Social Media Stress Syndrome

I can honestly say that after almost 2 years of being on Twitter, I think I have finally gotten the knack of it.  With that being said, I am still constantly amazed by some of the phenomena I have seen evolve on social media, particularly Twitter.

I have written in the past about the gang mentality which seems to thrive on Twitter.  Lately, though, I have begun to see some amusing, albeit odd types.  Let me go on the record right now and save everyone the hassle of getting all worked up over what I have to say.  I am not the judge, jury and certainly anything I have to say is just my opinion.  If I say anything that provokes thought in a reader, then I feel I have done what I intended to do, open a discussion on a particular topic.

There are several types of personalities on Twitter.  We have the strong personality.  This is the user who loves to just throw it out there and really doesn't have much regard for how anything they tweet is received.  Typically, this is the person I tend to gravitate to.  I enjoy people who are just themselves.  I don't feel the need so much to agree with what they say,  but to be honest, its always nice to see the other side of an issue or topic.

The Pleaser personality is another type of use.  These people love to post cute pics of kittens and puppies and always seem to agree with what the prevailing thought is on Twitter.  Their tweets are most often fluffy and hugable.  We saw many of these types of users during the whole Casey Anthony trial and other huge news events.  While timid at first glance, they can be like pit bulls in their false sense of what is acceptable and not acceptable behavior on twitter.  I have been known to tell these type of users if you don't like my tweets then you shouldn't be following me.  I live by my own moral compass and am loath to allow anyone else to dictate to me what I can and cannot say.

The Rabbit Personality is always amusing to me.  They rarely tweet and lurk in the background behind a locked account.  I always find this type of user odd and worrisome.  They seem to have an almost peculiar fear of being open.  Maybe its just me, but this type of user always makes me wonder exactly what are they hiding?  In my experience, this type of user usually doesn't interact very well and becomes embroiled in twitter wars or dramas.  I normally tend to stay clear of this type of user.  While I have many people I follow who have locked accounts, they are not the same as a Rabbit Personality.  I have from time to time, for various reasons locked my account down, but Rabbit Personalities seem to be very preoccupied with keeping people away which is the opposite intention of social media.  Odd, just very odd.

The Comic Personality is where I am.  I love to go on Twitter and crack jokes and have fun with my followers.  I normally tend to stay clear of the wars and love to wise crack about the absurdity of life.  This type of personality seems to interact well with most other users.  I love to "snark" on the Real Housewives and really enjoy the gossipy feeling I get interacting with other users during the shows.

The Politico's.  This type of personal comes onto Twitter with a very clear and defined agenda.  They are expounding their views on the world of politics.  I see a very familiar pattern of behavior with this type of personality.  The do not discuss with people their views but rather just announce they have this great link or insight into a topic and anyone who doesn't agree can be damned.  I tend to stay away from this type of user.  I enjoy discussing politics but come from the camp of debate can be done without the hate.  Respect and tolerance reign supreme in my universe so this type of user and I almost always clash.

The above personalities are a very generic/generalized glimpse  of some of the more common personalities on Twitter.  The last personality I want to discuss is the Fringe Dweller Personality.  This type of personality is the darkest and for many, the most feared.  I have to admit I have run across a few of this type of user.  The Fringe Dweller Personality is the user who has more than a few accounts and from my experience they tend to have some form of mental/social issues and the anonymous nature of Twitter seems to draw out their stalker-ish, abusive and at times criminal behaviors.

Fringe Dwellers can come in the form of the ever suffering victim or the upfront, in your face abuser.  For the ever suffering victimized Fringe Dweller, every interaction is a way to reinforce their sense that the entire world is out to get them and hence, they have the right to react to perceived slights and insults in any way they deem necessary.  This is the user who will create a situation on Twitter between people and when people react, they scream they are being tortured, bullied and tormented.  From the many accounts this type of user has, they say ugly, untrue, and abusive things about other users on Twitter.  They are always lurking somewhere in the background under various names and tend to band together with other Fringe Dwellers in cabals of hate and suspicion.

I recently found one of my more troublesome followers was acting up with other users.  This was not the first time this user had been embroiled in what I term a war on Twitter.  I noticed this particular user was using way too many screen names to insult, intimidate and harass a certain group of users.  This particular group of users are not the horrible group whose sole purpose is to ridicule this user.  I found that this one user was in the middle of several on going wars and had even taken to setting up hate sites about all of the other users.  This particular person was still fighting the same war for over 2 years now.  One person cannot seemingly have the same issue with hundreds of other users and always be innocent.  The one common denominator between them all was this one particular user and her behaviors.

While my personal interactions with this user were always pleasant and friendly, I found she always courted drama and had many people she interacted with who were very abusive and disturbing to me personally.   So I sent her a Direct Message and informed her while I was not taking any sides, I saw things getting stirred up again and didn't want to be involved, so I was unfollowed her.  This Fringe Dweller was very quick to level insults and try to draw me down to her level of behavior.  Since I have unfollowed, this user has been fairly predictable in the ferocity of her rants aimed at me.  For me the situation is over.  I was correct in my perception of her.  She is blocked now and life can continue.

The Fringe Dweller is what makes many take vacations from and even stop using Twitter.  I personally love Twitter.  Its fun and I love to meet new and interesting people.  The Fringe Dweller is very smart and can lull even a self confessed cynic like me into believing them.  I find its just easier to get rid of them and move on.

After a couple of years on Twitter feel I have a firm grasp on how to enjoy the medium.  Many users don't have the insight, experience I have in the on line world, especially on the new and always evolving social media platforms.  Many find themselves drawn into wars, gangs and cabals on social media and get overwhelmed when they have many users coming at them in abusive and threatening ways and as a result have a bad or even terrible experience on Twitter.

I have noticed there seems to be a very different feel on each platform.  The feel on Twitter is very different from that of G+ or Facebook.  As we move forward and these social platforms continue to change and define how we interact with each other I hope that we can keep up with the pace of change and remember to treat each other with tolerance and respect.

Be smart, follow your gut reaction to people and never take any of this seriously.  Think before you share something.  Be aware of how your actions affect others.  Most of all, have some fun.  Life is hard enough without having to make it harder on ourselves by getting involved in social media stress syndrome.