Decoding the Twitter Culture

Photo by  freestocks.org  from  Pexels

Compared to Facebook and Instagram, Twitter is a social media which is still a mystery to some. Not as many people use it probably because of a more limited audience or they just didn't click with the app on their first use. For a number of people, Twitter has become a safe space for expressing personal sentiments and sharing interests without the fear of troubling other people who do not share the same passion for a certain topic. 

 

Twitter is actually a microblogging type of social network. You can only have a maximum of 280 characters / words per tweet so you don't encounter a lot of wordy posts.

 

If you've always wondered what's happening inside twitter, there's really nothing special about it. However, here are some common norms or patterns that can be observed in the said media:

 

"Threads" are a thing

A twitter thread is a series of connected tweets. Since there's a limit to a number of words in one tweet, you make a thread to give context and supporting information to the main thought. This is common especially when sharing a long story or when live twitting certain situations. People would take the time to scroll through the long tweet if the story is worth it. 

 

Always updated with the new internet slang

Apparently, a snappy internet slang catches on real quick in twitter. You'll notice a random or weird word or phrase surfacing one day and then find almost everyone using it the next. There are so many common twitter slangs. Some examples are the always trending "cancelled" which in twitter context means "the end of a career"  and "twitter party" which means "to get people talking or tweeting about a certain hashtag". 

 

You could wake up to a thousand likes with a single phrase

Liking and retweeting happens very fast. When something "blows up", it means that that a tweet instantly becomes famous with thousands of likes and retweets. Even a few words can be famous if many people find it humurous or can relate to it. 

 

Can be highly political/critical 

Since its a personal space for many people, its a platform for expressing their political sentiments or critical questions. It has been a norm to address pressing topics such as discrimmination, gender inequality, national political climates, and the likes. Topics are really diverse everyday. 

 

Home of the fandoms

Twitter is the home of the Kpop and Kdrama esthusiasts, bibliophiles, tv show fans and music junkies. Every fandom has their own group of people which is inclusive for those who share the same interest. Fandoms usually share a lot of updates on their favorite characters and personalities' life as well as new releases. 

 

Get ready to encounter highly emotional outbursts

You need to develop respect and an open mind in twitter taking into consideration that not all people think like you. Some express their emotions such as heartbreaks and anger, and even personal beliefs. Since its their platforms, they have the freedom to talk about these stuff but of course, with the consideration that other people are not not negatively affected.