# I've never tweeted **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 10, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669 "2016-02-10T01:28:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/41 "2016-02-10T17:10:15Z")
I don’t use Twitter regularly but during baseball season, I fire it up every night before the game starts and listen to the game while I watch a rolling commentary of the game by other fans of my team and a couple journalists. Then after the game there will be some tweets by the players. I tweet to my handful of followers during the games, and sometimes say something that others like and/or like enough to re-tweet. It’s fantastic and fun! You don’t have to tweet at all to be a Twitter user. You can just use it as an information gathering point. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/42 "2016-02-10T17:10:40Z")
> [@HelenTroy](#): > > I almost feel like I should do some sort of Twitter for Newbies thing when these topics come up here. I am a regular, everyday person and I use twitter. I somehow amassed over 5000 followers, including a variety of celebrities and the number of misconceptions about it professed on this board is astonishing, but I suppose not so much when you consider how social media averse y’all seem to be. > > Anyway, I find it incredible to keep me on top of breaking news, developing stories in real time, meeting people, and being introduced to new experiences. Anonymity is the key for twitter and I share as much or as little as I like. That 5000 follower account? That’s my public one. I also have a locked one for people I’ve grown close to where I share more personal details and that one has 30 followers. > > Maybe an Ask the Twitter “expert” might help? I know, the sheer volume of misconceptions about texting/social media/smartphones here is both frustrating and hilarious. Ask the Twitter expert might be interesting, but judging by the number of posters in every “why do people text???” thread who seem to willfully ignore the responses that explain there are many things people could be doing on their phones besides texting, I’m not sure it would help much. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/43 "2016-02-10T17:12:43Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > I set up a twitter account maybe two years ago, it’s my IRL name. Other than basic setup (NO photo added, no location or other personal info added), I’ve yet to use it. Haven’t sent tweet #1 yet, never added a picture so you know it’s me vs someone else with the same name, etc. yet I have two followers!!! One is a guy I used to work with, wasn’t particularly friendly with him either, just a co-worker & the other is a neighbor. > > WTF? How did they find me & why would they follow me w/o knowing that it’s me (vs someone with the same name - I’m not a Smith or Jones, but I’m not uniquely named either)? > > can I drop them w/o their knowing? There’s no need to “drop” them if you’re not tweeting anything. If you do decide to tweet and you don’t want them to see it (although, there’s no purpose to tweeting if _no one_ sees it) you can make your account private. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/44 "2016-02-10T17:13:46Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Twitter is the opiate of the masses. I thought that was religion. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/45 "2016-02-10T17:34:52Z")
I have a twitter account. I rarely tweet, but I follow many of the cast of ST:TNG, a few software platforms I’m interested in, and some joke accounts (e.g. @AmericanAirlanes @KimKierkegaard ). If something really tickles my fancy, I retweet it to my 5 followers, mostly just to keep a link for myself. You choose your level of participation. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/46 "2016-02-10T17:35:37Z")
Couple of friends of mine are old blind guys (guys who are blind, not retired window treatment salesmen). Every week they collaborate on an internet radio jazz show, which they save to an FTP folder on a podcast service provider. And once a month, the one in Missouri sends me an email with the descriptions of the shows. My job is to upload the files to publish them, along with the description of the content. The publishing process puts out links to people who follow them on the podcast service, as well as on Facebo[ok] and Twitter. So I guess I use Twitter, to the extent that I sometimes have to edit the description of the show, so that it fits the 116-characters-or-fewer format. I still wouldn’t be able to access a show that way, though. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/47 "2016-02-10T17:37:00Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I thought that was religion. Twitter is the _religion_ of the masses? Sounds about right. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/48 "2016-02-10T17:38:27Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I thought that was religion. Twitter is the religion of the masses? Interesting concept… I Tweet, Facebook, Instagram, ect… Started out solely for business marketing purposes, now I use the socialverse for personal things, too. It’s fun. Oh wait! What I meant to say was: I don’t even have a comp-perter and don’t now want to know what this here intrawebs thingamabob is anyhow, tarnation :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/49 "2016-02-10T17:44:41Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Twitter is the _religion_ of the masses? > > Sounds about right. > [@AncientHumanoid](#): > > Twitter is the religion of the masses? Interesting concept… Religion is the opiate of the masses. At least according to Matthew Perry’s character in the movie _Fools Rush In_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/50 "2016-02-10T17:56:26Z")
So how does one send a Tweet? Does it start with @, like @peedin? ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/51 "2016-02-10T18:01:44Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > So how does one send a Tweet? Does it start with @, like @peedin? Mentions of an account name start with “@”. So if someone wants to mention you in a tweet, they would write “@peedin”. If peeing in things became a topic and the tweeter wanted to connect with other people who were peeing in things, he’d type “#peedin”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/52 "2016-02-10T18:02:16Z")
My gf is in advertising. While most of America was watching the stuporbowl, she was at work tweeting. One of the accounts she handles needed creative tweets to help something do something. Heh. When she asks someone what kind of ad campaign they wanna do, the current reply is viral. Everyone wants something viral. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/53 "2016-02-10T18:05:45Z")
Never tweeted, chirped, honked or crowed, and don’t have an account. I only have FB because my kids communicate through it, and post zero information in my profile. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/54 "2016-02-10T18:38:34Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > So how does one send a Tweet? Does it start with @, like @peedin? Open the twitter app, type in your (140 character or less) message and hit the send button. Only people who follow you will see this message. Do the same thing but include one or more mentions, the ‘@’ character followed immediately by another users account name, then those mentioned plus your followers will see it. Do the same thing but include a hashtag, the ‘#’ character followed but some more characters like #Trumpisanidiot, then those who search twitter for #trumpisanidiot plus your followers will see it. Reply to a tweet and the sender plus both his and your followers will see it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/55 "2016-02-10T21:04:07Z")
I use it professionally. I’m in game development so I follow the Twitter feeds of major gaming sites, prominent indie developers, and game studies academics. It’s a great way to keep up to with the current buzz in the industry. I have about 700 followers. I tweet about cool stuff I stumble across, projects I’m working on, or chat about game design theory with other designers. (I’m @bbupton, if anyone cares.) ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/56 "2016-02-10T21:10:58Z")
I’ve never tweeted and texted only a couple times for my job, very short messages because I don’t like typing with my thumbs on a cellphone. I have no desire to carry on a texting conversation like others do, and I type fast on a standard qwerty keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/57 "2016-02-10T22:40:40Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I don’t use Twitter regularly but during baseball season, I fire it up every night before the game starts and listen to the game while I watch a rolling commentary of the game by other fans of my team and a couple journalists. Then after the game there will be some tweets by the players. I tweet to my handful of followers during the games, and sometimes say something that others like and/or like enough to re-tweet. > > It’s fantastic and fun! > > You don’t have to tweet at all to be a Twitter user. You can just use it as an information gathering point. That’s my favorite thing to do during Penguins games. It’s fun to check out the trash talk with opposing fans, and sometimes the local media guys will answer fans’ questions. (And all hockey fans should check out Paul Bissonnette’s twitter page. You’re totally missing out if you don’t.) Celeb twitter accounts are fun to read too. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/58 "2016-02-10T23:13:40Z")
When Twitter first started, I admit I was somewhat confused. TWiT (This Week in Texas) was a weekly tabloid/magazine in the 80s and 90s with all sorts of news, events, and classifieds catering to the Gay scene in Texas. So, for a while at least, I thought Twitter was was the online evolution of this. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/59 "2016-02-11T00:14:44Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Snapchat is the one I can’t seem to understand. I’m old and don’t really understand snapchat, but I follow [LACMA](http://www.lacma.org), because whoever they have running their account both appreciates art and has a sense of humor about it. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669/60 "2016-02-11T00:15:54Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > I set up a twitter account maybe two years ago, it’s my IRL name. Other than basic setup (NO photo added, no location or other personal info added), I’ve yet to use it. Haven’t sent tweet #1 yet, never added a picture so you know it’s me vs someone else with the same name, etc. yet I have two followers!!! One is a guy I used to work with, wasn’t particularly friendly with him either, just a co-worker & the other is a neighbor. > > WTF? How did they find me & why would they follow me w/o knowing that it’s me (vs someone with the same name - I’m not a Smith or Jones, but I’m not uniquely named either)? > > can I drop them w/o their knowing? You probably signed up using an email address they have in their contacts, and when they signed up, they got a notification that “Spiderman is on twitter,” so they followed you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ive-never-tweeted/745669.md?page=4)