Twibbles can be defined as an online Twitter quibble.
I’ve started following on Twitter movie director extraordinaire, Kevin Smith. Recently he re-tweeted a post he received from somebody who told him that he was being unfollowed. Kevin then posted in big unfriendly letters BLOCKED! Fair enough, although why everybody has to know this I just don’t know. If you’re going to unfollow somebody – JUST DO IT. Don’t explain to them or to anybody else. Just do it and walk away.
Twitter is an extraordinary social media system that allows plebs like us to see what the more famous/important folk are up to. But bloody hell, can it get catty. I recall following Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Duncan Bannaytyne, whom I’ve always thought of as a honest and fair man. I was a bit shocked when he started to talk about one of his followers without mentioning much of the context as to why this particular person was being mentioned. Looking through both sets of tweets, I was astonished to see that Duncan Bannatyne had, rather than blocked and ignore the user in question, started a pissing contest as to who donated the most amount of money to charity. It was at this point I unfollowed Bannatyne (and no, I didn’t tell him!) as I completely disagree with that sort of thing. He is in a fortunate position to donate as much as he does. The person he was referring to may well do a lot of work for charity too – but clearly does not have the same kind of funds that Bannatyne has at his disposal. It was if he was saying that he was a better human being than the other person because he could donate all this money. And that should never be the case. And besides which, charity can extend to offering one’s services and not just financial assistance.
I note that “celebrities” get rather riled when people tell them that they’re being unfollowed. That, or if somebody really gets up a celebs nose, they use their legions of fans to fight their battles. Maybe they deserve it, maybe not. But it’s almost akin to the old pitchfork and torches brigade that was all the fashion back in darker times.
I myself managed to do something utterly stupid on Twitter in that I was following Noel Clarke, actor, writer and director. And a talented one at that. He posted a series of jokes involving his kids which I thought a little harsh as he came across as being a little unappreciative as to having kids. So I unwittingly performed the first rule of Twitter faux pas – I told him that I was unfollowing him for this reason. He went ballistic and tried to direct message me (althoughly clearly thought the better of it and posted publicly) before announcing to his followers that “this idiot” didn’t understand the joke and went on to belittle me in a few more tweets than than I did with my single post criticising him. His followers dug into me as well. And he never gave me a chance to explain or apologise (as I would have done). As such I haven’t apologised to him as he subsequently acted in a similarly unprofessional manner – he chose to pounce on me in public rather than simply ignore and block me.
Still, I got what I deserved. And was a great lesson to think about what you type (just as you wouldn’t say to somebody’s face – God, I HATE that hat you’re wearing – without at least knowing them well enough that you could get away with saying something like that). I still like Noel Clarke’s work, but I’m not so sure I would like him as a fellow human being if I were to ever meet him. I just don’t know. Humour is very subjective and personal, and what one person finds funny another may find offense (which what happened in this case). After all, these were merely words typed away on a computer. A souless machine without a face. As it is most Twitters don’t know each other from Adam.
And this proves that if you’re not careful, the consequences can turn around and bite you on the bum. And Twitter is one of those social networks which rely on spontaneity. The war on twibbles will always continue, as much as trying to converse with 140 characters and complete strangers will allow.
read this after Noel Clarke linked to it, which proves your points ironically enough. Fully agree with you Martyn, it does get really catty and as a result you’ve got another follower in me. =]
It’s very difficult to judge somebody from 140 character posts, and as such – especially when the only idea you have of them is from what you’ve seen of them on TV or in film. Humour is very subjective, as I’ve said, and it gave me the (wrong) impression that Clarke didn’t appreciate his children. As I’m not able to biologically have children myself, and consequently having to jump through all manner of legal hoops to adopt, it can often touch a raw nerve when people joke about their children. I guess at that point that nerve was much more exposed than usual. Believe it or not, I do not seek fame or attention. I just reacted. Badly.
He was absolutely right to be angry, but I felt that he didn’t act in a professional way as a consequence and used his celebrity status to attack me in return. If he took it to Direct Messaging and kept it out the spotlight I would have apologised there and then and no more would have been said.
That said, I’ve decided to apologise if Mr. Clarke will do so similarly. I did not mean any offence – I misinterpreted your jokes and things went a bit too far. I hope you can forgive me for this.
You are a tit, get over yourself. Never talk about someone elses kids. Also, talk about feelin self imporatant eh? Oh and I’m not a coward, if you’re idiotic self has something to say go for it @krisstronach
Just for that, I could have deleted your comment, but I’m a firm believer in free speech (although I did have to delete a very childish anti-Clarke post which contained a lot of CAPS and a whole bunch of swearing – this is not a place for out and out insults. Carefully thought out opinions about me or anybody else, I will not delete – that’s a promise).
Clearly YOU have never been in a similar position to me, and hope you never will. I get the impression, since you’re referring to me as a ‘tit’ (well done, you’ve dragged yourself down to insults – although you’re quite right about me being one, I’d be the first to admit that), that perhaps you’re young and inexperienced in the way of the world. I hope your life pans out well for you. As for the you not being a coward – why have you protected your Twitter updates? What are you hiding exactly?
As for the self-importance, well, I AM a only child (my brother died when he was 5 – several years before I was born, although I do now (relatively recently) have another brother and sister through adoption by my father and stepmother) and am somewhat selfish and arrogant at times. For these faults, I apologise. Luckily I have my wife to (usually) keep me in check.
I got the impression from the blog post that there were sensitive fertility issues. I myself have one daughter from IVF, however – I love Kidwars, and recently tweeted Noel to ask when they were coming back.
I am sure that when you eventually adopt, then you will experience the fun of child rearing. It is really very funny at times, and I think Noel describes it perfectly.
I wish you well.
Whatever child rearing experience I have had to date has been helping to look after orphaned children in China for a week. That one experience has taught me that I really do want to be a father (despite being bitten, scratched, and ridden around rooms like a donkey). Absolutely loved it. However, it is a very long road to go down to get there (in which one’s life is subjected to intense scrutiny by social workers and Government employees in the country that one adopts from).
I have major off days when it comes to this sort of thing (and during the darkest moments I have been on anti-depressants which are just awful), and the initial argument was on one such day.
I do still have issues with some people who appear to take having children for granted (due to good fertility or otherwise), and occasionally I can have a go as a consequence. Thankfully I’m able to rein in my opinions much better these days.
It seems like you let your personal problems affect your judgement regarding ‘Kid Wars’. It’s funny how people think that social networking rules are so different from normal, real-life social rules.
Yes, you’re right. Spot on, in fact. Personal problems DID affect my judgement (and this is what I’ve been trying to say all along).
That said, social networking or not – a computer CAN change the way people people interact with other people. Some people write abrupt, terse emails which may come across as rude to some people, yet in real life, they’re as nice as pie. I’ve been on the Internet long enough to know that.
Before I close comments for this post, I just want to say that I am sorry for what happened. I lashed out for no good reason. But I’m very sure that most people who have read this blog topic, Noel’s tweets, my tweets, etc. must have also, at some point in their life, have had a momentarily lapse in thinking which has resulted in something nasty/horrible being said. And have then regretted it. We are only human, after all. We make mistakes. It’s learning from those mistakes which allows us to become a better person.