Life and Death on Twitter

Mike Levine workshop alum Pete Iorizzo: When he didn't tweet about Cliff Lee, she knew something was wrong.

During the weekend Steven Smith had posted dozens of Twitter messages, a prolific output that his 578 followers had come to expect.

Smith lived in Scotch Plains, N.J., but place is moot in the Twitter universe. He had a vast network of friends from Albany to Anchorage, an eclectic crew bound by technology and their shared passion — sports, especially the Yankees.

Many knew him only as @stevensmithy.

We're told e-mail, Facebook and Twitter foster an impersonal world in which conversation and personal connection are replaced by 140-character messages.

The life of Steve Smith suggests otherwise.