About Me

Sunday 25 July 2010

Twitter Fail


I have to say, I think I am falling out of love with Twitter.

It feels like a lot of relationships all ending at the same time and I feel a little sad about it, but at the same time, I can’t put my finger on what Twitter is about at the moment.

I have been open about how much Twitter has helped me and I am the first to admit that I have been a little addicted at times, but it has, I believe changed me in a positive way. I have made a number of friends and a few very good friends who I know will be long-term buddies. I have travelled to meet people and at times when I have been lonely on my own, or when I have had a bad day at work, I have been able to get some support and kindness from some lovely people and virtual hugs always work.

So why am I falling out of love with it? Well, I don’t think I like what it is becoming and the avenues it is used for. Sometimes I feel it is a popularity contest, yet as stated by @iamhewhoisiam, ‘It is more about the quality of followers as opposed to quantity’ I can’t agree with this more. Twitter is about dialogue and conversation, about discussion and kindness and not about bullying, as we have seen this week with Keith Chegwin. I missed most of the issues this week around Chegwen but picked up on it from Diary of a Ledgers blog. Cheggers was in the wrong but he didn’t deserve such a response.

Twitter has also made me feel sad recently because of how people air their insecurities and their troubles. I know things are said and photos are posted because of a craving for attention, which is fine but there is no need for them to be so open – people will always respond anyway because they are nice people. I don’t really understand the mentality of it. I just wish they could see they are beautiful people who perhaps need to look at making some changes in their lives to find the complete happiness they deserve.

Then there is the clique. I have noticed over the past few weeks this has got worse. Some people only talking to particular friends which again is fine, but if someone tweets you, whether you follow or not, isn’t it just polite to respond? Or embrace what the point of Twitter is and have conversations with other people as well as the same few. Twitter has been a bit of a lonely space for me and I don’t know why. I don’t think my tweets have changed and I don’t think I have done anything offensive but the interaction just doesn’t seem to be there.

On Wednesday, I had a work meeting about a one of the brands I manage and had to talk about why a game/treasure hunt that I ran through Twitter didn’t quite work. To me it was fun and easy, but with only a few responses, it was decided that Twitter is still too new and people don’t understand it. I found this hard to understand; having been on Twitter for nearly 18 months it makes sense to me and it does work both on a social and business level. But thinking about my friends, they aren’t on it, so maybe it is still new and we haven’t all worked out what it is for.

And maybe that is it. Maybe many of the people I used to tweet a lot with are now busy with their lives, that they no longer understand the need or perhaps just taking a step back to see what happens with it.

Maybe I am just getting busy with life. In any case, Twitter doesn’t seem to be doing for me right now but I know I can’t walk away.

It has power.. I will give it that!

10 comments:

Nessa Louise said...

I know what you mean. At times there seems to be a lack of communication for a "social networking" site.

I fear that it may be the opposite from "too new" though. The longer I'm on it, the more people I follow and the more friends I make. Sadly, I am at the point now that I rarely actually read the timeline. There is just so much going on that I can't keep up, so don't bother.

However you decide to react to the loss of your twitter mojo, please make sure you exchange contact info with the special people you've met, so we can still keep in touch.

Jo said...

Thanks Nessa, I don't think I will be walking away completely, just to step back for a little why. Those special people I have met are also now facebook friends so you won't be getting rid of me that easily!
x

Anonymous said...

Twitter has caused me as much joy as it has heartbreak (Literally, in one specific case.). A lot of people just don't get it, it's not a popularity contest, to see who can get most followers or 'favourite stars', so I tend to try and steer clear of that and those people.

I had a big clear out recently, there are a couple of good widgets that let you clean house and have a look at who you are following but isn't following you and I was surprised at the people who used to be there who aren't now. So I got rid of them. It was kind of cleansing and it is allowing me to make new connections which is what Twitter is really about.

Trying to explain Twitter is hard, even to people who use it sometimes. But the great thing about a network is that if it becomes too enclosed, you can branch off and join/start a new one.

@maverick99sback said...

Spot on JoJo!

Unknown said...

Interesting comments...
a) To some extent it's human nature to want to be popular -- where I find it goes over the line is when people follow or are followed without any true interaction, which surely is the sign of a "relationship". I usually end up following people that reply to me, that I want to join in a conversation with... In particular the thing that bugs me know is ppl sending links to "use this site, get 1000 followers quick". As you say, what's the point

b) Bullying - agree, no excuse for this. Honest dialogue, yes. to some extent the more popular the user esp celebrity, then the more I can see this is a danger

c) insecurities - seen a few examples of this, worries me sometime -- I think it's great ppl will try to get engaged in the ecosystem to make friends and strike up those conversations though.. again it's a grey line

d) clique - This happens everywhere though doesn't it - facebook, friends chatting -- to some extent again it's human nature. I too though don't like it when ppl don't respond. Though to be honest it doesn't happen a lot. And of course once someone has 1000s of followers it becomes more understandable.

I think we all also need to make an effort to specifically reach out to other communities that we might not otherwise engage with. On a variety of issues, in different countries etc. Maybe that way we can all make the world a better place

So do you think facebook does it better? For me if anything I find fb more confusing. Twitter is more like a stream of consciousness - thoughts read out load whilst facebook is more like email, blog or diary.

On a commercial front what I value is honest & helpful comments/contact from organizations -- for example in the past I tweeted about a vodafone issue & they got in touch. That's fine -- and actually they seems to be working it very well. others just spam on keyword searches, that is annoying.

So overall I'm really enjoying twitter & have made some friends that I've met in "real life" too - and others' that I'll communicate with online regularly, some in places far and wide. I'm sure it will continue to evolve

Phew probably doesn't make sense, but not going to read now!

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Unknown said...

Funny -- that post was originally one. I got a "request too large error".

Time to be quiet I think!

Unknown said...

many ppl agree that it's not all about the numbers -- http://www.lesanto.com/pt/?p=247

Anonymous said...

I gave you an award on my blog, so sweet of me no?

http://shedoesotherstuff2.blogspot.com/2010/08/and-award-goes-to.html

I've left twitter again, I just can't be doing with it. Wish I could leave facebook to but hey ho. ;0)

x hel x