Oh, hello! Come in for some cornbread. It’s still warm.
Anyone who talks to me knows that I love me some Twitter. I spend way too much time on it and tweet about anything. Well, maybe not anything. I don’t reveal anything about farting or pooping or my (lack of) sex life. I think Twitter is fun and a good distraction.
What I don’t like, and has really been irritating me lately, is when other Tweeters bitch/moan/complain about, or generally belittle their parents/spouse/kids. I get that there are frustrations and people need a place to vent. But I don’t know if Twitter is an appropriate forum for that. In my opinion, talking about people you love in that way, in such a public forum, shows an enormous lack of respect, both for them and for yourself. Actually, talking about them in that manner in any forum is disrespectful. I can see venting to your friends when necessary. We need to be able to release frustrations, but some of what I’ve seen on Twitter is beyond venting. It makes me extremely uncomfortable.
Also what I’ve seen is people tweeting about REALLY intimate things. Beyond farting and pooping. (Hee… “pooping” is a funny word!) I don’t know that I need or want to hear about your sex lives and who (or what) you are hooking up with or anything else along those lines. Again, I think there is a time and a place for that, and a public forum like Twitter, in my opinion, isn’t it.
And finally, the cussing! Don’t get me wrong – I can and do cuss with the best of them. I’m not necessarily proud of that, and I’m conscious of it, but that’s what it is. I also try to be aware of my audience. If I don’t know how people feel about swearing, I try to keep my mouth in check. People on Twitter? Not so much. And if it offends even me? It’s got to be pretty extreme.
So, given all this, you are probably asking: If you don’t like all this stuff about Twitter, why the heck do you stay on it? Well, the above “irritants” don’t happen all the time. And the people who post the things that irritate me don’t post things like that all the time. Much of the time these tweeters are funny and clever and nice.
What’s a girl to do? Do I give up Twitter to avoid this type of tweet? Do I unfollow them to avoid seeing them? What is the protocol? If I unfollow them, they will reciprocate. Do I care? Do I just accept that people talk badly about people they love and ignore it? Do I only read the tweets that mention me? Do I point out to them when it happens?
What would you do? What have you done? How do you handle these situations? What is the appropriate Twitter etiquette? I’d love to hear your ideas.
MagAndMoo's Blog 
Mr Farty
I don’t *think* I’ve ever badmouthed my family on Twitter or anywhere else, and where I’ve seen it done, it’s usually with a touch of humour (shut up, Spellcheck, I’m British) to take the edge off it.
When I see out-and-out vitriol, I not only unfollow, I block that person from my Twitter stream so that I don’t have to put up with it again.
Also, I just farted.
Lesley
Also, is it too late for me to still get some cornbread?
Lesley
DOOD. Don’t leave Twitter! You’re one of the main reasons I got myself back on it!! I missed the real friends I’ve made on there!
But I’m with you: The cussing and the constant bitching really makes me want to clock people. I have a foul mouth myself at times, but there is something about actually being foul in black and white as a permanent record of sorts that is just unnecessary and classless. (The same with complaining about people. What’ the old rule? Is it kind? Is it necessary?) I quit for a bit because I was tired of all the noise. The rest of my life was becoming super busy so it was the only place I could momentarily cut chaos. I think the answer is to just unfollow a bunch of people and pick quality over quantity!
Mo
I would hate for you to unfollow me because of the swearing and complaining I do! Heh.
I love Twitter too, but lately I’ve found myself kind of unengaged with it. There’s so much negativity and drama all the time and I just can’t deal with it. It’s a bummer because then I miss out on the fun stuff. When you figure out what to do, let me know!