Twitter is the 7th most used social media platform in the US (Forbes, 2018). It is host to many scandals, gossip, news, and conversations, but it has also gained particular popularity for being a way for “regular” users to contact celebrities and public figures. Amongst the gossip and drama, there are some stars that don’t exactly use their twitter to share news about themselves or to publicly talk to other celebrities; for example, The Dalai Lama. Another famous twitter user like this is John O’Callaghan, lead singer of a band called The Maine.
Source: Twitter @johnmaine
His twitter is particularly relevant to the point I am trying to get across because he tweets everyday and it is usually a single sentence. Now, as I stated, twitter is home to a LOT of politics and scandals but in the current state of society in most, if not all, of the world, vicariously living all of this through twitter and many other social media may be the last thing anyone needs. O’Callaghan tweets something like few word poems/stories. Most of these are like little drops of wisdom or truth or inspiration.
My whole point in what I’m writing is that we need more of this. As a society and as people, we need less created drama, we need to stop ignoring our own problems by replacing them with other people’s. If we are going to read someone’s tweets, let them be tweets that provide some sort of “guidance”, not what Cardi B said to Nicki Minaj about her kid.
Aside from all of that, Twitter is a place of self expression as well and a lot of people use it for this and many other purposes. That is absolutely fine, so is getting updated on the latest Kardashian baby through this social media platform. The important factor is awareness, it is understanding that you can’t hide behind any social media profile or any amount of followers. John O’Callaghan uses his “power” and influence in a way that isn’t advertising or ranting, he tweets words that can actually have a positive effect on someone. I’m not saying that other celebrities are the opposite, I’m just saying that it is a lot harder to find than it should be.
I used John O’Callaghan as an example in this situation because he is a celebrity I follow and have been reading his tweets for a while but I am sure there are many public figures who are doing similar things. The point of this isn’t his Twitter or him as a person, the example was given to explicitly show an example of what using a large social media following for change can be. Despite his role being a passive one, it is effective in showing just how dark society and the world has gotten that many find refuge in social media and in the ability to live through others and care more about a stranger’s child than their own.