3.05.2009

The Wonderful World of Twitter

So it is no surprise to those who know me that I love Twitter. I don't think a moment goes by where you see me on my phone and I am not Twittering, or reading tweets from my friends, or thinking about something clever I should tweet. It's an addiction and I'm okay with that.

For those of you who don't know what Twitter is let me summarize and try to hold in my obvious bias. Twitter is where you share various things with your friends within 140 characters. It can range to what you are doing at that moment, to random thoughts, questions you need help with, or funny jokes designed to brighten the days of those who follow you. the only limit is your imagination and 140 characters.

I will be the first to admit twitter is kinda lame if you only have so many friends involved. For the first 4 months I really only had 1 person I talked to on Twitter and I mostly texted her during the day anyway so it kinda served no purpose except to see what she was doing and to make sure all was well in her world. And then I started following people, people started following me and soon I had myself a great group of people that I have never met though I still call friends.

Should you get twitter, and of course I recommend you do, you should look these fine people up. they are great and I am going to tell you exactly why.

errica - Dean was the first person who told me about twitter. She's my best friend and on a regular basis the strength that keeps me going. I love her.

Sample tweet - "Boys suck. They just want the sunshine in my pants. Well, i say no. Go find your own sunshine panties"

kibbe - I like to call her the East Coast Dean. She's punk rock with a New York Attitude and a gusto for the entertaining. She never ceases to make me laugh and provide me with endless entertainment.

Sample Tweet - "My dad's first wall post ever?? "Hi foxy lady it's great to have you as my friend" (that's to me, btw, haha) I AM LOVING THIS!!"

jamesbressi - James is amazing. he seems to know everyone, experience amazing things, and continue to try to expand his horizons. He is always willing to give me a hand and an uplifting word when I need it and believe me I often need it. He even lets me give him crap for his town's sports teams, you gotta love that.

Sample Tweet - "Don't u hate when u write something, but when u re-read it after u sent it u realized it sounds snippy, when u didn't mean it that way" (note: while I normally hate the use of the letter U instead of you, it is imperative with Twitter and turns out not as duchy.)

domonews - truth be told I love Derek and honestly if you aren't friends with him I don't think we could be friends ever. He's that awesome. He is always there when I need him, and even willing to sit through an atrocious movie like Blankman just because we both needed friends that night. He's the greatest.

Sample Tweet - "Just woke up sweating. Stupid heaters. Time to start sleeping naked again, maybe."

_aims - Aimee is adorable. There is no other way to describe her. She will always go out of her way to make others happy regardless of what is going on in her life. She still refuses to get twitter updates on her phone but that could just be because I update way too much. She's awesome and I hope she doesn't mind me saying as much. (she usually hates it when I say nice things about her.)

Sample Tweet - "I'm officially a wuss. The hunting game at Gameworks made me cry and I couldn't shoot the bears because I felt bad for the orphaned cubs."

kurtkaiser - Kurt is relatively new to twitter but I can say with great confidence that it has already taken over his life. He's funny, crass, caring, and he's still got that new user smell that makes him so much fun to play with. Kurt never fails to bring a smile to my face and he truly is a joy to talk with.

Sample Tweet - "Rachel Maddow has a twitter, i am more sold on this thing everyday. Rachel, I want to have your children."

cracked - Now Cracked is a website that I love and thankfully they carry their irreverent brand of humor to twitter. I haven't read an update by them that doesn't make me laugh, which is only a problem when I have to explain what I am laughing at.

Sample Tweet - "The alternative looked grim when my jobless sister read "Ass Gas or Grass" aloud off my bumper as I gave her a ride to narcotics anonymous."

fictionALY - Aly never ceases to amaze me with the amount of things she is willing to put out there for the world to enjoy. She also amuses me and my Catholic school marm fantasies every so often.

Sample Tweet - "I'm craving a Yoo-Hoo. With vodka. Gray Goose to keep it classy with the Yoo-Hoo."

hopeinhell - My personal favorite Australian female (okay so she's the only one I know but still she's awesome) she is always entertaining, and one of the two Australians that have convinced me they are all chain smokers.

Sample tweet - "Dear @hopeinhell. Please remember that any mention of nipples inflames the masses in future, and don't. Thanks @hopeinhell. :P" (the @ before her name is how you can tell who they are talking to. It serves as a marker of distinction between tweets as part of a conversation or just general tweets)

yonderboy - Alright yonderboy is an interesting character that again makes me laugh ridiculously on a regular basis. he is also one of my other favorite Aussies, especially since he claims to be sending me a candy bar that I just have to try. He has managed to help me and talk me off of many a ledge in the past and i am grateful for his friendship, one that I very much wouldn't have without twitter.

Sample Tweet - "i have somehow managed to tie my feet together by wheeling my chair around the office whilst wearing my headphones.."

WDC - Ah the friend I take the most crap for having, and honestly I can see why on a superficial level but considering how much this 14 year old basketball enthusiast and technical genius reminds me of me at this age, I am giving just about a negative amount of crap as to what others think. He's a great kid and i truly want nothing but the best for him and I'm glad to consider him a friend, To Catch a Predator jokes be damned.

Sample Tweet - "Going to reinstall Linux, again. It's too much of a hassle with all the apt-get issues. THis time, Xubuntu instead of Ubunu with XFCE." (he also says normal people things that I actually understand but this is just to show off his gibberish)

dougbenson - As you all know I LOVE stand up comedy, and Doug is a stand up comedian I have had the great pleasure to see live multiple times (in fact Kurt and I are going to see him next month!) and I am so glad to have him on twitter. He is also the star of the documentary Super High Me, and on pretty much every VH1 show ever. He also took the time to send me a DM (direct Message, or a message that just I could read) which is something I didn't really expect from any of the famous people I follow.

Sample Tweet - "If you see my awful Axe commercial, keep in mind that I didn't get paid very much to do it, which makes me the lamest sell out of all times."

taylor_blue - Taylor is a celebrity blogger and a stay at home mom. Sure a lot of her tweets are plugs for her articles but when she does interact with her fans/friends it is always thoughtful and great. She does that a lot as well. I always love chatting with her and she is often kind enough to rig her website contests so that I win them every time I enter (disclaimer that is a joke I win them fair and square), quite simply she's the best.

Sample Tweet - "Ummm I have to brag for a second...TEN Gossip was a semi-finalist in the Blogger's Appreciation Awards. I <3 TEN Gossip.com"

rufusisnodufus - So Rufus (not his real name but look at me not caring) is a new friend on Twitter so I don't really know much about him though I can say he is funny, charming, entertaining, and a rather quick learner. He is also just plain enjoyable to talk with. Oh and he loves himself some Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

Sample tweet - "I just finished my oatmeal raisin cookie and I already miss it. Why did you have to leave me cookie!?!?!?!?! ::starts sobbing::" (see, madly loves them)

drewfa - Drew is also quite new to the world of twitter though he does have a great teacher in his roommate Kibbe. I can say he's funny, quirky, a delight to talk with, and I can already tell the two of us would get a long greatly if I were ever to make a visit to NYC.

Sample Tweet - "Just had to jump the turnstile at the subway because the train was there and my stupid card wasn't working! I'm officially a criminal..."

stickrachel - I knew about Rachel before we even met. She would be my competition with Dean for the title of best friend (currently I will say I am winning but only because I refuse to admit defeat) And once we met it just sort of worked. She's quirky and clever, enjoyable on almost every level of existence and once again, she's someone who makes me laugh. Quite simply I enjoy her.

Sample Tweet - "Dear Girl On Bus: Please buy a bra that fits your enormous breasts. They are spilling out the top, and not in a sexy way."

gregbehrendt - Greg is another one of my favorite stand up comedians, I have met him on a couple different occasions as well and is a genuinely great guy. He is also the co-author of a couple books, most predominately "He's Just Not That Into You". Interesting and fun fact, I was one of the first 10 people to follow him on Twitter and he has replied to me a couple times.

Sample Tweet - "@allenbrand Go about your life KICKING ASS! Always be in motion if she misses out on your awesomeness her loss! She had a shot." (best advice I was ever given.)

jennyjenjen - Jenny was the first person to follow me on Twitter that I had never met or interacted with in person. Funny story, I had no idea about the replies tab and what it did (it lets you see all the replies to your tweets from all of twitter not just those that you follow), and when I finally went through there I saw a few replies from her from a long time back and so I felt bad and started chatting with her. A rather fun and interesting friendship has grown from it. Yay replies tab!

Sample Tweet - "Might just be a Daft-Punk-blasting-out-the-windows kind of day. Reminds me of working the student club when I lived in Sweden :)"

decayedangel - Jes is one of my nearest and dearest friends. She has taught me oh so much and helped me become a better artist back when I actually had time to work on Graphic Design stuff. Our friendship kinda disappeared for a bit when I moved but thanks to twitter, and facebook we still talk occasionally. Quite simply she is awesome, and I don't know who I would be without her influence in my life.

Sample Tweet - "my dog just discovered the joy of opening the bathroom cabinet, gently pulling out q-tips & eating them. she's only smart when she's bad."

ttuesdayy
- I'm working hard on getting Jennifer as addicted to twitter as I am but she is a hard sell. Either way she's a great girl and as one of the few people I know in real life who has an account I had to include her on here. Plus she's also all sorts of awesome so you know how that works.

Sample Tweet - "Maybe it's just homeland pride talking here, but the Oscar statuette is way cooler than the BAFTA masky thing."

So there you have it, my favorite tweeps, and a short take on why I love twitter. It's because of these people, and because of the new people I meet every day. It's a fun world they let me play in and I am just giving them some love back.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

this was awesome man, a fantastic read. i'm honoured to be a part of it.. =D

David L. said...

Why thank you Mr. Allen! The sample tweet for me was probably the nerdiest thing I've ever said, though. Love ya too!

Big D, WDC

David