Given that my DMs are open, if there is one category of people other than depressed who seem to be "reaching out" it seems it is men wanting to talk to a woman.

Most of them appearing to be troll-like accounts, following and interacting mostly with women. Mostly polite.

I sort of take it philosophically.

It is what it is.

Has led to some extraordinary conversations and a lot of irritating ones.

And a sort of different, possibly more sympathetic view of the "fraand brigade" so to say. Lonely, without social skills, often harmless

It is easy to label people creeps, and I think it is overwhelmingly men.

But I think a lot of men without looks/money feel at a loss around women. Pandemic removes even casual social interactions.

I've talked to several. Gets boring after a while because there is no content.

I guess I don't generally feel threatened by men, even men fishing for romantic interactions as long as I can say no or enforce the no if they don't take it gracefully.

It is a weird window into what men seem to seek. And most of the time, I think even they don't know.

Most of the chats are about seeking an opportunity to interact, but if you reply, they don't actually have a plan - they hadn't thought things out that far.

From there it goes to wanting to be friends. I be like "I don't chat much, but okay". Then? That is it. Content over.

I guess some may call it creepy or report such accounts, but it is basically just clueless lonely men with no skills.

Or I guess maybe they are trying to be creepy but I am certain they cannot threaten me, so I don't feel threatened. So again conversation ends.

Rare to get any actual obscenity. Once I got a dic pic - many years ago. Replied with a review and disinterest. He apologized. We conversed for another few messages then it died out. On my end because it was boring. On his end probably because i wasn't interested in his dick

I once tried to interview someone who was offering an intimate massage only for women with phone no provided and etc.

Asked him if he's ever got bookings from Twitter. I didn't book. He had no interesting replies about what seemed a unique career... died out.

But mostly people just want to be friends and have someone to miss and ask whether they had dinner.

It is a weird, weird rabbithole in Twitter.

(Probably varies for women. I rarely get attacked, or maybe fail to recognize them... so "WHAT COULD THIS PERSON POSSIBLY WANT?")

Bloody hell, I wrote a tutorial for fishing for contact with women as a reply to someone. Now to delete and retweet under this. lol.

So, if you are one of those lonely men, seeking to connect with a woman online, here are some tips:

1. Not all women will be open to such approaches. Find out before jumping in or you'll get reported (correctly) for being a creep

2. Know what you want before going before someone and starting the conversation.

3. Choose who you want to talk to. Even if you are desperate and fishing, the internet is a lot of people. Your chances will be better if you choose someone who WANTS what you want.

4. On the off-chance you get lucky and they reply - this is not a good time to go generic "friends" "hi" "did you have dinner" etc. Talk what you wanted to talk.

5. If they refuse, move on. No harm, no foul. Become a problem and they will deal with it. So don't.

6. Don't begin conversations with "hi". Begin with the most interesting thing you have to say. Better chance of getting a reply if they actually have an idea what you want to say.

7. If you've sent many "hi" "pls reply" etc, likely they aren't being read. Move on.

Good luck.

Am I weird for befriending trolls? They are people too, right?

Er. I forgot to mention the highly recommended advice.

8. Begin with the most interesting thing you have to say MEANS SAY. Not show. Stay zipped.

These days in particular. Everyone is going through a brutal time. There are a lot of phone numbers being made public by desperate people or really good hearted people stepping up to help them.

Never EVER misuse them for any purpose other than why they were put out.

Same goes for people leaving DM's open - though to a lesser extent - as we KNOW and expect some amount of unsolicited contact coming in.

But problem is, if someone has left DMs open for a specific reason, they are not likely to read/reply to irrelevance.

BEST place for unsolicited contact is in mentions and replies. You can reply to something you like, or make a tweet mentioning them. It is not intrusive, it is public, and if a conversation emerges that needs to be taken to a private space, it is an easy possibility.

Good luck.

Finally, I'm talking here of the random, usually male profiles that appear to exist to interact with women, want chats and so on.

NOT political trolls/abuse/etc - that is a different rabbithole. I've talked about it often over the years too.

Also, this is not a thread complaining, etc - on the contrary, I'm doing my best to see them as human beings with a midnset/circumstances different from mine.

As a golden rule, I very rarely react to trolling with hostility. And my mentions are usually squeaky clean for a woman who routinely expresses outrageous opinions.

Getting abuse/etc has become so rare, I eagerly look forward to it :p