No, we’re not talking about saving puppies (Sorry, @DOGingham). Today we talk about being kind to others. Not just on Twitter but online, in general. People go online to find things. Whether, they are doing a casual search, playing flash games, or looking to connect with others. They just want a new experience. For our sake today, I’m going to assume that they want that experience to be “positive”. No searches for bomb making materials today. Sorry.
Now, I don’t know of anybody these days who likes being picked on. Maybe I’m crazy. But I’m sure we all remember feeling picked upon at some point in our life. And when you’re online, taking your time to give your perspective on a situation or participate in some activity, it feels really crappy to have someone come out of seemingly nowhere and go seemingly go out of their way to tell you that you are the biggest idiot on the internet and should be serilized. Yes, I’m quoting here.
It seems like a simple enough idea, but it is ingrained into some of the internet’s culture to be asshole-ish. If you read about the history of the internet, you’ll find that in the late 80’s and early 90’s, there were great flame wars the went on for weeks and months. In those days, you were measured by your last coding job and quickest smartass comment.
However, as many things do, the internet has changed. More and more, people from the “mainstream” are find their way inside the inter-tubes for the first time. For those of us who choose be inhabit these digital environments, I feel it’s up to us to welcome and (somewhat) protect those who are willing to take a chance and interact with us.
Just the other day, one of the people I follow on Twitter thought it would be a good idea to multi-tweet something he deemed important, in all caps. I’d met this guy in real life and was pretty sure he wasn’t trying to be annoying. It just so happened, one of the other people I follow called him out for it. I aligned with her and gently told him it might not be the best idea. Turns out, he was just trying to make sure people saw it. He thought since it was important to him, surely it was going to be important to all of his followers. People who are just now dipping their toes into the digital waters are going to do things like this. It’s up to us to let them know what’s accepted and what’s not without running them off.
And maybe that’s just how I feel. Probably because I’ve been using and moderating message boards for about 6 years now. And I’ve seen my fair share of flaming and trolls. I can generally tellthe difference of someone making an etiquette faux pas or someone being a troll. As a matter of fact, @JasonFalls has some great commentary on understanding trolls.
Troll: Anonymous mean commentor. Turd: A troll brave (or dumb) enough to reveal their identity.
My point is that part of my digital experience day-to-day is like being a moderator for whatever social media platform I happen to be on at that particular moment. It’s my job as a “digital native” is to bring in others from outside the bubble and evangelize just how great Twitter is for connecting for those attending the same sporting event or how Facebook can bring all of your fans together to share how cool your concert really was. I would hope that you and others like us would choose to act the same towards those beginning to join us. So, ask yourself, when’s the last time you made someone feel welcome on Twitter?
