Tweet Tweet!

Nope, not birds this time - well after all we're not birdwatchers you know! This time I'm going to talk about Twitter - that well known "micro-blogging" site where you can say whatever is on your mind, so long as it doesn't take more than 140 characters...

It's a bit of a marmite thing isn't it - the world seems to be divided between those that love it, and those that hate it with a passion bordering on fear - you know the ones, they call it things like "Twatter" as though by being disparaging they can ward off any possible contamination. I'm firmly in the first camp though - if I was going to be forced at gunpoint, today, right now (far fetched I know, but work with me on this) to step away totally from either Facebook or Twitter, I'd be scrabbling for the "delete account" button on my FB profile in seconds. Twitter has so many advantages - the greatest of which must surely be that 140 character limit. Why? Well quite simply, because PEOPLE CAN WHINGE LESS! Oh sure, there are still some that will manage it, but it is, in some ways, less annoying. FB has become synonymous for people using it for attention seeking, for "poor me" cries, for posting that they are "Terribly upset, I can't even begin to say" in a bid to get their "friends" to virtually gather round and ask what's wrong, at which point they will respond with something like "I've emailed you!" to the chosen few - well if you don't want to talk about it, don't bloody well write it on an effectively public messaging platform then! Don't even think about using your own status to have a moan about such things though will you - if you do you'll have several people huffily say "Do you mean ME?!" (they don't think for a second you do, although 9 times out of 10 they are precisely the ones you were meaning!) and another handful of friends who are clearly racking their brains to think what they might have said (those are the ones who would never even for a moment have popped into your head in connection with such "me me me!" behaviour, of course!).

I've found all manner of fun on Twitter - from complete and utter kindred spirits to some absolutely fantastic photographers. It's a great platform for sharing photos, for getting a quick laugh at a bad joke, for keeping up with peoples lives in little chunks. It's revolutionised sites like "Doglost" - if Fido goes missing now the message can be got out around the local area before you've even got your first handwritten sign taped to a lamp-post. It's great for promoting things like blogs too - I've found a number of excellent blogs to follow via people re-tweeting stuff, and even by people following me. others occasionally find my stuff useful too it seems - the Gnat Display team, based near us in North Weald, Essex, are currently using a photo of mine that I took in the summer as their header pic...


Followers is another dividing factor it seems. Some folk seem determined to amass as many as possible, and are willing to follow thousands of folk in the hope that they will follow back. Others follow, then unfollow when they realise you're not going to join their party (usually because you have NO interest in what they have to say!). Personally I'm unfussed about numbers - I follow those whose tweets I'm interested in (private individuals) or whose services are of use. One chap who describes himself as one of the "busiest sports broadcasters in the UK" uses numbers of followers to ridicule people who dare to criticise his somewhat shouty commentary style, in a "your three followers will enjoy that" sort of way. He seems to have forgotten that the person he's ridiculing's three followers are actually interested in what that person has to say, whereas his thousands of them follow him mainly in the hope of a bit of interesting news! Nasty, rude and certainly not big or clever, that sort of approach I would say.

Do you tweet? How about Facebook? Do you prefer one or the other? Why not add your Twitter ID if you have one to your comment! And if you refuse to do ANY form of social media, why is that? (And Shhhh....you had realised that blogs are social media too, hadn't you!)

Robyn