Read on Twitter
A thread on Twitter experiences.
One of my early experiences on this account was when I made the mistake of voicing my opinion that it was a shame Alan Turing, a white male, had been picked for a new banknote. Boy was tweeting that a mistake.
One of my early experiences on this account was when I made the mistake of voicing my opinion that it was a shame Alan Turing, a white male, had been picked for a new banknote. Boy was tweeting that a mistake.
My mentions were taken over by hoards of racists and sexists keen to send abuse. So many replies I couldn’t keep up. Twitter started offering me tools to manage the incoming tweets due to the volume. Many were abusive & hate filled.
And then post 5pm HR Twitter logged on. Oh boy. So my evening was filled with HR pros also deciding to tell me how wrong I was. Despite the hate filled posts being clearly visible, people felt the need to join in the pile on.
And then the ‘likers’ came. Those who just go through the threads & like all the tweets disagreeing with you. So a third round. It can make you feel quite isolated & alienated.
I made a comment at the time that despite people’s supposed commitment to equality & diversity, those ‘champions’ were silent. The xenophobes are good at supporting each other. Those who are meant to oppose them are good attacking their own side.
So the point of this thread? Twitter’s a really powerful tool for good. But it needs to be used appropriately. I see a lot of people saying ‘be kind’ or similar. I see far fewer people putting those words into actions.
I often wonder what those HR people thought would be gained from their actions tht evening. After I’d been told I was wrong 500 times, did they think the 501st time was what would make the difference? That joining in with the xenophobes was a good look for them & positive for me?
Ultimately did I change my view? No. Did I become less likely to speak out on behalf of others where there’s no gain to myself? Definitely.
So some comments. Twitter is made up of people and people ultimately should be about relationships. So our first action & our first thought should be to try and build those relationships.
I see some people who tweet an awful lot but whose number of tweets they’ve liked is very low. Why? It’s a simple way of building relationships & positivity so why not do it?
Disagreeing & debating is great but, as above, it’s important to ask what purpose it serves. What will it achieve? How does it build that relationship? Also, if you haven’t built a relationship is this the way to do it?
Let’s be a lot more positive & supportive. The negativity will always be there & is sometimes useful but let’s make sure we encourage & build up one another. I’ll tweet a poll & get 30-50 people voting. I tweet some good news about me or another person & I’ll get 6-10 responses.
Aware I’ve made this quite personal but I see it across the platform - my experiences are just useful examples.
If you’ve got more practical ways to make Twitter a more enriching place please do share. But overall let’s remember the rule;
If you’ve got more practical ways to make Twitter a more enriching place please do share. But overall let’s remember the rule;
