On Those Who Tweet

         In the past five years, the number of social media users has exploded. While several social media sites exist today, the two largest sites, by far, are Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is a much more involved service than Twitter. On Facebook one may have private conversations; post public statuses, pictures, or videos; comment on others’ statuses, pictures, and videos; and several other less important things. A major part of the functionality of Facebook rests in the fact that members must mutually agree to be “friends.”

         Twitter, on the other hand, is much different than Facebook. On Twitter, one may send out a public message [a tweet] that is limited to 140 characters. Anyone who “follows” (is subscribed to) the sender will receive the tweet. Other services that Twitter provides are the ability to post pictures and videos, to send private messages to other users, and to reply to other users publicly. Also, on Twitter, in order to receive updates from another user, no mutual agreement must be made (unless one user has particular privacy settings). As a Twitter user (colloquially known as a “Tweeter”) I have noticed some interesting personality types from other Tweeters.

         The most common (and least annoying user) on Twitter is the casual user. This person tweets about interesting things; possibly what they are doing, how they feel about a certain issue, or something funny. The casual user only engages other Tweeters when it is necessary, and does not inform the masses of his every move. It is easy to appreciate the casual user for partaking in Twitter how it was meant to be
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         Unfortunately, there are other types of Tweeters. One particularly annoying user is the creeper. The creeper always seems to be waiting for your next post, anxiously awaiting the opportunity to make some unnecessary comment. Because the creeper spends all of his time responding to other Tweeter’s posts, he rarely has any of his own. In fact, it is entirely possible that the creeper has not posted anything about himself in weeks – all in the name of keeping up with everyone else.

         Another annoying Tweeter is the addict. The addict feels compelled to alert the world to his every action. His posts are comprised of things such as “giving my dog a bone”, “just changed the channel on my tv”, and “staring at my wall”. No reader wants to be so engrossed in someone’s life, but the addict does not seem to understand this fact.

         While these are just some of the personality types that exist in the world of Twitter, they comprise the majority of most users. Many times it may take a psychologist to recognize behavioral patterns in people, but now anyone can easily do so. If the person in question has a social media account, specifically a Twitter account, one may find it very easy to identify the personalities of even the most mysterious people in the world.