. Sofri,

after re-reading your blog post re twitter, seeing Kara Swisher's video in which you appear, language and cultural differences, I realize that I may have come across like an "ugly american".

If I could edit my comment I would, I realize now after watching the video and reading other posts re internet censorship and your country that we are really on the same side, sorry.

I am not used to the Italian way of being ironic, I always take umbrage at it, and believe me living here it makes my life challenging. While you are not enamoured with Twitter, I realise that you are all for technology, and its being available to all!

So now you have a new fan and well....e-friend, I hope you accept my apology for the incomprehension. Ciao! :) xo Dea

[Ciroip]

It seem Luca just 'don't get it'.
'Americans' use internet. For 'Italians' is still mainly fashion

[Federico Pucci]

"Follow HuffPost on Twitter..."

isn't it ironic?