The Secret Life of The Twitter
I am fully aware that I can come across as offensive on Twitter. People have unfollowed me as well as asked me to unfollow them because of it. But funnily enough, it hasn’t made me feel the need to censor myself. If you are reading this, it is highly likely that you have heard of the controversy surrounding the tweets and opinions of some notable personalities in Australian media. I wasn’t going to write any blog comments about Catherine Deveny and her Logies tweets because the horse was already dead and nobody needed to hear even more opinions about it from another nobody. But when someone feels compelled to go out of their way to anonymously criticise my tweets about how insulting they find them, I, in turn, feel compelled to go on a rant.
I suspect the anonymous question was in reference to a series of tweets I made about David Campbell, George Alan Rekers, Jason Akermanis, Anthony Callea and Tim Campbell. Lacking further specification, this is my assumption as the question in question arose at that time. But I’m sure there are other ‘chains of insults’ that have offended sensitive readers in the past. Please, I invite you to enlighten me.
In no way do I regard myself in a similar league as Catherine Deveny. I think she is a fine writer (or, she has a lot of strong opinions and she isn’t afraid to voice them and when she can’t eloquently express herself in the written word she has a good editor). I find some of her tweets funny (but not all of them). I didn’t understand the humour in her Logies tweets until she explained their context (I am slow like that). I think she is an ordinary comedian. I never considered her a comedian before her Comedy Festival show and even after I *gasp* paid money to see her, I still don’t consider her a fantastic live performer. She lacks the timing and delivery of a seasoned professional but I still enjoyed the show for the content. And I respect any person that has the balls to stand up in front of any crowd and entertain. I criticised Melinda Buttle‘s humour but I still respect the fuck out of her and also paid money to see her.
So, do I think The Age should have fired her? Fuck no! Call her unfunny, unfollow her, criticise her writings, ignore the retweets or the comments about her. But to claim that all of her tweets are the express opinions of her employer is bullshit. Her abrasive personality was the reason The Age hired her to write for them. Jason Akermanis’ unpopular views are the reason the Herald Sun published that piece. The Age only fired her because it was convenient for them at the time.
I have the advantage of not being in the public eye but my humour or opinions are not how I earn a living. My views that marriage inequality is wrong, that political hypocrisy is disgusting and that religion thrives on misogyny and discrimination will never get me fired.
People use Twitter in many ways. Some will comment on the weather, or how tired they are, complain about work but then tweet something about the silver lining so they don’t come across as negative. I follow these people. But I don’t judge them for it, or ask anonymous questions criticising their tweets’ quality. If I really had a problem with them, I would just unfollow them. Just because I follow them, it doesn’t mean that I have to tweet in the same way. I use Twitter to find out what people are talking about. Whether it be scathing commentary about MasterChef contestants or the outrage that builds from Jason Akermanis recommending AFL players to stay in the closet. It’s not a reliable news source. It’s filtered to what a select community are discussing as well as to what I want to read about.
And when I comment on news that I interests me, I try being funny, or what I think is funny. I don’t expect everyone else to find it funny. If I direct them at you and you find it offensive, then I apologise. If I direct them at a public figure, get their people to contact my people, we can workshop their offence and figure out an agreement. Criticism comes with the territory. But to find something that is not about you as insulting just because you don’t agree with the message or share the humour will lead to a life of insults.
So if you really want to know what I was on about with my tweets yesterday afternoon, I was trying to make fun of how the spread of gossip on Twitter can become like Chinese Whispers. If I remember it correctly, it started with Ricky Martin and/or Carl Williams. I saw a tweet saying “I can’t believe Ray Martin is gay” (from Tom Ballard I believe). I followed this with “I can’t believe Carl Williams is gay.” Then, I think, “I can’t believe Justin Bieber is gay.” Then more recently “I can’t believe David Campbell is dead.” I am aware these statements are false. I tried to muddy the news waters further with the hypocrisy of George Alan Rekers, the former officer of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) who hired a male prostitute. In all honesty, I confused David Campbell with Tim Campbell and because I disagree with the gay power couple’s stance to distance themselves from the gay community Tim Campbell’s acceptance as an ‘influential gay Australian‘, I threw in Anthony Callea as well (I’m petty, so shoot me). He’s small like a gerbil (so am I by comparison, I can relate) and his partner is a gay man who may or may not roger him (again, I can relate). For #rogeringgerbils, see Miranda Devine. And if you are this far already, I really don’t think I need to explain #Akermankiss.
As for the compliments, I still need to work on that. I don’t know any of the people who I follow well enough to pay them a compliment. Any comment I make about them that I need to condense into less than 140 characters, to me, will sound insincere. That is probably not how compliments work. We pay them to make others feel better even if their intention is sometimes superficial.
And with that, Twitter (like formspring as Mr Gartside has so eloquently pointed out to me) is not the best place to get to know someone. If you think that these people are off-limits to criticism or ridicule, then everyone, including myself, should receive the same treatment. If you think you know them, because they are in the public eye, or you think you know me, from a bunch of tweets, then you are sorely mistaken. I’m not defined by the one-dimensionality of Twitter, nor by a series of insulting tweets that make up only a part of my stream. But I can see how Helen Razer feared being pigeon-holed by it.
I DO understand this part of myself Mr Anonymous. But it’s not Twitter’s job to make you, or anyone else, understand. I will share what I choose to share and my followers will take from that what they choose to take. It’s like Chinese Whispers.
A good read, and a sensible approach you have to Twitter – it’s one dimensional – the side we chose to let Tweet is only one very small aspect of who we are…
I haven’t read your tweets from yesterday (but am about to!) but on the whole you [seem to] have a dark, somewhat twisted sense of humour and commentary on goings-on, which is why I follow you…
(keep it going)
Thank you. I appreciate the support.
I’m a little confused as to why you thinbk Tim Campbell and Anthony Callea ‘distance themselves from the Gay Community’
They both talk about their partner when in interview with TV and the main stream media, they have both quite often been interviewed separately and together on Melboure Gay radio station JoyFM, and Callea has performed for Queensland’s The Big Gay Day and at Homesexual in Sydney, Callea even write a song for Campbell and played it and dedicated it to him during the Whitney Houston tour where he was specal Guest arist.
And as this article is about Twitter I’ll add that they also tweet to and about each other on that open forum.
Certainly they don’t hide their relationship, and the very fact that they are so ‘normal’ a couple does as nich, or more for acceptance of Gay relationships as any ‘flag waving’ from them might achieve.
I apologise for my choice of words. I never implied that they aren’t open about their relationship. I simply feel it’s contradictory for Tim Campbell to accept a place as one of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians simply for being ‘normal’. He admits to not making any special effort to be ‘influential’ and expresses his dislike of being grouped into terms like ‘gay community’. The gay community is grounded in the celebration of diversity which includes people that consider themselves ‘normal’.
I don’t expect every gay or lesbian public figure to be political. But why would he allow his brand to be used in this way if he is so opposed to being considered as a gay role model? He is “supportive of those gay people who have campaigned for equality” and is quite happy for other people to do the hard work, as long as it’s not him. Same Same chose Tim Campbell because of his success with mainstream audiences which puts him in a unique position to actually DO something to be influential for the ‘gay community’.
Garnering attention through gay media or events is different to throwing your support behind a cause other than ‘look at me’. Take a stance, voice your opinions, and you don’t even have to wave any flags in the process.
In being seen as being so matter of fact about their relationship thay are actually doing something *very* positive for the Gay Community.
They are saying in effect that they are people, that being Gay is simply WHAT they are, not WHO they are…that they, and every person should be viewd as being more than their sexuality.
As unfortunate as it is in this dayy and age, fear of homosexuality still exists – in demostrating that Gay people are People first and Gay second Callea and Campbell are doing a great deal to break down the old sterotypes that many Gays are judged oN.
There are thousands of other same-sex couples, out of the public eye, that live their lives in exactly the same way and, just like Callea and Campbell, are leading by example. But they don’t receive any special recognition just for being ‘normal’. They may or may not think they deserve equal rights and they may or may not feel strongly about it.
Identifying with a community doesn’t define WHO you are nor does it mean you are reinforcing a stereotype. People that are scared of being labelled as gay because of the negative generalisations associated with it are too affected by how people judge them. Being gay is being attracted to the same sex, that’s it. Jokes aside, the rest of it is what you or what you allow other people to make of it. Standing up for equal rights or speaking out against discrimination doesn’t define your sexuality. Some straight allies do more for the gay community than many indifferent gays and lesbians even though it doesn’t directly affect them. It takes a lot more courage and deserves a lot more respect for a gay man to express an opinion about a community that he is already a part of than to sit back and do nothing and accept an acknowledgement of being ‘influential’.
Sorry to return but I feel I need to reply to the tern ‘indifferent Gays. They are hardly that.
I know just how much of their free time they spend personally replying to lettes from young men and women trying to find the coutage to come out and seeking guidance, I know that Callea has worked to raise money for the Gay telephone help line and for Beyond Blue but that this, like the majority of the charity work ne does for places like The Starlight Foundation and Salvation Army goes latgely unpublicised.
As for Tim’s inclusion on the ‘Most Influential’ list – nominations for the list were decided by the public and voted on by a panel of judges, the point of the list being
“to basically recognise GLBT Australians – some well-known, some not – who have contributed to our community over the past twelve months by the work that they do, or just through their visibility,”
Tim definitely qualifies for the latter and was awarded largley for the positive message that peopke cane achieve success without limitations due to sexuality…something well worth ackbowledging.
It sounds like you know Tim Campbell more and are a better advocate for Tim Campbell than any of those Same Same writers.
Identifying with a community doesn’t define WHO you are nor does it mean you are reinforcing a stereotype. People that are scared of being labelled as gay because of the negative generalisations associated with it are too affected by how people judge them. Being gay is being attracted to the same sex, that’s it. Jokes aside, the rest of it is what you or what you allow other people to make of it. Standing up for equal rights or speaking out against discrimination doesn’t define your sexuality. Some straight allies do more for the gay community than many indifferent gays and lesbians even though it doesn’t directly affect them. It takes a lot more courage and deserves a lot more respect for a gay man to express an opinion about a community that he is already a part of than to sit back and do nothing and accept an acknowledgement of being ‘influential’.
+1
Identifying with a community doesn’t define WHO you are nor does it mean you are reinforcing a stereotype. People that are scared of being labelled as gay because of the negative generalisations associated with it are too affected by how people judge them. Being gay is being attracted to the same sex, that’s it. Jokes aside, the rest of it is what you or what you allow other people to make of it. Standing up for equal rights or speaking out against discrimination doesn’t define your sexuality. Some straight allies do more for the gay community than many indifferent gays and lesbians even though it doesn’t directly affect them. It takes a lot more courage and deserves a lot more respect for a gay man to express an opinion about a community that he is already a part of than to sit back and do nothing and accept an acknowledgement of being ‘influential’.+1
+1