STOP EVERYTHING.
“Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter.”
With 13 simple words, Benedict XVI (a.k.a. @Pontifex) began his first tweet. The Pope. Tweeting.
Thank God someone already replied with a snarky tweet.
There was some slight buzz around 4 this morning – I’ve had a bout of insomnia and haven’t slept yet – about the Pope tweeting, but I thought it was a joke. Then someone I follow mentioned him and I clicked through to the account page. It had a blue check and everything, verified, and I didn’t know how to react.
So I just started laughing.
Which then I thought might be bad. After centering myself again, I thought to myself, “Who would even follow the Pope on Twitter?” Apparently, 14 people I follow (four of whom I know personally) and 787,509 other people (P.s. I’m still typing this post and that number has gone up by the thousands.)
I left the Church after my sophomore year of college, and I don’t believe in organized religion. But perhaps the Pope is someone I should be following based on the fact that he’s a world leader? I know I’m a Millennial, but sometimes I feel so old-fashioned about this social media stuff. The idea that I can follow the Pope now makes me feel squirmy.
Benedict, by the way, only follows 7 people: his other accounts in different languages.
Egotistical much, Benny?
This is going to be one of those days when social media is overwhelming.