My Twitter, My Rules

I’m in a great mood this morning so it seems a bit incongruous that I’m taking to my blog to bitch about something that finally plucked my last nerve.  But, bitch I must so if you’re not in the mood to read a rant, move on.

First of all, I can’t believe I’m writing a post about Twitter.  I’m tired of reading about it and really, I’m even less interested in writing about it.  Just use the damn thing and shut up.  It’s a great communication tool.  Period.  But, that’s all it is (to me).  I’m over all the emails I get from people telling me how I can make TONS of money using Twitter or how I can get a ba-jillion followers in just 2 days.  I DON’T CARE.  That’s not how I use Twitter.  Which brings me to my rant: THE WAY I USE TWITTER IS DIFFERENT THAN HOW YOU USE TWITTER SO DON’T IMPOSE YOUR RULES ON ME.  In the past month I’ve been chastised by various Twitter “friends” for a myriad of “infractions” that I unwittingly committed mostly because I’m, oh, I dunno, BUSY!  I turned off all my Twitter notifications a long time ago so if you follow me I may not realize you are following me for awhile.  And, I don’t use auto-follow (because I think it’s lame) so I may not follow you back…ever.  Because I’m busy.  It’s not that I have that many followers (again, because that’s not my priority), I just may not see you but it’s not something I’m consciously doing. However, I may unfollow you if you gunk up my Twitter stream with 50 Blip.fm tweets in a row.  But, that’s my prerogative.  I currently use Ubertwitter for Blackberry which doesn’t allow me to filter anyone and since I Tweet from my phone a lot, I hate having to scroll through all that just to read what might interest me.  But, that doesn’t mean I don’t like you (besides I may not even KNOW you so really that is irrelevant).

Here are some of the egregious mistakes I’ve made recently <eyeroll>:

1. I didn’t thank someone for retweeting something I posted (they let me know in a very passive aggressive way and then unfollowed me).  Look, if you’re going to get your knickers in a twist because I didn’t thank you for retweeting me then chances are, we aren’t compatible as friends anyway–virtual or otherwise.  I’m pretty laid back. If you don’t thank me for retweeting you, I don’t think anything of it.  That said, I do try to be courteous but again, if I miss something then so be it. I’m human.

2. I wasn’t following someone back and they were using some douchey tool that allowed them to 86 anyone who wasn’t following them.  I got a message saying I was going to be dropped if I didn’t follow them “right away.”  I went ahead and did it but in retrospect I should have just let them drop me.  I don’t use Twitter that way.  I do try to follow people back if I feel like what they have to say will be of interest to me–not because they are threatening me with the dreaded “unfollow” button.  And, I follow tons of people who don’t follow me back.  That’s because I use Twitter to get information and genuinely connect with people–not inflate my ego.

3. I edited a retweet to make it 140 characters.  I really can’t believe this one but I cut out a portion of a post so I could retweet what I thought was the more important part of the post.  The original poster DM’d me saying that I had “fundamentally altered” her tweet by doing that.  Nevermind that her Twitter name has the maximum number of characters allowed.  My bad. Whatever. Oh, AND she forgot to thank me for retweeting her!  The nerve of some people!

4. I unfollow people who auto-DM me the minute I follow them.  Here’s my thinking behind that: if you’re using a spammy tool like automated direct messages, then the chance that you might auto-tweet or spam me later on is pretty high.  I just nip it in the bud right then and there.  No apologies from me for that.

5. #FollowFriday and Lists.  I’m not big on the whole #FollowFriday thing or lists which someone pointed out to me and asked why I never list them.  Again, back to my lack of time but moreover, I always know that I’m leaving someone out and I don’t like that.  Sure, the people I give a shout out to might like it but what about the people I miss?  So, if you put me on a #FF list, thanks.  If I don’t get around to saying “thank you” directly, I’m sorry.  It’s not that I don’t appreciate it even though I really wish the whole #FollowFriday phenomenon would just kind of disappear but sometimes, I just don’t see it so you may not get a reply from me.  And, I may occasionally post a #FF list but that will be more the exception than the rule.

Since I began using Twitter, I have referred to it as the “tofu of the Internet.”  It takes on whatever flavor you spice it with.  So, my tastes might be different than yours and I may only want to use Twitter as a newsfeed or I may only want to follow celebrities.  I don’t use it that way but if I wanted to, I could and that wouldn’t necessarily be “wrong.”  And, what I think is important may not be what you think is important (i.e. followers/following ratio) so don’t impose your tastes on me.

The bottom line is this…you and I are different people.  If you can’t accept that and see past my um, transgressions, then I’m okay with that.  Life is too short to surround yourself with people who don’t understand you and appreciate you for who you are. And, to all of you who do accept me–mistakes and all–I love you. *Hugs!*

That is all.  And now, back to my happy day.

Tagged as: life is too short, Rant, the nerve of some people, Twitter