Social networking is all the rage. It seems it’s the way forward when communicating anything and everything. Each to their own, there are those who love Facebook, those who love google plus, those who Skype, SMS, liveprofile to name a few ways of maintaining open communications and then there’s twitter who people either love or hate.
As a twitter user way before I entered the world of Facebook, I’ve often wondered why people choose it over others and also are they the same in each networking site of choice. It appears when the answers came flooding in, that one of the biggest attractions on twitter is the avatar. That “secret identity” if you choose it……suddenly you can be whomever you want to be. Believe me there is an avatar for every type of twitter persona
When I was talking with and responding to twitter at large, I got a lot of different reasons why they liked twitter and who they were on twitte. I shall try to share with you what the big attraction is and who the main personas are, just in case you want to try it or roll another character ;D
Twitter is firstly led by your avi (avatar) and your persona. You can be as private or as public as you like, in fact you can be whomever you want. As close or as far removed from the real you as possible. Your avi is a name and a picture that sums up your persona. There is also a short bio describing what your persona will be tweeting about. It can also link to your blog/business or email if you choose. The different avis and pics is what intrigues me most and as I started to really watch twitter, several different characters were on my timeline and also on studying deeper found references to other types of twitter users.
Typically there are the chatterboxes. They chat incessantly and often land in twitter jail if they go over the limit. What do they talk about…..well just about everything, but the tweets are racked up during conversations when at times one word answers or phrases wrapped up in asterisks fly to and fro. If you follow both tweeters an amusing tennis type convo unravels on your timeline. At any time another tweeter can jump in. I’ve seen two in a convo develop to a major group chat, fab to be part of or to read.
Then there are the flirts, some blatant, some leading,some coy. Twitter can be a hotbed of titillation and potty mouthed humour. Normally these tweeters say on their avi what their ‘game’ is and warn people not to follow if easily offended.
The team followbacks. These tweeters seem to need to have as many followers as possible, as if this magic number validates them and shows the world how “popular” they really are. I often wonder are they loners in real life as I’ve no idea how you can maintain any sorta link with thousands of people online and also be so popular in real life……
Celeb tweeters tend to have thousands of followers but don’t tend to follow them all back. They also tend not to chat but status update instead. Is very cool when your fave celeb does answer back though 🙂
The twitter fans. Now I’m not talking fans of twitter but the sports fans or any group or hobbiest. These tweeters seek eachother out and chat constantly about their passion. They have #phrases they put into every tweet. For me it’s #manutd it alerts my non fan twitter followers that I’m all about the twitter football at that time. They see the hashtag they can choose to scroll on by 🙂
If you have mixed personas and a mixed follower list it’s a good idea to have such hashtags to allow choice to read or not to read. The lovely thing about twitter is, if you don’t like someone’s tweets all you have to do is unfollow….. Simples
Then there’s the stalkers or prowlers. These tweeters can be quite dangerous, especially if you are lonely, as in DM (private chat) they can get quite suggestive or salacious. Some love that sort of thing, others feel totally violated and question how they were perceived on the main timeline to receive such attention. These tweeters can be blocked and reported. No need to be polite, get rid. Twitter is supposed to benefit you, not make you feel worse.
The blogging tweeters; like myself bloggers love to write, whether it’s fashion, tech, photos, personal, twitter is the perfect vehicle to advertise your blog and gather readers. The more followers you have the bigger the reader potential. The use of RTs to retweet a bloggers tweet can be the ripple affect required to make something small become very popular with a few button presses. Thus is the power of twitter.
For information, twitter spreads news quicker and faster than the real news gets it. Tweeters at the scene acting like mini reporters, pictures, descriptions, detailsall uploaded at pace. At times I’ve known about situations half an hour before I see it on the sky news ticker feed.
Twitter is also a great way to meet people. A lot of tweeters admitted to being lonely. Not in a loner way but in a ” my circumstances dictate I’m on my own” think parents when kids are in bed, people who are home from work, people who work odd shifts, people who don’t have a house full of other people, people in their bedrooms. They are on their own. They want to chat. They discover people who are interested in what they are into, or just want to chat back. Suddenly they’ve gone from feeling lonely to having a bunch of friends bid them goodnight like the Waltons :D. People who chat away as time permits and thoroughly enjoy the interaction. We all need that 🙂
Others discovered people who were in the same situation as them, a mom who’s son is in Afghanistan who has company whilst she battles with insomnia. A horsemad tweeter in England who’s new best friend lives in the states and owns a ranch. A bunch of fashion mad girls egging eachother on or talking them down from buying THAT pair of shoes. The locals who chat about anything and everything and tentatively strike up enough info to have a tweetup and meetup for real.
Twitter has been such an eye-opener re honesty online. As discussed above, sometimes these people are more honest as they are an avi. No names, so they can say what they want without feeling judged. There are those who can share too much, there are the attention seekers, the drama queens, the pedantic tweeters, the opinionated tweeters. It reflects real life, but unlike real life, in twitter two button presses gets rid of the unwanted. Debates can be had, or if you don’t want it block those who make you feel bad or change your avi. I’ve had first hand experience re hassle and learnt by my reactions what was right/wrong and how to deal with future hassle before it starts. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. It made me want to leave twitter completely. I took time out, started again. I now have two accounts for two different reasons. At present both are locked as I like to control who follows me now. I have veered back to my original account as the dust settles, but I’m glad I’ve both.
I think in a modern society twitter is an important tool. But it can be addictive. It can lead to infidelity. It can ruin relationships. But it’s not twitter perse, it’s the tweeters and how they use it. Marriage guidance counsellors tend to advise if a relationship is in trouble stop social networking. Get rid of the distractions til you work out what the problem is.
As in all relationships. You both need to be on the same page. Both my husband and I socially network. When one of us didn’t, it made the other look disengaged from the relationship as they were attached to the phone. Whilst The non tweeter wanted to do the activity the other wanted to tweet about what activity they were going to do!
This need to share what they were doing overtook the actual activity. How crazy is that. And how selfish! Sometimes it’s good to step away from twitter and actually live in the real world.
So I hope this gives a little insight to twitter and its tweeters. Did you spot yourself? Are there twitter types I missed out? Feel free to let me know 🙂
