Less is more?

I know - not another blog entry about Twitter. But there is yet another development in the user-generated evolution of Twitter.

How much can be packed in 140 characters? How can meaning be embedded in the short and sweet? Did Mark Twain capture it best when he said: “I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead"?

How is the web shaping the way we communicate? Are we witnessing the rise of a new breed of multi-taskers with short-attention spans that seek instant gratification? Could be an interesting bunch.

Snapshot of Twitter recipes, book and love story below.

Twitter Recipes:
Saffron Asparagus Orzo: brwn c orzo/T butter/garlic; +.25t saffron&s+p/2.5c broth. Cvr@low9m; +2c asparagus3m. Fold+8T parmesan. Srv w parm.

Look closely. These are awesome acts of compression. Ingredients, actions, quantities, times and temperatures — both Fahrenheit and Celsius — boiled down to utmost richness, density and clarity. A dish, a meal, a trip to deliciousness magically packed into the tiniest carry-on bag.

"I do this as a coffee-break hobby,” Maureen Evans said. “Kind of like sudoku. I really get a kick out of how complex a recipe I can fit into 140 characters.” The recipes are from her collection of cookbooks and her travels. “They’re solutions to what’s fresh and what’s in season.”

Unpacking tweets for an hour or so in the kitchen is surprisingly challenging. It forces the mind to think harder, to fill gaps, to innovate and improvise. It re-introduces risk and discovery to cooking, which puts you only a short distance from delight.

You’ll find @Maureen at twitter.com/cookbook.

Read more here.

Book: Twitter Wit
Former Gawker writer Nick Douglas made a stir when his book-in-progress called Twitter Wit, a humorous collection of tweets, got picked up by HarperCollins for a pretty penny ($50K). Suddenly a publishing phenomenon that had been happening sporadically in the blogosphere had a new Web 2.0 focus: Twitter.

Read more here.

Digi-love?
Throughout history, many love affairs have been chronicled through poetry, letters and song. In the future, we will have tracks of Twitters to detail the emotional wealth of modern day people, as told in fewer than 140 characters.


What are you condensing into 140 characters?