Remember back in the day when someone figured out that DMs weren’t restricted to 140 characters? That was cool. We got so crazy making long DMs and revealing the *secret* to people. We were so crazy back then.
Remember when lists were introduced? Man, that was going to eliminate some clutter. Arrange people by topics, go check out a list, get smart on a topic. That never happened, I’m still dumb on gardening.
Remember twitvid? During a summer vacation to Chicago, I thought that shit was going to be the future. I still like it, but nobody else does. Just like soccer.
REMEMBER WHEN @OPRAH JOINED TWITTER? AT FIRST I WAS ALL “WHAT DOES STEDMAN SEE IN HER?” BUT THEN I REALIZED, HARPO SPELLS OPRAH BACKWARDS AND ALL WAS FORGIVEN. SKNAHT HARPO!
Remember when you first met someone from twitter IRL? Hey kids, daddy’s going to meet the lady from twitter at a hotel bar. When mom gets home, try to make it sound less creepy. @BarbaraNixon you were my first! I’ll always remember.
Remember when you were the only one at work on twitter? You’d spend all day tweeting about non-work stuff. Personally, I never took part in that. Thought it was morally wrong.
Remember when Obama tweeted… then didn’t tweet… then did again? Guess it goes in four year cycles. Strange. Thanks for connecting with us Mr. President!
Remember those “Brittany Fucked” SPAM accounts? That was my first celebrity experience on twitter, I apologize if I boasted each time one followed. It made me feel special.
Remember when your wife used to bitch and moan because you were on twitter all fucking night and day? [points to garage] #silence
Remember summize? I bet they look back and wish they asked for more money.
Remember when you figured out how hashtags worked. #remembertwitter
Yeah, I remember all that stuff. And then I remember the time Chris Brogan unfollowed me on Twitter … then followed me back.
Wait. What?
Things evolve. I feel sorry for the twitter famous, they can’t experience twitter like we do. Their stream is so full of people, it’s like going to a public beach on Labor Day. I think Brogan got tired of the crowd, bought an island, and is watching the waves… for the first time.
I also bet celebrities and the twitter famous have accounts that are more incognito, more personal, more real. Hidden from the public eye.
For a brief moment in time, John Pederson and I were mildly twitter famous… AND IT SUCKED. Six eyes (John wears glasses) on one account, and we still couldn’t follow the stream. Even though messages/thoughts/ideas were directed to us, we were unable to see them… to respond… to be a part of the conversation. It was the exact opposite of what I’d known, cultivated, cherished.
Twitter gives us a hammer. Great for a simple project, but it doesn’t scale. Brogan was given a hammer, then told to build a town.
I feel like Twitter will continue to be powerful *because* of the crowds — and not because of single tweets. Stuff bubbles to the top and makes me pay attention only if enough people are making noise about it. It curates itself if you’re following the right people. I favor the crowds making those decisions instead of the platform… Facebook
But, you’re right – I can’t imagine how the most famous even begin to fight through the noise and find a way to genuinely interact with their followers. I was shocked when I saw a class at Emerson get the attention of @Ochocinco (and actually met him for an after-class lesson on social media) http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/12/13/ochocinco-gives-emerson-students-a-lesson-in-social-media/ — it took weeks of attempts and strategies.
I guess that’s cool for news, but I remember when I only followed ~50 people and built connections with them. Today, they’re the equivalent of best friends from grade school. I love them, but we’re in high school now, the school is bigger, lots more people crowding the halls.
I miss the intimacy, and the newness of my first year on twitter. We were learning together. Connecting, growing, sharing, feeling. Shit was real, yo!