Bad Behavior on Twitter
Posted by Neena on 08/1/08 in Technology
With the relaunch of my coupon codes site - ILoveAGoodSale.com. I decided to revisit Twitter again. I started fresh with a new account. (You can now follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/iloveagoodsale).
Anyway, I had been using the service for less than two days and was still getting my Twitter legs when I had this unhappy encounter.
Apparently, a tweet that I was following but don’t personally know was having trouble with her hosting account. I entered the conversation in response to this tweet from her:
Her:I *really* don’t want to have to go through the hassle of switching Web hosts, I’ve been through so many. They all disappoint eventually.
Without bothering to click over to her profile and read the background (yes, my bad, my mistake - I acknowledge that), I wrote:
Me:have u tried bluehost? I’ve had good luck with them?
And she wrote back:
Her: OK, That was really stupid of you. Bluehost is who I’ve been COMPLAINING ABOUT.
Ouch! Why didn’t she just ignore the tweet from me or respond with something like - Bluehost is the problem, any other ideas?
On twitter, is it really bad form to just jump into the conversation? Or must we read the background to millions of threads that are going on?
So I replied:
Me: stupid is a bit strong don’t u think? Just trying to be helpful.
But I felt kind of bad and wanted to make nice. I read the whole conversation on her profile and saw this tweet that she had written:
Her: I need dinner. Didn’t get lunch. Too busy today. But most of all I need a five-gallon margarita and a hug.
And I responded with:
Me: take a break - and maybe 2 drinks. The whole situation is getting 2 u.
And then I read this:
Her: Just had to block someone on Twitter 1st time ever.
Yep, that was me.
And I get this wonderful and kind private message from her:
Her: shut up spammer. You were too stupid to read which host I was complaining about. shut up and go away.
In response I sent this direct message:
Me: Wow - truly, I am sorry to have induced this anger. Please, no name calling - I am new to Twitter and certainly not a spammer.
So, if I have this straight. She calls me stupid and a spammer. And she also tells me to shut up.
Am I the bad guy here?
We teach our children manners and to be polite and then treat each other like this?
I maybe opening myself up to criticism here from other twitterers - and I need to develop a thicker skin.
Thankfully, other people on Twitter have been far kinder to me.
tag this
Lisa | Aug 1, 2008 | Reply
Wow, that wasn’t very nice of her! I can’t believe she spoke to you like that and then blocked you when you were just trying to be nice. I haven’t tried twitter, I’m still trying to figure out the blog community, but that is a good reason not to bother. If people are like that…
Patty | Aug 1, 2008 | Reply
Sorry to hear you had that sort of negative experience on twitter. I have not run into anyone who is directly rude, but am still trying to figure out how you are suppose to interact on there with people you don’t know. I have added to conversations or sent dm’s to some people who I’d like to know more, but sometimes it seems if they don’t already know you they don’t both to reply back. I guess it can get a little clicky…but feel free to follow me at twitter.com/littlebytesnews if you’d like. I won’t call you names or block you ?
carol | Aug 2, 2008 | Reply
I can see why in her anger she might think you are a spammer. But ….she was rude and didn’t give you the benefit of the doubt. Calling names is just babyish.
Maybe she really needed that bucket of margaritas.
Shell | Aug 2, 2008 | Reply
OMG. Is she like…two? That’s sooooo tacky.
Neena | Aug 2, 2008 | Reply
Lisa, Patty, Carol, and Shell,
You guys are awesome. Thanks for the support - I didn’t think I was wrong here. But I did need a little affirmation. If you are on twitter (Patty, I know you are) tell me your screen names and I will follow. But no name calling allowed!
Cindi @ Moomettesgram's Musings | Aug 4, 2008 | Reply
I’m a newcomer to Twitter also, so this is good to know! I’m trying to figure out the conversation part also. Usually I try to DM folks like the above commentor mentioned. You can follow me if you’d like!
http://twitter.com/moomettesgram