Identity Crisis

This is me.

This is me on Twitter.

Me, right? And, yes, that is a smoking monkey all dressed up with no place to go on my page.

So, why, oh why, can't people on Twitter figure out that I am not who they're looking for? Examples:

At first, I thought this person was wishing me a happy Monday because I had been talking about my over-caffeination (which totally made me shaky and want to jump out of my skin and wonder how people do hard drugs). But, then I realized I did not know @AyyItsKarl. So I clicked on his name. I saw he wasn't talking to me. He was talking to this girl:

Same name, different Twitter handle. PS - if you're locking your tweets, you're defeating the purpose of this whole Twitter thing. You're better off just texting/Facebooking your random thoughts.

Next example:

These people weren't trying to teach me Spanish. They meant to send their messages to this girl:

Next example:

I investigated a little further.

Nope. Not me they were looking for.

While it's fun to see the excitement these people have for their similarly-named friends, I rarely reply to say, "Hey, dumbass! You should probably know your friend well enough to get her Twitter handle right!" In fact, I have never done that. I was trying to pull a conversation I had over the summer with some girls who said that I was on the beach in Miami having cocktails with them (while I was actually sitting in the windowless newsroom). I couldn't go back that far. I did reply to them by saying I wished I was there. The response was along the lines of, "Oh. Sorry. You're not our friend. But, you sound fun, so we wish you were here."

I know my name is not exactly unique. TRUE STORY: When I was reporting, there was a woman working for a small town newspaper in our viewing area who shared my name. She ended up putting her middle initial in her byline to try to avoid confusion. But, I still think people should be smart enough to know how to communicate with their friends on Twitter. Or, maybe that's too much to ask. I'll just keep using my Google translate so I can tell if they're spammers or just sloppy typers.

Why I Love Twitter

I am a "blogger." Look, you're reading this, so you should know that about me. I may not be the most interesting or consistent blogger, but I do it. It makes me happy. Even when I'm ranting about something that has made me angry/unhappy/sad, I feel better once I write it. I actually don't mind you lurkers who read these posts and don't comment. I know you're there! Don't think you're hiding from me!


 I also love Twitter.

I can quickly type what I'm feeling, seeing or questioning anywhere at anytime (thank you, smart phone). I just have to do it in 140 characters or less. That is not always easy. It's also why I post here.


I have heard plenty from people who hate on Twitter. They don't understand it (it's actually quite simple). They think it's a waste of time (it is and it isn't). But it's also very useful. If you're looking for any kind of help, just post a question and it usually doesn't take long before someone's offering advice. I usually get a few helpful hints. When I get non-helpful hints, I sometimes respond with some snark and then block that person so I don't have to deal with his/her nonsense again.


I also get news from Twitter. I follow a few people/organizations who are in the news and they keep me up to speed on things. Side note: if you're a news maker and all you do is promote your stories/shows, I unfollow. I follow mostly people I know (either personally, through friends or through TV). I also don't follow more than 100 people. Any more and it's just too much to keep up with. And if you don't tweet for a month, I'll stop following you. Those are my rules.


I love seeing and sharing photos of the random parts of life. I sometimes share them here, too. The benefit of Twitter is that instant sense of community. People see it and respond. You don't always get that in this format (still talking to you, lurkers). 


Now, there are a few negatives about Twitter.


-Foursquare. I don't get this. Maybe it's because I don't go to a lot of places. Maybe it's because I just don't think it's safe to let people track your every move. And then there's the whole "Mayor" bit. If you're the mayor of anything and you weren't elected, announcing it - even in a place like Twitter - just makes you sound a bit crazy. Don't get me wrong, I love me some crazy. I just don't want it filling up my Twitter stream.


-Ads. I know advertising is necessary. I don't mind it most of the time. But if you're constantly advertising, I lose interest. If you were thinking of following me on Twitter, know that I won't follow you if that's all you do.


-Fail Whale. This is what you see when Twitter is having a bad moment.

As smart as the people at Twitter are, you'd think they'd have servers or something tech thingy that could keep that whale from appearing. Big event in the world? Twitter will crash. Ever be around about of Tweeps when this happens? It is the closest to a mass nervous breakdown you'll ever see. I imagine it's a lot like lemmings trying to decide if they should just run off the cliff and it all there. 


Is it perfect? No. But I enjoy it. I don't even mind defending it - unless that whale pops up. Then, I feel the need to find my Internet harpoon and slay the whale (stay out of my way, Greenpeace)!