My 10 years of Twitter.
Chapter 1
Sponsored by The People Spot Get the app here. PeopleSpot App . In 2014 I joined this social platform called Twitter. It’s a ride.
I have a view that Twitter will signify a time in world history when people let their humanity run wild. People had a voice and the most powerful of people decided, wisely or not, to come out from behind their gated fortresses to engage. It was ‘on for young and old’. It truly was a spectacle. Some of us participated cautiously. Some of us abandoned all caution and dove in deep. It was humanity on show. The weird, wonderful, ugly, beautiful, basic, sophisticated, nuanced town hall that just kept giving (and taking). To acknowledge (not necessarily celebrate) my own 10 year twitter-versary I’m going to randomly share some moments. A digital snapshot of the period 2014 through 2024. Brace yourself. Welcome to Chapter 1. An innocent beginning.
Two years in (2016) I was trying hard to go viral. I thought humour would be all it takes. In ten years this is still one of my best. As you might notice from the traction, my best didn’t cut it. No likes. No comments. Donuts.
By 2018 , four years on I was more community minded. Leaving humour to the experts. Two likes. Improvement. But I don’t think I understand the algorithm.
Maybe I could ride on the shoulders of giants. Reposting is something. And some tweets are funnier than my take on a Havaianas Vending machine BTW Meredith Frost is still thriving on X. A member since 2009 she’s close to breaking the 160k followers barrier. Maybe this article could push her numbers north.
At times I wondered whether getting political was the answer. These tweets were sent with heart. By 2020 my political tweets were sent with vitriol.
Seriously Change the Date remains a national disgrace. Australia has an ugly history of its treatment of first nations people and the symbolism here is telling. Senator Briggs is a MVP on Twitter.
Twitter often had its most emotive moments when someone famous died. The moment we see a known name trending there is a collective gasp. Fortunately trending can occur for very random things. But sometimes our hearts were collectively broken.
A shout out to two people who remained twitter favourites for me. The legendary podcaster Marc Maron who kindly responded to a tweet of mine when I asked whether I should bring my 15 year old to his stand up. It was a thoughtful “no”. Adulting and parenting advice from Marc Maron. Only on twitter. The second was Marieke Hardy who played a critical role on twitter in the world’s most extended lockdown in Melbourne Australia. I know she’s not super active on X but her community role on twitter during a difficult time should not be under estimated.
Later in my twitter / x history I engaged with posed questions. Which often tests your meme game. Forgive me. I’m a white male gen Xer and top 5 lists are impossible for me to ignore. For clarity, it’s a celebrity crush on both Mulder and Scully.
Sometimes kids do the darnedest things. My now adult children were very happy to be included in my twitter avatar. They also shaped some of my tweet efforts.
If you join this article from somewhere outside of Australia. This is s YouTube of Russell Coight Very different to Oscar winner Russell Crowe.
And I might end Chapter 1 with some twitter action from Donald Trump. When they write the history of Twitter, expect Donald Trump to feature heavily.
Chapter 2 coming some time in 2024.