TRY A CLICHÉ

#SMED11

‘A cliché is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, rendering it a stereotype, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. The term is frequently used in modern culture for an action or idea which is expected or predictable, based on a prior event. Used sparingly, they may succeed. However, cliché in writing or speech is generally considered a mark of inexperience or unoriginality. (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

Although Laura Haden indicates, ‘avoid them like the plaque – they make for a great book title, but lousy writing…’ (suspense@suspense.net / http://suspense.net), for the purpose of this week’s blog, I have selected to focus on a few which I deem relevant given the tight assignment schedules the majority of students had to adhere to during the past two weeks.

1. ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’
2. ‘Time flies when you're having fun’

On a personal level, I am in complete disagreement with the first cliché. Compared to the average age of students in the Social Media class, I can identify with the cliché, ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ – in this case the tricks of Twitter. Recent count indicated my current tweets of 600 is way above the required number of tweets as per end May 2011. I can also confidently confirm that another ‘mature student’ has already clocked up more than 700 tweets. Very impressive, and in complete contradiction with the afore-mentioned cliché.

I believe a more appropriate cliché would be ‘Time flies when you're having fun’. Because I am having so much fun and enjoying Twitter engagement with fellow students as well as following others, particularly in the rail-related industry, I’ve not realized that the number of tweets have significantly increased over a relatively short space of time.

In conclusion, whereas in February 2011 the expected number of tweets felt like ‘ Mount Twitter Everest, I believe that ‘Twitter Base Camps’ have been passed, and ‘Twitter Summit’ is in sight. Effortlessly – time flies if you’re having fun!