One could make a very real argument that I am addicted to Twitter. I love the short, funny interactions with others, most of whom I do not know. I love to see whats on other people's minds. While 99% of my interactions on Twitter are funny, sarcastic and easy I have seen the darker side to Twitter. The darker side are those that use the anonymous nature of this medium to be bullies and well....to just be cruel.
I have over 500 followers. Most of whom I don't interact with every day. There is what I would call my core group. We greet each other and have in many ways gotten to know each other through twitter. I adore my core group. They are an eclectic bunch. They really make me laugh and are sweet.
Recently, I have noticed how some folks like to form a cabal or gang. While tweeting the other day, I received a DM (Private Direct Message) from a follower informing me of some transgression that another of my followers did to her. I replied as I always do. "Oh, really? That person has always been a sweet heart to me, sorry you are going thru that." I never pay much attention to issues that people have between each other. As long as you are friendly to me, I will be friendly to you. These are, after all, not really real relationships. That day I continued to tweet away. Another DM came in. I looked and it was actually 4 DM's. From the original girl and 3 more from others who were now embroiled in some scandal.
The very last DM I opened made my mouth drop open. "If you continue to follow this guy, we will unfollow you!" Holy bat balls, what? I thought. Am I in High School, no Grammer School? I thought about how to handle it and decided to not respond at all. Just as promised I lost 6 people that day and 4 more the next. I guessed I was shown who was boss. I actually laughed if my memory serves me.
I used this as a very tame example of what really happens on Twitter. For starters not many people use their full legal names. I use mine. While my call tag is Mintedroyalty, my name follows right after, Lucien Simpson. I have noticed that people create sub email accounts and come up with cute names for twitter. I don't understand why? Are they afraid that what they say can and will be used against them in real life? Guessing by what I have seen flash by, I would think I am on to something.
The gangs or cabal's that roam Twitter are many. They bully, harass, threaten and intimidate many. I have seen families threatened in real life. If there is peer pressure in real life, then on Twitter its 10 fold. The pressure to come up with funny, interesting tweets constantly is hard. Trying to please everyone, all the time is overwhelming. Many cannot cope with it. I am sure we will see some "condition or illness" be "discovered" by the Psychiatric Association soon as a result of this type of behaviors.
What I have found is that I am not a group person. I have never liked to sit in a circle with others. I have never craved acceptance from the majority. Maybe, just maybe, being gay and Jewish has allowed me to remain above the fray on Twitter. Maybe its the fact that I have my head up my ass most of the time and never even know when a scandal hits. I find I am always asking why? What happened? Lately, I have even stopped asking.
I love Twitter because of the immediacy of it. When news happens it hits Twitter before anywhere else. During the whole Occupy Wall Street Movement, I was in a Tweet chain. Someone would tweet from the scene and then all of us who had signed up retweeted the original tweet to all of our followers and so on. Like the old Breck commercials. It was dynamic and from the comfort of my own home I felt I was part of the movement and actually helping it. Knowledge is power.
The gangs of Twitter use the peer pressure, the immediacy, and the anonymity of Twitter to behave badly and bully many. I have watched as those who may or may not have deserved to be corrected or addressed end up actually fighting for their sanity. I have heard many stories about people who have actually thought or tried suicide because of what happens on Twitter.
Once this poor woman left Twitter, they decided to start on me. I don't put up with bullying of any kind. I just blocked them as they popped off and moved one. For me, you loose one follower and gain two more. This whole situation just made it very clear to me to be very careful to not think anyone on Twitter is a "friend". Friends are for real life.
Has anyone ever asked you to "unfollow" someone? If so, did you? Have others on Twitter told you stories about other users? Did you listen? Did you participate in alienating someone who had not wronged you? Have you asked others to "unfollow" someone? If you answered yes to any of these questions chances are you part of a Twitter gang. You might not have even realized that you were.
My best advice for the use of Twitter? Keep it light, funny and never mistake your followers for friends. Of course you can always find a friend, I have. I have met a couple of people that I actually talk on the phone with. They are great new social additions to my life but nothing more. We share a common sense of humor or a love of a TV program. These people will not hold my hand when I break up with a boyfriend, but rather we can laugh about a current episode of a TV program.
Do me a favor? Next time your on Twitter, just watch, listen. See if you can spot a gang of people harassing a person. If you do, offer the victim some kind words of encouragement. Most of all be your own person. Don't let others dictate who you interact with. Stand up and say no more to the random bullying and gang like mentality that seems to rear its ugly head on Twitter.
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