If you’ve been on Twitter for long enough and are anywhere
near as active on it as I am, you’ve probably read this phrase in a Tweet
before. It’s Twitter’s equivalent to
“get a life”. Apparently, there are tweeps out there who are taking things waaaaaay
too seriously in the twitterverse.
This phrase is usually used when someone gets offended or
gets “in their feelings” about something that was said over twitter. The idea is that, anything said or done on
Twitter, or on any social media site, should only be taken so seriously. For the most part, I agree. Heck, considering the fact that none of us
make it out of this thing alive anyway, life itself shouldn’t be taken that
seriously. Ok, all half-joking aside,
most people will agree that if you get your boxers all in a bunch over
something on Twitter, you have more issues than a magazine stand. It ain’t that serious. You need to get a life… One other than
Twitter, that is.
Ever-so-slightly off subject is the fact that there are some
people who read the tweets of those they follow and assume that they know all
there is to know about said person. This
train of thought is just as flawed as it is in real life. (This is assuming, of course, that Twitter is
not real life, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.) You may see your co-workers 5 times or more a
week and know how they behave at work, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that
you know them. I see my salsa friends a
few times a week, but if I only see their persona on the dance floor and barely shoot
the breeze with them between songs, I don’t really know them. Just like you only see one aspect of a
person’s life in the context of the environment that you normally see them, you
only see one aspect of a person’s life on social media. Don’t think that you have anyone “all figured
out” just because you follow them on Twitter.
Again, while I do agree with all of the above, there is a
counter argument to this. I can feel the
Devil’s Advocate in me itching to break out even as I type this. The idea that it’s “just Twitter” only goes so
far. Anyone who follows my blog or knows
me outside of the digital world knows how much I loathe overused and misused
words or phrases. Guess what? “It’s just Twitter” is one of them. Far too often, I’ve seen this phrase used as
an excuse to fall back on when someone tweets something that someone else found
offensive. “It’s just Twitter”, they’ll
say. It’s become a license to tweet with
reckless abandon, not giving a flying flock of birds who gets offended because,
at the end of the day, “it’s just Twitter.”
I couldn’t disagree with this mindset more. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying anyone
should walk on eggshells and be overly concerned with the thoughts and feelings
of others, but I can’t condone the opposite, either. Many tweeps, especially those on “Team F***
Yo’ Feelings”, would probably argue with me all day on that, being quick to say
things like “It’s my twitter, I’ll tweet what I want” or “If you don’t like
what I tweet, unfollow.” Yes, it is your
Twitter with which to tweet whatever you like, and those who don’t like it
should learn how to use the unfollow button.
However, try saying “it’s just Twitter” when you mess around and get
fired from your job or fail to get employed at a prospective job over something
you’ve tweeted. If it’s “just Twitter”,
why are Twitter timelines considered legitimate enough to be entered as evidence in
court cases? Good luck convincing your
employer, the Feds, or your significant other who caught you “harmlessly
flirting” that Twitter isn’t “real life.”
I’ve also seen in quite a few Twitter bios and tweets the
phrase “don’t judge me by my Tweets.” I
have to fight with all my being to keep from scoffing at such a statement. I could understand if Kobe Bryant said to the
media “Don’t judge me by my performance last night. I had an off night, I’m better than
that.” I could understand if I meet a
random person who treats me disrespectfully, then says to me the next day, “I'm sorry, I was just having a bad day that day. I’m
normally not like that. Please don’t judge
me based on that.” Situations like that
are circumstantial. The person in
question may not have had control over the situation and may just be out of
character at the moment. But for someone
to say “don’t judge me by tweets” when that person deliberately and purposely
tweets what they tweet? Get outta here
with that. We all have our bad days, Twitter or not. We may go on an uncharacteristic rant or say something out of line every once in a while, but what you consistently tweet is you, just like what you consistently say and do in "real life" is you.
No, I can’t claim to know the whole you, the real you, based
on your tweets, but unless someone is
hacking into your Twitter account or is holding a gun to your head and making
you tweet something you don’t want to, what you tweet comes from you. Therefore, while you may not be projecting
your entire life or personality onto Twitter, what you Tweet is the real you,
albeit only a portion of you. It may be
the extra goofy side of you, the unadulterated and unfiltered side of you, or
the “I don’t put any of my personal business online” side of you, but it is
some side of you. If what you are
willingly tweeting (you’re typing it, seeing your words on your screen, and
hitting the send button yourself) isn’t actually you, then why are you putting
a fake you on Twitter? I guess we can’t
count you among those who are keeping it “100”, can we?
At the end of the day, yes, we should keep things on social
media light-hearted, taking things with a grain (or more) of salt. No matter how much information a person puts
on their profile or in their tweets, you don’t know that person inside and out.
However, we also have to remember that
just because all of this is on the world-wide web, that doesn’t make it any
less real. No, social media should not
be your life, but it is still a part of real life and should be treated as
such.
