Entertainment For Lively Minds
Twitterati
Posted by tim tunes on 16 September 2010 - 8:39am.
Largely drawn by the Twitter and Flipboard iPad apps I have been using Twitter more recently (both are very pretty and are ideal for sofa surfing).
But my feeds are a fairly small number...What are the massive's recommendations?
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Don't Like Twitter.
Waste of time. Full of ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME and it royally gets on my tits.
Sorry.
To be fair
You could say the same of blogging. They're essentially the same thing.
Well, there are degrees of ME ME ME, aren't there.
There's the blog element, consisting of Here's my opinion, what do you lot think of it, and then there's the Twitterati (as shown elsewhere on this link) contribution of Hey! I Just Wiped My Arse! Isn't That Great?
Ha Ha!! I win! I win!!
It's very simple
If you think that a Twitterer is a bit dull and prone to the "just wiped my bum" school of Twitter, then you stop following them. Just as if, in real life, you met someone you didn't particularly care for and decided not to befriend them. To tar the whole process of interacting based on such examples seems to me a little narrow minded. No?
Well...
You're comparing the type of blogs you like with the tweets you don't. You could easily swing that round and cite badly-written, self-indulgent blogs and funny, incisive, useful twitterers.
Twitter is a simply a medium for communication. How you use it is up to you. Just like the telephone - not everyone is a crank caller.
Well...
It all depends on the Twittererer. I find it an invaluable resource for keeping up with topics that interest me and follow a number of people for that purpose.
However, I also follow the wife of a close friend who just uses it to say things like "Mmmm...tea in the oven, glass of red wine. LUSH!" which is both pointless and dull.
If you don't mind me asking?
If it's so dull and pointless, why do you still follow her?
Ahem, anyway, as well as following a selection of The Massive, I find @dianainheaven keeps me royally entertained regarding all things afterlife and also does the best X-Factor summaries in the blogosphere. I used to follow Peter Serfinowicz but he does tend to overdo it sometimes and it's rather like attending to a hyperactive child, only one who is armed with an iPhone.
Cowardice
It'd create social difficulty if I deleted a close friend's wife from Facebook or Twitter and in real life she is a warm, wonderful woman.
Ta.
I, similarly, have a number of people who would be quite miffed if they weren't FB friends. Luckily someone pointed out to me the bit where you can hide all their updates...
Another royal one
Queen_UK has provoked audible chuckles from me already.
I still like Tweetdeck
It allows me to keep tabs on Twitter, Linked In and Facebook in the same app. Its easy to use and looks nice. I use twitter for work and play - I find it a good way to find news quickly and also links to interesting things.
It can be a bit me, me, me but I find that by not following people whose posts are like that makes it easy enough to keep it interesting.
Depends on your interests / job, but I like:
johannhari101
davidhepworth
Popjustice
Discographies
waynecoyne
andrewismaxwell
Dorianlynskey
DionDublinsDube (I am fascinated by the footballer turned music instrument inventor)
DianaInHeaven
newsinbriefs
_M_I_A_
tracey_thorn
bbcbreaking
DAVID_LYNCH
popbitch
alexispetridis
CherylKerl
jonronson
FakeAPStylebook
nilerodgers
serafinowicz
Hot_Chip
EddieArgos
charltonbrooker
DrSamuelJohnson
rustyrockets
TheWordMagazine (ahem)
You can follow a load of people that are being followed by someone you know or like, then unfollow when they start getting on your nerves
cheers for the list
cheers for the list
I don't really understand Twitter
I have an account and I've really tried, but I'm followed by a load of people I don't know and follow a few who don't know it's me. Also, how do you know who's tweeting at you directly? There are so many millions of updates it's practically a full time job keeping up with them. So I don't.
How can I use Twitter more efficiently and make it work for me? Using my real name might be a good starting point, but then what?
Just a couple of ideas for you
(I'm assuming you're using the Twitter.com site and not another program?)
If you don't know, or don't like any of the people following you, you can block them. Once you've done this, you don't see any of their tweets any more. You do this by clicking on 'followers' in the right hand pane. Scroll through the list to the person you want to get rid of, click on the little gear symbol, and click Block on the drop down list. Likewise, you can 'unfollow' people if you don't like what they're tweeting any more. Click on 'following' and the gear symbol to get to 'unfollow' on the list.
If you follow someone who doesn't know it's you, but you'd like to let them know who you really are, just DM (direct message) them and tell them. No-one else sees this tweet. This is another option under that little gear symbol. (I'd be a bit wary of using your real name as your twitter username if you were ever worried about your work reading anything you tweet. This stuff hangs around on the internet and could return to haunt you.)
If you want to quickly see who's tweeted at you directly, it's easy. In the right hand column under Home you should see @FiveCentres. Click on this and this filters all the tweets and limits them to just ones containing '@FiveCentres'. So you can instantly see who has tweeted directly at you.
Finally, you can group the people you follow into lists - so if you click on that list, only tweets by those in a particular list show up. Help on this here: http://support.twitter.com/articles/76460-how-to-use-twitter-lists. So you might want one list of loads of people you just want to dip in and out of, and another you want to keep more of a close eye on, and can check quickly in one place.
This is all easier than it sounds, but will streamline your Twitter immensely!
Hope this helps.
That's immensely helpful
Thanks Drakeygirl!
A minor caveat
In order to be able to DM someone, I'm fairly sure they have to be following you first. It makes sense, if you think about it.
Blocking is also a fairly pointless feature. It blocks the person from your timeline, yes, but they can read anything you say simply by searching on your nick. (I only learned this because - I am rather proud to say - I was blocked by Neil McCormick.) Unfollowing and/or filtering - available on most decent Twitter clients - have exactly the same effect and seem less self-importantly aggressive somehow.
Otherwise, what she said.
I only started tweeting yesterday.
I have posted two. I am at the beginning of an epic journey to discover the point of twitter. Wish me luck! Or indeed follow me @ganglesprocket. The two tweets are undeniably wonderful...
Consider yourself followed!
I joined three days ago, and am really enjoying it. (@rosbif65)
I've got a Massive list
No, it's not a To Do containing all the things I should be getting on with instead of arsing about on here, but a list of Word Massive twitterers* (as many as I know about anyway).
Click on here: http://twitter.com/#/list/drakeygirl/word-massive and then click on 'follow list' and you'll see loads of familiar names. (DM me if you want to know who people are if their names don't match up with their blog names).
*Twitterers? Is that right? Twits? Twats? The challenges of modern grammar...
errr..
Hello, can't see the 'follow list' button (scratches head)
Sorry about that
My fault, I think. I'll try again!
Go to my profile page on twitter.
If you've got 'old' twitter (as they're just switching over to a new version) do the following:
In the right hand pane, just under where it says the number of tweets, is the title Lists, under which should be Word Massive. Click on that so you are actually on the list page, and there at the top there should be a box which says Follow this list. Click that and you're done.
If you've got the new twitter, you have to go to my profile page, then find the tabs at the top of the list of actual tweets. (Timeslines, Favourites, Following, Followers, and Lists). Click on Lists and click on Word Massive in the drop-down menu. You should then see a Follow this list box to click on.
Any problems contact me directly, via the contact tab here: http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/users/drakeygirl
Got it thanks
Tim Tunes is in!
Two more to the list
for me to follow!
Another recommendation
I've just been chortling at the thoughts of @pepysbitch - as the name suggests, it's popbitch-type tittle-tattle, in an Olde Englishe Stylee. For example:
Well I laughed.
MastersHoldings
The Twitter account of ex-Howard's Way character Ken Masters.
Started tweeting a few weeks ago.
Agree that it's easier on iPad. I find it useful for keeping up with news. @GBritishLife and @BFI are fun.
I'm @BaskervilleOldF
This response is all ME ME ME
You could say that any writing is essentially about oneself. But having said that if you think Twitter is all "ME ME ME" you're following the wrong people.
It's difficult to explain the appeal of using Twitter to anyone who doesn't already use it. You basically share interesting links, and any pithy bon mots you want to send out into the world. I also use it to pimp my comic occasionally, and I don't think it bothers any of my "followers" (mostly because they're all sexbots).
I tend to try to avoid pointless (relatively speaking of course) posts, but I'm sure I've done the odd "I love enchiladas, me" tweet in the past.
Anyway - I would definitely recommend @God_Damn_Batman
Up the Twitter
I went from being a Twitter sceptic (ie. never used it; funny, that) to my present love of it. I love having the capacity to communicate with both people I know and people I don't (as in, I've never met them - but we all know how overrated that is). But most of all I love it because it's concise. There is no room to be properly indulgent a la Facebook. It's pithy. The middle word in Twitter is wit (nearly).
However, were it not for the esteemed Word massive it would all be a bit sad and lonely. I make a point of following as many of this site's members as I can (let me know if I've missed you out); they largely follow me back; and what we've got here is a little online community. And I like that.
http://wordmagazine.co.uk/content/lets-tweet-again
Such is technology
Most technological advancements are, historically, met with derision by people who find it easier to slag things off than to invest time in sensibly assessing them.
Talkies? Cinemascope? Mobile phones? iPods?
In the company of the Massive
I've found it less me,me,me and more us,us,us.
Damn right
The Massive are a lovely bunch, and there's plenty of Twitter love out there too.
I too was a Twitter nay-sayer,
and whilst I don't have time for it daily, I like it a few times a week...
Steve Martin
has just started tweeting and is funnier in a couple of tweets than he has been in the last 20 years of films @SteveMartinToGo
I follow comic writers, performers and musicians I like to keep up with what they are up to as well as reelmolesworth, Dr Johnson and ver Word mag.
And the marvellous @ukwarcabinet to see what memos were flying about behind the scenes in WWII
Graham Linehan is pretty interesting, too.
(Father Ted, Black Books & IT Crowd writer). He's @Glinner.
Who do you tweet as, Mr Dog?
Oh i am
@funkygibbondave as funkygibbon is my taper handle. And someone had already taken DogFacedBoy. An Italian lady strangely.
Yes I follow Glinner. Great for merry quips and interesting news stories not covered by the Murdoch press. and I saw him at a Fall gig alongside Frank Skinner and Stewart Lee earlier this year
Another fan
Twitter is great.
The best thing I found is setting it to send all tweets as texts to your phone (I don't have a fancy phone, so it is just texts).
I use it to follow just a few friends, a few famous people, the Guardian news and technology, and the Word. It gives me a steady stream of interesting news and wit to my phone all day long. Fun.
One more recommendation
I started Tweeting in February; and around the same time, I was working with Tony Gardner (@Tonygardner) and so started to follow him. God knows, he doesn't need any more followers but I recommend him. He's good value and he understands what Twitter's about.
6 months
That's how long I used it for.
I enjoyed Graham Linehans posts, he was very inclusive, inviting us ordinary folk to poker tournaments and film watching events all using Twitter and he is very funny.
The most awful part of it, paradoxically, is the constant star searching people do and desperation of 'follow me Stephen' or whoever.
I also used it to contact media professors who gave me useful pointers on essays for university.
The funny thing is I couldn't persuade any of my friends to use it so it became Twitter for intruding on people I don't know and Facebook for nosing into friends and families lives.
Every now and then I would stumble upon a truly funny character who posted stuff that made me laugh and then I would see posts from very lonely people and that was very sad.
So I gave it up because I could not really see the point. I had tried it and it was too many things. I think the beauty of the internet is that you can find things that are kind of tailor made, like this one.
We all like music, the tone is usually light and friendly and we are not scared to make cohesive intelligent remarks without the inevitable appearance of the words Hitler or Nazi (a common chat room, cooment board occurrence I think I saw on QI once)
Cue a post with the words Hitler and Nazi in it below!
I'm glad you posted this Tim
I'm just sorry I didn't see it until now. I signed up last week and so far it's been something of a torrent of confusion. My guess it will take a while at sort the wheat from the chaff. Some of the tips above are very welcome.
I've started following a number of the Massive - if @fortuneightuk has appeared amongst your followers it's me. Say hello if you have time.
Eamonn Forde is always good value
Word contributor and general malcontent. @Eamonn_Forde
I'm malcontent enough on my own, thanks.
After a couple of weeks of complaints about the bus I'm afraid I quietly withdrew, my only regret being that I didn't have time to post the sign at our works gatehouse which reads "Helmets must be handed in to security", so if you're reading this Eamonn...