February 2019: Further thoughts about Twitter

Hello February! Last month I talked about my resolutions regarding Twitter and how I use it. The sentiments seemed to resonate with a good number of my Twitter folks, who kindly tweeted back to me their concerns, and, around the same time, some rather serious issues started being raised within the #amwriting community, so this month I thought I’d take a look at some of these.

The most serious matter (in my opinion) was a result of the follow-everyone-back policy that the writing community has. Many followed an author named Daniel Rumanos, who claimed to be a “proud hebephile” in his profile blurb. They had no idea what this meant (nor did I, come to that, but then I’m very sceptical about words I don’t recognize). It turns out he’s a proud lover of young, pubescent teenagers. You’ll be pleased to know that the community rushed to do its thing when somebody pointed this out, and his account is now closed. But there’s still a lesson to be learned here: following back blindly is never a good idea.

One of my Twitter friends, who has done much to support me and countless other writers, runs a great weekly contest she calls “Writing Community Superlatives”. She decides on a category (on the week in question it was for the most helpful accounts), then calls for nominations. She then whittles these down to a poll and invites people to vote. Simple, engaging, lots of fun, and yet still managing to highlight other writers—you’d think! Oh, no. The amount of flak she received for this particular poll was astonishing, and in almost every case it was to blame her for supporting people who already had a large following. Writers of Twitter! She can tweet what she likes! If you can’t engage in a positive way, then don’t engage at all; doing so does you no favours, especially if you wade in without bothering to familiarize yourself with the process, as these people did. Instead, put your money where your mouth is and start your own version, running it however you please.

The latest permutation of this kind of behaviour has members of our community DMing (direct messaging) other writers to tell them what they should and should not be tweeting about. News flash! Our community is all the better for our differences. These people are not the Twitter police (whatever they themselves might think), and this behaviour is bordering on harassment. You are resorting to DMs to avoid the kind of backlash you know you would receive if you did this publicly.

Another of my good Twitter friends brought up this thought-provoking topic: when do tweets stop being conversational and cross over into the realms of stalker territory? Here’s one particular thread I participated in that almost crosses the line. Almost. I hasten to point out that I know X and Y quite well through Twitter, and like them both very much. Had it been anyone I didn’t know well, however, it might have been another story…

Postcards From The Past: (image of a beach-front resort from the air) “Drinking does not start until 4 o’clock.”
X: “No one—no one—starts drinking until our dear friend (Y, wrongly tagged) arrives and explains to all and sundry via Google Maps just where the bloody hell we are?”
Me: “Sure you tagged the right Y, sir?”
X: Nope.
Me: “I thought not. (Y, correctly tagged), wizard at revealing things embedded in Google Maps.”
Y, now that he’s successfully been tagged: “I’ve always loved maps, and I love hunting around looking for clues to places. Of course, Google Maps plus a couple of well known landmarks make it quite easy. ;)”



Me, shocked because there’s just enough information for me to recognize the sign (though I doubt anyone else would): “I’m guessing that’s Canada?”
Y: “Round there. I didn’t want to get too specific.”
Me: “You may have noticed how terribly small Canada is! Do you think I could get the sodding sign in focus?”



The truth is I regularly post photos of how London looks outside my window—with a sufficient display of major and local landmarks to identify where it is I live. Someone I follow asked only yesterday where that was (btw, it isn’t Canada, it’s in London). I told them quite happily, and a great conversation ensued on the topic of historical research, especially as regards the poor. It turns out she’d researched several local families in the area. But it’s a fine line—isn’t it?—and it seems to depend very much upon context and on the relationship you have with the respondent. Yet what if one of you misreads that relationship?

And on we go. “Twitter can’t stay the old way,” came a reply to one of my tweets, “and needs to adapt to [the] market.” So far so good. But then it got personal. “This format is very much designed with a global user [and] not the old Caucasian male user in mind.” Thank you so much for explaining that to me, though you clearly have some issues to work through regarding age, race, and gender. I suppose some of those “global users” you cite might agree with you; I cannot help wondering though if they might also be “influencers”?

My original question about Twitter, however? “Why tinker with something that isn’t broken?” and I know there’s an awful lot of people out there from all kinds of backgrounds who would happily agree with me on this. Fact is, Twitter did tinker and it’s tinkering still. So next month I’ll be exploring some fixes that will let you wrest back control. I guarantee you one of them’s a doozy!

This month’s special offer is for Big Bona Ogles, Boy!: Octavius Guy & The Case of the Mendacious Medium (#3). This time young Gooseberry investigates a shadowy Spiritualist medium, only to discover that somebody wants her dead. Offer ends on February 28th 2019.

“Thank you so much for writing these books, and for bringing these characters to life. I have a feeling they'll always be lurking around in my head. Excellent, excellent, excellent!”—Laura Brook LibraryThing Early Reviewer (5 stars)

Happy reading!
Michael

Find me on my website Michael Gallagher Writes
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