I recently read an article on Mashable.com about a guy who proposed on Twitter. I don't know about you, but this would really piss me off. I expect a ring, in person, not an @reply. I expect to be looking at his face, not his profile picture. And I expect his voice to be dripping with love and express emotions in more than 140 characters.
I expressed all of this to the Twitterverse, and a follower @replied with an interesting point:
She said yes, didn't she? How is it any different from the stadium jumbotron proposal?
The jumbotron really is like an enormous Tweet. You are limited to the number of words that fit on the jumbotron and broadcast the question in front of hundreds of people. On Twitter, you are limited to 140 characters and broadcast the question in front of hundreds of tweeple. What's the difference?
The key difference is that the jumbotron proposal still happens in person. Hypothetically, the couple is at the game together. Via video, we see him beam, her break down. They kiss. You can feel the energy and excitement in the stadium. You lose all this over Twitter. Unless, of course, they were tweeting next to each other on the couch. In which case, I give him props. That's kind of cute.
My point is that some things, like proposals, should be left out of the public social media. Emotional matters need a human element to provide full satisfaction and ensure we don't end up in therapy 10 years down the road. Why do you think online dating eventually goes offline? Why do you think SATC made an entire episode about Berger breaking up with Carrie on a Post-it?
As our generation hurdles into the technological sphere, we just need to adopt a little caution concerning what's appropriate via technology and what isn't. We have emotions that need to be fed, and so far, Apple hasn't created an app for this. Until they do, I'm going to request an in-person proposal. Well...if I have 1,500+ Twitter followers, maybe you can tweet me from across the dinner table.
What would you do?
