Twitter is one big, fat inside joke between 100 million people

July 29, 2010 | Author Kate Ottavio

If you don’t get this post, then you don’t spend enough time on Twitter. I however, have spent too much of my time on Twitter since I joined in March 2009…and for that I lead a sad, sad life. #kidding

Ok, so we’ve all had the “why are you on Twitter?” discussions with friends and family who are not on Twitter. “What’s the point?” Or my favorite from my boyfriend as we’re in his car: I’m giggling looking at my BlackBerry screen and he says “what’s going on in the Twitterverse?” How did he know I was on UberTwitter and not that someone just sent me a funny text or e-mail? Easy answer: he knows me.

So when you get this look from your family and friends when “talking Twitter,” you might have fallen back on one of our Twitter-society’s inside jokes:

Hashtag humor: “This is like the worst day ever. I totally just spilled soda all over myself. #fail #headdesk”
Fail Whale Abuse: If you find yourself in any non-Twitter situation yelling “fail whale!” (Your non-Twitter-using co-worker forgot her umbrella and she came in this morning soaked. You yelling “fail whale” at her won’t help.)
When someone doesn’t use TweetDeck or tiny url and posts a link 48 characters long, you know they’re a newbie. Same goes for the RT that should be an @ reply.
When you say the names Peter Shankman, Brian Solis and Chris Brogan and nobody knows who you are talking about…you ain’t in the Twitter crowd.
If you’re anything like me, the words “oh my gosh I need to TwitPic this” have come out of your mouth numerous times.
Credit goes to my friend @megburns for these: “Man, he unfollowed me. I’m so offended.” And “They were <gasp> DM-ing! How scandalous!” You know any non-Twitterer wouldn’t have a clue.
So I was talking to ATpistachio the other day… Calling people by their Twitter handle and not their real names (Laura Fitton) is another example.

Got any to add? #LetErRip

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Posted in Kate Ottavio | Tags: inside joke, obsession, social media, twitter

CaitlinThayer

Had dinner last night with some old friends who brought some new friends. Some of the new friends are on Twitter, some aren't. We were all being introduced by our real names, and then when one of the mutual friends realized this wouldn't mean much, we were introduced by our Twitter names. Lots of, “Ohhh SO good to finally meet you!” The new friends who aren't on Twitter were extremely confused.
http://www.worob.com/ Worob

Ha – good post, Kate!

@Worob
PR at Sunrise – worob.com
http://twitter.com/plandsem Paige Landsem

Everything about this is SO true! I often find myself explaining the idea of “re-tweeting” to my family. I'll say, “I re-tweeted him…and don't laugh; re-tweeting is a real thing on Twitter!” It's fun being part of the inside joke but sometimes I think it makes people not currently on Twitter hesitant to join because they don't understand.
http://alexaizenberg.wordpress.com/ Alex Aizenberg

I get it! }} i've weirded many a fuddy duddy by physically making a hashtag sign # in middle of conversations… as a way to tag phrases, namely: #justsayin. Now my wife does it too, who knows, maybe it'll catch out more broadly… GREAT POST.
Christa Marzan

Good post! This is so true, Kate. I would add using hastags in real life to the hashtag bullet, too. That's when people are really oblivious to Twitter haha. I do that a lot and my friends have no idea what I'm talking about. Great job!

-Christa
@ChristaMarzan
http://twitter.com/jamesonbull Jamie Bull

No lie. I use “TwitPic” as a verb with pretty regular frequency.
Rebeccajmeyers

Perfect title. It really is exactly like a big inside joke. #nailedit

My boyfriend says that to me too. He just KNOWS im on Ubertwitter when I smile at my phone but lately its “you need a twitter intervention”. Sad. #isecretlyloveit
http://bittyboop.wordpress.com/ Brittany James

Love this post Kate. It's totally me. Although I don't have a smartphone to tweet I am all over it. I've said so many times to “twitpic it” haha. Great great post!!
http://bittyboop.wordpress.com/ Brittany James

Love this post Kate. It's totally me. Although I don't have a smartphone to tweet I am all over it. I've said so many times to “twitpic it” haha. Great great post!!
Kristen

Love this post Kate! I feel like when I talk Twitter with my friends outside of work they look at me like I'm the crazy one … glad to know I'm part of the in crowd somewhere!
http://twitter.com/EvilPRGuy Michael Dolan

This is very amusing. I've definitely introduced myself with my Twitter handle, and I've also been introduced to people the same way.

What about the highly valued skill of recognizing people IRL from their avatar photos?
stephmajercik

Okay this post made me seriously laugh out loud. I'm so guilty of ALL of the above mentioned scenarios. I've definitely been known to include hashtags in text messages just as a force of habit that usually revoke a “um why is there a number sign in front of fail?” And in fact, pretty much anytime I whip out my phone in the presence of friends, they assume I'm Tweeting, TwitPic-ing, or something else Twitter related.
Meogulnick1

Since most Foursquare users are also Twitter users, a non-Twitter person would have no idea what you mean if you walk into a restaurant, bar, store, or elsewhere and say “Oh! I can't forget to check in!” or “I just got the Animal House badge!” I've had to explain MANY times.
http://idreamintech.com/?p=351 IDreamInTech » Blog Archive » 5 for Friday: Busy, Busy, and Busy.

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Twitter is one big, fat inside joke between 100 million people