Recently, I’ve begun to interact a bit more on Twitter. It
used to be that I’d tweet about things that interest me – writing, news, media,
communications and the inspirational story or quote here and there.
What’s left? You may wonder. Let’s just say, a lot. But, I would
post-and-run, in a sense. Just say it and move on. After a long while, I met a
few nice people – I am positive they’re not bots!
It turns out, though, that the past few months have had me
chatting with more than a few folks. At first, I wasn’t sure how to feel about
that. I have always been wary of the open conversations I might have with
strangers. Turns out that once you both get a feel for each other and remain
respectful of each other, it’s pretty okay. The sky doesn’t fall at all. Yes,
I’ve found that mutual respect is key to a good online interaction. Dare I say,
relationship.
Here’s the thing (Monk): My online interactions –
mainly Twitter – are embedded in respect and kindness. It is true, for me,
anyway, that all I need to operate well within this space that is so public, I
learned growing up. Yes, the result of good broughtupsy, as we’d say in Jamaica .
Simply, good home training. And, that transcends to the online world quite
easily. The same courtesies that you would demonstrate in your day to day
offline, do apply online. For example, you wouldn’t heckle someone during their
speech and point out a mispronounced word, right? Well, it takes a certain kind
of person… Similarly, such a courtesy may be applied on Twitter – you wouldn’t
reply to someone and point out a typo. That’s not gracious. You may, however,
(again, depending on whom it is and how anal you are) send a gentle DM. It's
like a private meeting. That's classy.
Similarly, if a few people are having a conversation,
offline, you wouldn’t simply jump in - especially when one or more parties are
not familiar/acquaintances. I think I’ve messed up on that one. But it was something
trivial and humourous – is my story. But, I usually approach with an “If I
may…” so they know I’m not barging in. Little things like that.
The Twitterverse can be a dangerous place. It can also be a very
revealing place. Many users, I imagine, do not think about how their way of
thinking and persona are betrayed by how they interact and how they say what
they say. I’ve blogged about this particular idea before – how Twitter helps
give place to a messianic complex, if you will. The whole idea of having
followers, hanging on to your every word (as some may perceive it), having
influence over many – especially those who are easily influenced – can easily
lead one to think that one is "all that and a bag o’ chips.” It may lead
to oversized egos, self-centredness and ideas of magnanimity.
How do you know if this is happening? I do the kindness
test. Note: This does not apply when someone is being a troll or being
intentionally annoying or hurtful. The freedom to tag someone in a tweet or the
‘have device will tweet’ mentality, giving yourself ‘free’ reign to bash or
badger someone, comes with consequences, like, oh, blocking? For example?
But, the kindness test is simple and easy. Know the quote:
real power is knowing that you can, but don’t? Or, it’s nice to be important,
but more important to be nice? Or, how about, real kindness is doing something
and expecting nothing in return? When you know that someone has wronged
you, in that open space, and it hurts, with thousands of eyes looking on, how
do you respond? I saw an exchange earlier this week and came away feeling sad.
An apology was given but the response was not gracious. No sincere and gracious
apology says, “I accept but. ..” And, not to mention that it takes gusto
to apologise in the first place. I thought, that could have been done in a
kinder way.
Depending on how and what you tweet – but, I find, mainly
how you engage – people will come to follow you. Twitter is great for
interaction. Millions of people on it from all over the world for different reasons.
There are some horrible people in the world. There are some beautiful people in
the world. And there are those in-between. Twitter has made large
corporations engage like a mom-and-pop store and has made the celebrity like a
friend next door. Even parody accounts, like Doritos Ontario , get more love sometimes than
the real companies, because of how they engage! When you have a direct access
to your favourite singer or athlete, it’s a beautiful thing – if you’re into
that sort of thing. Little wonder, then, that when that direct link is broken,
fans/followers will immediately detect a disconnect. And they don’t like it.
Remember Ashton Kutcher and that time when he'd come out in support of that Penn State
Remember when…well, I remember when I was little, I'd occasionally
watch, and be fascinated by, an army of ants carrying crumbs and just moving in a
line, up and down, this way and that – until I stuck something in their path.
Immediately, they'd scatter a bit, scurrying to find the nearest exit that
would take them back to their familiar route. They had a direct line to what
they wanted and something had come in their path. Now, this is reaching, I
know, but, if ants used Twitter, when something like that happens, no doubt
there'd be hashtags popping up all over the colony: #whatswiththewall or #wheresthecandy
and the like. Anything to restore things to how they were. In time, they find their way around, often creating a new path. But, as if I need to make the point, ants don’t use
Twitter; people use Twitter. And, when a direct link is broken, people use this
new tool to tweet their questions and frustrations in search and hope for the
restoration of that direct link. Doesn’t matter that there may be someone who’s
trying to make it all better. All they know is they had a direct line, it is no longer there and they want it back. The voice of the brand was connecting directly and, in a moment, it has been replaced.The filter thing doesn't work! Can hardly blame them. They had got accustomed to
that guy or gal tweeting/speaking directly to them. There is a way to
deal with matters of this nature. Kutcher had shut down that time; Jamaica's VCB
went quiet on her TL after news broke about adverse findings. Point is, people
are not tone deaf or stupid. Their ears are tuned in to what is happening. They
know their “stars” are working out their problems offline. They understand
radio-silence on the Twitter feed. They know that tweeting during controversies
only provide fodder for media houses. In the meantime, however, there is someone
else working tirelessly on their behalf; a voice from their own corner of
cyberspace or other space, being a direct source of information. Social Media marketing and PR is a work in progress.
Another thing to
note…to remember, really, is that the number of followers is no measure of
one’s status or calibre. In some quarters I've seen a semblance of
hierarchy - like, those who make it to
the "society pages" vs. those who don't, kind of thing. It is
pathetic, really. Those who fawn over and those who, in the way they relate,
are only left to have their followers bow at their feet. It is pathetic and it
is ugly. And, just as offline, some human beings in Twitterverse often find
themselves wanting to belong. Beliebers, I imagine, have got over JB reaching out
to every single one of them, for example. The Twitterverse is a vast community and, as lives shift to the online space, the same longings persist.
People have lives – or, ought to have rich and meaningful
lives – away from these online spaces. No matter how much I get along with
tweeps, I know that my offline life is richer and more meaningful than what I do in cyberspace. I keep reminding myself of this as, one day, I may have
more than my current 300+ followers. At no time should I take that as a thing.
It means zilch. Zip. Nada. One of the thoughts that keep me grounded as I write
and work at becoming a published author, is that, were I to become a bit more
known, I must remember that on my death bed (if it happens there), my thought
will not be: “I wish I had got a few more followers.” Or, “I wish I had done
one more book reading. “ Yes, the thoughts of what my final thoughts may be as
I depart this weary sod, help keep me grounded.
As someone tweeted today, we are all just learning. And,
another pointed out, it changes so fast, this social media marketing thing, it's hard to say that anyone is really an expert at it. It
really does seem that by the time you think you've made the two ends meet,
somebody moves the ends. Much of it is about doing unto others as you'd have
them do unto you. Basic communication principles and common sense will get you far. Much of the netiquette required, we already know. And, when
that gut feeling says, "Think twice," it's better than for
it to later say, "I told you so."
Claudia
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