Daniel Davies

In a previous post I began to unravel the mysteries of social media in the hope that by understanding the concepts it presented I could apply them to my own work as a web developer. The more I learn however, the more disheartened I become by a number of issues which seem to be cropping up. Whilst there is so much good I have noticed a growing trend in online celebrities, or Twelebrity Culture for need to coin a term.

So what is a twelebrity? Its not so much a "thing" or a "person" as a way of thinking and approaching the social Internet. Its the opposite to building personal relationships with meaning. Its a kind of hierarchy and respect built upon someone's apparent influence within a very small subset - and its a very bad thing.

Twitter is a great way of meeting people, especially if you're in the web business. I use Twitter to represent myself within communities I hold dear, meet contacts, I was even followed by 383 Project for a while before they got in touch to see if I was interested in working with them. Its therefore essential that when using Twitter we give a fair and accurate representation of who we are. To do this we must simply be open and honest - and that's quite impossible as Twitter becomes less and less personal by the day.

Following "just 'cos"

I find every so often I get a new follower who I have absolutely no idea who they are. Generally these followers emerge because I've said a certain keyword. That one keyword they have picked up lacks any kind of context to them, so to me the follow is pretty meaningless. Just because I mention, for the sake argument, a cute kitten. A cat breeder searching for kitten and then following me does not forge a relationship which bares value. This following "just 'cos" seems very anti-social media.

My worry is taken a little further with blog authors creating lists of so called "must follow" Twitter users. These are incredibly easy to take out of context. The people on the lists are not "must follows", nor should they be treated as such - to me such lists act as a kind of blogroll for Twitter. If I chat a lot to someone in particular, I may be interested in who they regard as good people to get to know, in the same way I may be interested which blogs they read. To give too much self-worth to such posts though is a bad thing, they are entirely subjective. 50 different Twitter users would come up with a compeltely different list of 50 people they think are most important, and failing to recognise this is another side effect of Twelebrity Culture.

In fact, as this post was being drafted a similar kind of list emerged within Birmingham from Stef Lewandowski - its well worth a read, especially the comments. Its sparked some mixed reactions around the local community - the key here to realise its the author's subjective views, not a be all and end all directory.

Following "just 'cos" is certainly the number one thing that disheartens me within the social Internet and it risks sucking everything personal about the web out of us.

Not following back

Another side affect of twelibrity culture is the one way relationships. Take Stephen Fry for example - a real world celebrity. About 25,000 people read his tweets - how many of yours do you think are read by him? Is this really social, is it really an engaging conversation? Surely if I want to know about Stephen Fry (whom I have the most respect for of course) I would read his blog, or watch his TV shows. Our relationship through Twitter is not in the least bit personal, nor does it bare meaning.

Its an interesting issue that poses questions over broadcasting vs conversing, and whether people using Twitter purely to broadcast themselves is a good thing or not. Such relationship models have begun filtering their way down within communities. Communities appointing their own Twelebrities - people you must follow to be recognised, but never truly have the opportunity to get to know beyond the broadcasts they make. These people are being followed by twice the number of people they follow. I certainly don't blame the people with in excess of 1000 followers themselves, I blame the culture and relative newness (that a word?) of Twitter - people perfectly happy to follow someone "just 'cos" when that person has no interest in or capacity to engage back. This is not personal or engaging.

Twitter Police

Twitter police run the risk of making us all think too much. No seriously - if you do something well, fail to correctly capitalise or generally don't post to their guidelines you will be publicly picked up on this. Whilst this might seem like a bit of fun in the right context between close friends (and between close friends thats all it is), as Twitter becomes less personal the opinions of Twitter Police who you don't really know you that well will begin to affect you. Are you writing in Twitter to present yourself accurately, or to entertain and please others?

As well as the direct policing of Twitter many blog posts have sprung up lately talking about Twitter Etiquette , and the way we should use these tools in a friendly, polite way. Its fascinating to see how people feel a need to impose rules on a completely open tool such as Twitter. Whilst having a level of respect for others is of course essential, to feel a need to impose a set of rules upon others or write up a set of guidelines is most undesireable; communities are capable of creating their own boundaries, taboos, do and dont's themselves. Giving out rules and guidelines seems a little to self-important and only further fuels Twelebrity Culture. My Tweets are for my friends - I should not have to worry about writing in such a way to please people who do not know me.

@catnip raises this discussion on her own blog, where she asks, "Should I retire from the Twitter police?" Its particularly interesting because her policing is in fact in an effort to prevent her friends exerting too much self-importance and Twelebrity Culture. Were it not for people exerting too much self-worth, would we have a need to police Twitter?

This all links in with Twelebrity Culture and actually pulls my point together. Tweets, with only 140 characters, require an understanding of their context. As Twitter becomes less personal, and you know more about what a person is, rather than who the person is, context loses its standing. If someone does not like my Tweets, or cannot understand the context - why do they follow me?

Its creating a culture on Twitter where many people are tweeting to be read and not because they just want to say something. This could be very damaging long term with follower to following ratios meaning too much, and posts being tailored to those followers. I strongly encourage anyone reading this who uses Twitter to relax a little when they use it. These tools are yours to use how you like, do not let yourself get sucked in to a Twelebrity Culture or writing in such a way to maximise your followers. A fewer number of genuinely interested people will provide a far more stimulating experience with Twitter than having lots of unknowns following.