As someone who has had social media accounts since the early days of middle school, the obligation to use them outside of school felt like a self-inflicted type of torture. Scrolling on Instagram through an abundant sea of photos flooding my timeline felt like pain and watching a series of short-lived videos of people ranting and lip-syncing on Snapchat was just not my forte. Finally, there was Twitter. I always felt like Twitter was for grown people who like to talk and write a lot, which is factual for a perpetual user like me.
So I gave Twitter a shot and made an account back in March 2014, but unsurprisingly, I didn’t use it much. I would sometimes retweet or like a tweet but I would never actually tweet something. I was just too shy. However, Twitter wasn’t the only social media app that I purposely neglected for years to come. For several years I abandoned my Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat because I felt like they served no place of excitement, source of inspiration, or desire of communication due to the redundant content that friends would post, and the lack of new interactions. At that time those social media applications were nothing but a decorative feature on the home screen of my phone. Every glance at those apps reminded me of a line that sunk between avoidance and resentment.
As I approached the 11th grade I felt like I should promulgate my return back to social media, starting with Twitter. I must admit that when I first started using the app my timeline was boring and I would only like and retweet things. Then I realized I should follow those who popped up on my timeline with consistent viral hilarious tweets. Through this, I was able to follow people who were both funny and talented makeup artists (MUAs) like @makeupbyshaniah, and support Black-owned businesses that made beautiful braided earrings like @earringdealer. Following these accounts led me to an array of users that would brighten up my day just like them! Replying to these accounts transfused genuine interactions that either garnered support, conversation, or jokes.
More importantly, the people that I followed allowed me to engage in the discourse of the different facets and multitudes of Twitter-like: Stan Twitter, Black Twitter, Film Twitter, Academia Twitter, and much more. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of discourse that goes on that app that will get your head spinning. Despite this, being able to engage in that platform has allowed me to expand my knowledge and has helped me grow to be more vocal. More importantly, it has allowed me to gain the courage to sign up for Her Campus. Unexpectedly, Twitter has been able to be a temporary integral space of expression, a foundational ground for my writing, and a place to seek a few laughs.
If you want to get more into Twitter I suggest you follow these accounts: @makeupbyshaniah, @earringdealer, @itskeyon, @ItsZaeOk, @camerouninema, @amandaoee_, and @WrittenByHanna.