Thursday, August 4, 2011

{review} how to leave twitter


How to Leave Twitter: My Time as Queen of the Universe and Why This Must Stop

This was a quick, comical read. Like a refreshing palate-cleanser after a few heavier meals reads. 

I've been 'lurking' on Twitter since 2009 but only more recently have I plunged in semi-actively albeit anonymously (@skiourophile). Dent, far from anonymous, perfectly sums up the highs and lows of a Twitter addiction...
58. I worry that I can never leave Twitter as normal life feels like wading through treacle.
59. I worry that I’m missing out if I don’t check Twitter.
60. I worry that Twitter has killed my ability to focus on one thought for more than ten seconds.
...and the craziness that is trying to not let Twitter take over your life: "Quitting Twitter is so invigorating. I love it so much I’ve done it 117 times."

I'm sure that far too many of us can relate to Dent's "desktop multi-application spiralling circle of hell syndrome" where you find yourself unable to escape flicking every twenty-seconds between Tweetdeck, the email inbox, a good dozen web browser pages, Skype, iTunes, a photo app and some live tellie. For HOURS...

Dent has a perfect grasp of the stereotypical players (such as those who "cyber-rim" celebrities; the moral "twitchfork mob"; the pedant) and topics (the weather; exercise; moral panic; self-publicizing; RIPs; etc.). A couple of remarks were particularly canny, such as her observation that Twitter has enabled so many clever, funny women to shine ("a godsend for letting me write unfettered, unformulated thoughts about my experience as a female that I would have literally nowhere else to shove").

A fun read:
... Twitter avatar choice is crucial. I always ensure my avatar features me caked in make-up and festooned in diamonds, so suggesting I’m perpetually en route to the launch of my own fragrance/dinner with Liz Hurley at The Ivy. This masks the truth that I’m usually at home clad in baggy-kneed George of Asda leggings writing a column in a deadly silent office which, as I type this footnote, resembles some sort of cat anaesthetic recovery ward.
Rating: 7/10.

If you liked this... is this the year of witty women who write for British newspapers publishing very funny books? If so, I recommend Caitlin Moran's How to Be a Woman.

How to be a Woman

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