The best thing ever written about Twitter
This is so not Richmond-specific, but it’s awesome. And we like to share awesome things. It’s no secret that we love The Twitters over here. And after Margaret Atwood’s post about over at The New York Review of Books Blog, we love it even more.
This is so not Richmond-specific, but it’s awesome. And we like to share awesome things.
It’s no secret that we love The Twitters over here. And after Margaret Atwood’s post about over at The New York Review of Books Blog, we love it even more.
Atwood (a highly respected poet and essayist) joined Twitter at the urging of the folks helping her build a web site to promote her book, The Year of the Flood. The post gives a quick and hysterically funny account of her experiences with this love-or-hate-it form of social media.
Some highlights…
I plunged in, and set up a Twitter account. My first problem was that there were already two Margaret Atwoods on Twitter, one of them with my picture. This grew; I gave commands; then all other Margaret Atwoods stopped together. I like to think they were sent to a nunnery, but in any case they disappeared. The Twitterpolice had got them. I felt a bit guilty.
The Twittersphere is an odd and uncanny place. It’s something like having fairies at the bottom of your garden. How do you know anyone is who he/she says he is, especially when they put up pictures of themselves that might be their feet, or a cat, or a Mardi Gras mask, or a tin of Spam?
They’re sharp: make a typo and they’re on it like a shot, and they tease without mercy. However, if you set them a verbal challenge, a frisson sweeps through them. They did very well with definitions for “dold socks”—one of my typos—and “Thnax,” another one. And they really shone when, during the Olympics, I said that “Own the podium” was too brash to be Canadian, and suggested “A podium might be nice.” Their own variations poured onto a feed tagged #cpodium: “A podium! For me?” “Rent the podium, see if we like it.” “Mind if I squeeze by you to get onto that podium?” I was so proud of them! It was like having 33,000 precocious grandchildren!
Go read the entire post. It will be the highlight of your day.
(Thanks to John Sarvay for the link.)
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Valerie Catrow
Valerie Catrow is editor of RVAFamily, mother to a mop-topped first grader, and always really excited to go to bed.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
I LOVE this article. It makes complete sense. Does anyone realize that no other major site crashes as often as Twitter? The only thing I like about twitter is http://TopTwitsBlog.com which doesn’t even require me to get an account.
Speaking of Ms. Atwood, she’s coming to Randolph-Macon this Wednesday if anyone’s interested:
http://www.rmc.edu/News/10-02-22%20Margaret%20Atwood.aspx