Social media hierarchy: I’m a Twitter ho
There’s a certain amount of intimacy associated with certain types of new media. For me, it’s sort of like dating–you know, you start out slow by meeting and getting to know someone (Twitter), then get to know one another the relationship progresses (blogs, Facebook). In my book, anyone who has my email address is practically a lover. Here’s how it breaks down:
As long as you’re not a spammer and I like what you have to say or what you do, I’ll follow you on Twitter. Like a drunk girl at a frat party, if you have a sexy avatar and can form a semi-coherent sentence, I’m all yours.
Intimacy rating: I’d only give you my number if I’ve had a few drinks, but we can hang out and chat by the hors d’oeuvres.
Subscribe to RSS
I’m somewhat wary of clogging my RSS feed with even more information since it already takes an hour to get through it all. If I subscribe to your feed, I expect to see you at least once a week…and I’m okay with that.
Intimacy rating: You’re fairly articulate, kinda cute, and have all your teeth–all right, let’s dance!
Friend/Fan on Facebook
I’m letting you get to know the real me, so it’s getting serious. I must really like you. How much depends on which group of privacy settings I put you in, so don’t get too excited.
Intimacy rating: We’ve been out a few times and are dating, though not exclusively. I might even hug you after dinner.
Work email
Like the RSS feed, I’m wary of clogging my inbox and there’s only so much you can do with filters. I actually want to hear from you on a regular basis.
Intimacy rating: We’re officially exclusive and I’ve talked about you to my friends. I better not hear about you hangin’ out with no (other) Twitter hoes.
Personal email
At this point, you’re one of my bestest friends and I trust you enough to know you won’t be sending me spam. We’ve exchanged some one on one messages and gotten to know one another on a personal level.
Intimacy rating: I know you snore and how you like your coffee in the morning.
Do you segregate your contacts into different social funnels or is it just me? How do you decide who goes where?
Marian
February 25, 2010 at 8:51 amtwitter has me addicted! Thank you for you thoughts on my post on blogging
xx
marian
tamia
February 25, 2010 at 8:59 pmIt was the talk of the blogosphere! You made some v. relevant points, too.
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February 26, 2010 at 2:58 pmcaramelnaps25
February 27, 2010 at 3:23 pmI was on twitter and deleted my acct, but I may reactivate. I started on fb before the craze. Since everyone has jumped on I feel like I do need to filter work contacts, from former students to fam. My mom and stepdad have even joined fb! It is time to go back and make some changes. It is hard, if I want to vent about work I can’t since some “folk” are on my page. I will be deleting some folk this year. I am also looking at changing schools (work). If I do I will be deleting some current co workers and not making the mistake of adding the ones at the new spot! Interesting post!
tamia
March 1, 2010 at 8:21 amI know what you mean! When my mom sent me a friend request on FB last year, it took a few days of hemming and hawing and lots of side eye action before I confirmed. Instead of de-friending or deleting people, take a look at your privacy settings. You can put people into groups and choose which groups get to see your updates/photos/etc. before posting.
LIFE. SAVER.
Sasha-Shae
September 24, 2010 at 8:15 pmOh man..I’m a big twitter/fb/email junkie…it seems twitter and I have a love affair, and then facebook is my addiction..it’s my little crack on the side, the emails..we have this abusive relationship…I tend to take it out for a spin before realizing it’s a major pain and just gives me headaches after tarrying for too long..
This was a fun post, lol