Wednesday 18 May 2011
A Right Lot of Re- Tweets
I've been noticing on Twitter that some of the re-tweets recently tell me more than I need to know about the writers and quite a lot about the re-tweeters. In fact there are some people that I follow that are going to take the knock soon for continually re-tweeting drivel. Of course most Twitter content is drivel, but I like to think I've followed a lot of discerning people that won't in effect spam me. Is it too much to ask that you don't inflict other people's scary or stupid political/humour/miscellaneous guff on me and others?
Now I have no objection at all to the personal stuff. I love to know who has had what for brekkie or lunch or whatever, or when the guff I receive is beer related. That's Twitter and I live with that. I also hope on my few re-tweets, that it is at least usually, only beery stuff that I re-direct to my beery followers. But I have a hit list of those that don't. I don't suppose they'll care if they get de-followed, but they are beer people whose beery thoughts I do want to hear. So, think before you re-tweet. Please.
Back to beer and another re-tweet. Does Thwaites really want their Old Dan described thus: "very enjoyable thick caramel favour (sic)nice alcohol burn, sweet smooth finish"
Makes you want to rush out and buy it eh?
Feel better now I've got that off my chest!
There's an option to switch off the re-tweets of individual people you follow so you only see their own words. Doesn't work for tweets beginning "RT...", obvs, but I've found it a more pleasant alternative to unfollowing beer people I like.
ReplyDeletejust switch off the re-tweets of people who RT shite. I did
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you could. How?
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the point of Twitter, and my 16 year old niece (who's studying IT and has hundreds of friends on Facebook) agrees, so it's not an age thing. I really don't want to pander to the vanity of people who think we all need a running commentary on their lives, including their adventures with beer.
ReplyDeleteNow that politicians have got in the act and try to issue 'cool' tweets (which occasionally - and pleasingly - can get them into hot water), surely it's now rather passé?
Used right it is a bit of harmless fun. IMO.
ReplyDeleteAh. I've found it.
ReplyDeleteI just see Twitter as a really useful tool. I had a customer in the shop the other week who asked if the Hardknott beers we stocked were vegan friendly. Knowing that Dave or Ann would reply quite quickly, I asked the customer if he had a couple of mins, and I'd get a reply. Sure enough Ann responded that they were vegan friendly, and the customer left with about 20 quids worth of Hardknott beers. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know, I'm aware that people who I follow are real live human beings with opinions about things other than beer. You're not generally interested in every single thing your friends in real life have to say either, although you might pretend you are.
ReplyDeleteCome on Tandy! That's a bit of a grumpy blog.
ReplyDeleteAs for RT's I RT blog links once in awhile to give something that I think people shouldn't miss. If its just repeating some comment someone made that is a waste of time.
Alot of people do it as a "pat on the back" of a friend which is nice if a little pointless.
As for:
"Does Thwaites really want their Old Dan described thus: "very enjoyable thick caramel favour (sic)nice alcohol burn, sweet smooth finish"
There is no harm in sharing your thoughts with your followers as you sip a beer, its just the same as you moaning about how fizzy 5am Saint is in some pub or how bored you are of hoppy Marble beers.
Sorry Rob. Grumpiness admitted, though I still reckon careless re-tweeting is a bit like spam.
ReplyDeleteEspecially if it's a compliment about you or your product from a customer. Hate that.
ReplyDeleteThough even spammier are the FourSquare autotweets. If you're not going to write your own text get the hell off Twitter.
Grumpiness abounds.
ok, ok...i see where you're coming from with this. But you can't avoid it, really. I use Twitter to tweet views about *mostly* beer, but also my other interests - footy, supporting local businesses, and humour. I'll ALWAYS retweet local business supporting stuff, or pleas for help. That's kind of the point. As It happens, I've set up another account for footy, but apart from that,I make no apologies. The foursquare ones are totally useless.
ReplyDeleteoh, and RedNev - I at least *doubled* hits on the blog by simply using Twitter to redistribute posts and find more like-minded people, and have helped publicise many local food-and-beer related events that traditional advertising doesn't reach.
ReplyDeleteWell, this is a really interesting subject. I sort of agree with Tandy in a way, but also disagree. Now there's a turn-up for the books.....
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I re-tweet when people say they are enjoying my beer, it's my way of acknowledging that someone likes my beer; sort of like "you want to tell people you like my beer? thank you, let me help you out"
However, I can understand that those who already know what my beer is like really don't want me to bother them with it.
Of course it's harmless fun, I just need to remember that at the end of a busy day.
Au contraire Dave. That seems a perfectly legitimate thing to do. What I complain about is some unfunny or dull re-tweet of someone else's minority interest, to my mainly beer related twitter list.
ReplyDeleteI follow Virgin Trains for example and The Daily Politics but I don't re-tweet those to others.
I unfollowed a popular brewer recently who's stream seemed to be 90% retweets of people saying how awesome their beer was. Yawn! I might follow again now I know you can turn that off.
ReplyDelete