As
a poet and a writer, I have to agree with Joe on the idea of
constraints. Restrictions, parameters, forces of limitation: all of
these require us to do what we as humans do best: problem solve. Like
that lovely cliché, "necessity breeds invention": when confronted with
an obstacle, a constraint, we invent. And we could say the constraint
of 140 characters is as arbitrary as are the rules for writing Haiku.
Yet the latter remains popular, fruitful, and (when done well)
enlightening–after centuries. Does it replace the novel or the essay?
No, it cannot serve the same function. Likewise, no novel can approach
what Basho could in three short lines.

I suppose what I'm suggesting, really, is that like all hip content
these days, it's generated by the user, and it's the user who
determines quality. Just as I'm a better poet than I am a blogger or
tweeter, there'll be people who'll bring the best out of the 140
character form. And I think, what'll continue to define the life cycle
of the technology won't be whether there is portability or not, but
rather whether Twitter or its confederates (like ExecTweets) enhance
our ability to find those who, shall we say, Tweet with the Gods. Seems
like these days there are plenty of worthy practitioners in every
medium, but the media which survives does so on the basis that it's
deliverable to the right audiences, at the right time.