Dad, stop tweeting! You’re embarrassing me.

I read an interesting Twitter article in the New York Times written by Claire Cain Miller regarding the rise of the social media site that everyone is talking about, including me. The piece suggests that older folks, not younger ones, are responsible for the popularity of Twitter. In fact, the article goes on to say, “just 11 percent of users are between the ages of 12 and 17” and, “Twitter”™s success represents a new model for Internet success. The notion that children are essential to a new technology”™s success has proved to be largely a myth.” Perhaps. But considering that Twitter is largely used on-the-go and entries are often made whilst hacking away on a smart phone, you can kind of understand how the Miley Cyrus set may not consider embracing the technology. When I tweet (oh God, did I just write that, I”™m dating myself) I tend to be doing it from either an iPhone app or from my ultra-portable Mactop computer whilst nibbling on blueberry scone and sucklint on a Pikes Place coffee. O.K., having a portable computer is not out of the question for teens. But slightly contrary to the article, I believe kids find Twitter “lame” not because it isn”™t cool, but because most 7-17 year olds get their cell phones from their parents and their parents pay for their cell plans”“which usually means the cheapest, lamest plan possible. Even if you had a “cool-kid” cell phone plan with smart phone capabilities you need the latest and greatest “cool-kid” hardware to go with it. No kid would be caught dead using an early model clamshell, the kind most parents feel comfortable supplying to their kids. To use Youtube and Facebook all you need is a desktop computer, hence, more younger people use services like those. I”™m not surprised that the tween and teen set find Twitter unfriendly to their world of pay as you go cell phone plans. In my opinion Twitter means you have to have the latest greatest hardware to really take advantage of the power it affords. Even better, it doesn”™t hurt to own a company and use Twitter as a marketing tool by broadcasting deals throughout the day. Not too many teens I know run their own companies. The ones I know rely on an income provided by a summer job at Hot Dog on a stick. It”™s no wonder older farts are responsible for the rise of Twitter”“they”™re the only ones who can afford it.