I WAS not surprised when told last week that even God had signed up to Twitter.
Since May, at least four churches here have taken to the online networking service to send short messages, under 140 characters, or "tweets", to their congregants.
The move is predictable if you consider how societies use existing technology to connect with the like-minded. This has always been true of interest-groups.
When I was a student, I gnatted endlessly on e-mail groups and online chat forums. I was tireless; I was on a Final Fantasy e-mailing list; I gossiped on Internet Relay Chat with band members through the night; and too often my teenage attempts at love, floaty feelings that they were, plunged in the virtual abyss of ICQ.
I must be at an age now where technology is advancing too quickly for me, because I am feeling a little out of breath.
Today, souped up versions of virtual contact abound: Facebook, MSN, Twitter, and although I have accounts on all of them, I am rarely active.
Whenever I sit down and try to answer the ubiquitous "What are you doing now?" question on my Twitter profile, I always take too long to decide what to put up.
So, I ask myself instead: "Do you have something interesting to say?"
I bet if that were the question on Twitter, people would update their profiles far less often.
I started thinking about all this while writing a story about the tweeting churches, because it cannot be easy to keep running with technology as it continually picks up pace.
Pastor Seow How Tan, who tweets for the Heart of God Church, told me Twitter is a great way to stay in touch with his church members.
He said of his newfound tech-tile method of pastoral care: "Not only am I now more available to serve my members' needs, my tweets also help me be a more visible role model to the church’s younger members."
The church, in fact, has several Twitter feeds – one for Pastor Seow, one for the church’s reception team, and one for its worship group.
Other church leaders I spoke with were less enthusiastic, which explains the tottering Twitter pick-up rate here, compared to countries like the United States.
Most whom I spoke with were still, like me, catching up – forget about being ahead in the race. They also had this concern: Yes, there is a need to keep up with technology but it should not stand in for real-life care.
That is a false choice. Interest groups – especially religious ones, since most are centuries-old – serve their community by staying relevant to their needs.
Many companies, shops and schools have already gone virtual; it may not be too long before religious organisations go that way as well.
I agree with the Heart of God Church – that heart-to-hearts can be had online, too. With Twitter, it does not take much to reach out – just a tweet will do.
Now, if only I could fit this blog into 140 characters.