I used to be very interested in astrology, trying to work out what sign someone was as soon as I met them. I was known for saying tedious things like "of course you're sceptical about astrology, you're a Taurus" - and I would smile with satisfaction when an adventurous, travel loving Sagittarian told me how much she loved a wee flutter on the horses, or when I watched a Piscean stare dreamily out to sea.
I'm a sucker for those quizzes that tell you if you're an extrovert idealist, or an introvert realist, too - and, with this categorising-of-psychological-types fetish I have, I've also noticed the way different types of personality are expressed by behaviour on social networking sites, particularly Twitter. It doesn't matter whether you are a writer promoting your books, a musician promoting your band, someone who just enjoys these sites for the social side - whether you're a book reviewer, a businessperson or a Belieber, your basic Twitter personality will still shine through!
(My Twitter friend E L Lindley has written a good post on this sort of thing, too - she likened hers to the different characters you find in the school playground, which I liked very much - here is her post: http://ellindley.weebly.com/1/post/2013/05/which-one-are-you.html#comments)
This is not an in depth psychological study, it's just a bit of fun! It also refers to the avid Twitterer, not people who tweet once or twice every other day... I gotta have something to work with, right??! So forget the 12 signs of the zodiac - here are my 12 Twitter personality types - which 'sign' (or combination of two/three) are you??!
(for ease of reading, I've called them all either 'she' or 'he', though of course they apply to both sexes)
~ ~ The Twitterscope ~ ~
1. The Friend
The Friend likes to chat. Her first post of the day is often a "Good morning Twitter!" - and she says goodnight, too. She follows people from the #FollowFriday lists, and says hello to them when they follow her back - and all her 'hellos' are genuine, not those ghastly auto tweet ones that look really matey but are actually just churned out via some app, to all followers. She doesn't just retweet your blog post, she reads it, too, and maybe even comments. She tweets about her life. She helps you promote stuff. If you met her in real life you'd be mates.
The other side ~ Sometimes the friend makes you feel guilty because you fear you don't give enough back. However, this is not her intention - she just has a generous and amiable nature. Mostly The Friend is all good. Happily, there are many of these on Twitter!
2. The Socialite
The Socialite is similar to The Friend, but is more self-interested. Some of her friendly overtures are to do with networking, rather than genuine interest in people, but she'll still be a fun Twitter friend, spreading herself far and wide. She probably has Twitter and Facebook and Goodreads and whatever else all connected, but is savvy enough to make her posts relevant to all sites. She tweets less about her life than The Friend, more just social comment. She understands the importance of social networking in today's online world, and will pass on useful connections to you, too, so can be a good person to have in your circle of virtual friends - it's not all about her!
The other side ~ She will forget about you if you don't communicate with her. She works from her interactions screen, not her news feed, so unless you tag her into a post she will probably never see it... or you...
3. The Cynic
The Cynic usually has one of those bios that says something like: "Writer. Blogger. Not as funny as he thinks he is", etc etc - one word descriptions, a bit dry, maybe even including some suggestion that he doesn't do bullshit. If he thinks something you've posted is crap/pretentious/naive, he will tell you so, most articulately. If you post a great deal of those so-called 'profound' quotes ('dance like no-one is watching', etc etc) he'll probably ask you how many times a day you visit the Profound Quotes website, then unfollow you. He says things you think but don't dare say. He makes you laugh. If he's reading this, his comment will be "How come The Friend and The Socialite are female, but The Cynic is male?"
The other side ~ Not for the faint-hearted - but at least you know that if he is telling you he likes something, he means it. And you don't have to wade through any bullshit with him, either
4. The Activist
The Activist may have started her Twitter profile to promote some cause, or she may not. She does, however, click on the links to new articles about dead important stuff, and comment about it. She'll retweet your article about the closure of libraries, the rise of UKIP, the endangerment of the world bee population, whatever, and find a few of her own, too. She tweets for signatures for petitions, or even starts them, or looks for sponsors for charities. She uses Twitter to spread her own message and those of others - she cares. She really does, and she tries to do something about it, too.
The other side ~ The Activist's pathetic cousin is The 'Clicktivist' - she copies & pastes those 'raise awareness about autism/Alzheimers/bad hair days' posts on Facebook, but doesn't actually do anything at all. The Activist, however, is too often busy to join in with your larking about type Twitter conversations. She won't give you a whole lot of virtual hugs, either - but I reckon that's a good thing....
5. The Star
When The Star posts stuff on Twitter, people read, comment, 'favourite' and retweet. He may be well-known in real life or he may be plain old Joe or Jane Bloggs, but his charisma breathes its way into your computer screen, somehow. He knows that people will listen to him, and want to hear what he has to say, so his posts come across as confident. It's not a big-headed thing, it just is. His profile photo remains the same; it's his brand, but this probably isn't even a conscious decision; he's much too confident to worry about looking for a picture that will appeal to people. He doesn't need to. He's good to follow because he's interesting and entertaining.
The other side ~ You may not get a whole load of interaction from him, because you're competing with so many others.
6. The Tutor
The Tutor wants to help everyone. She posts articles that will help her Twitter friends with anything from book marketing to job interview tips, to being a social networking star to blog writing to gardening hints. She knows her stuff, and will help anyone who wants to learn from her. She starts off hashtags to bring Tweeters together for greater effect, new profiles to spread her word further. She talks sense. Does she just do all this because she likes to feel important/needed? Probably not, but even if she does, so what? Her desire to impart knowledge and help everyone to 'step up their game' benefits everyone who cares to listen.
The other side ~ Some may find her a tad dictatorial, offering opinions about the 'wrong' ways people use Twitter, for instance, and making you feel like crap because you're guilty of some of these alleged sins... but, hey, you want to learn, don't you? Or you wouldn't be following her, reading her posts, signing up to her blog....
7. The Entertainer
The Entertainer is always worth following. He posts not only informative, helpful articles about whatever subject most of his Tweep circle are into, but also funny stuff, cartoons, interesting news items. He appears to have no other agenda, aside from the desire to amuse and entertain. He probably spends a lot of time at home and doesn't have a lot to do, has a genuine love for the online life and loads of interesting sites on his desk top shortcuts from where he pulls all these posts. He's the host with the most - he takes an interest in what you're doing, too, taking an active part in the #FF scene, getting people together.
The other side ~ Is he just building up this great Twitter following because he's got a book coming out soon and wants you all to buy it? Or because he wants to sell his editing services? Fair enough, if he is - there are worse Twitter sins! Most Entertainers just do it because they like to share stuff, that's all - "hey, I've just watched this brilliant film, you've got to see it" ~ !!
8. The Busy Person
The Busy Person doesn't have much time for Twitter, but wants to use it as best she can, because she wants to promote something. She's probably got a very demanding job, maybe only actually tweeting 'live' once a week - she schedules most of her tweets on a weekly basis - this will probably include tweets to help promote her Twitter friends, too. Once she's done a nice little tweet about your book or your blog or your business, you can be sure that it will appear twice a week for the rest of your life - she knows that marketing is not a one way street and wants to help her friends, too. She'd talk to you all if she could, she just doesn't have the time!
The other side ~ It can all seem a little robotic, can't it? You might want to comment on something in her tweet, but of course she probably doesn't even have the time to look at her interactions. She's not ignoring you...honest!
9. The Wounded Soul
He wears his heart on his sleeve. He may even have something in his bio that reflects some hardship in his life, so that you know where he's coming from - and I don't mean his physical location. Sometimes his tweets say things like "Wish people would mean what they say..." - then, of course, some of his tweeps will say, "What's up?", which may be the reaction he was after. When he's feeling strong, he posts things like "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". He will be sympathetic to all your plights, too, ready with a virtual listening ear. He chats to people a lot, and becomes bosom buddies with them pretty quickly, sending them virtual {{hugs}} and all the rest of it. Sometimes he sends you {{hugs}} when you haven't even interacted.
The other side ~ Sometimes you just want to have a bit of a laugh, that's all....
10. The Loner
The Loner doesn't chat. He tweets about his book, or his poems, or his blog, or his model railway magazine, but he doesn't communicate. He may well retweet you on a regular basis, but that is his only form of interaction, apart from the odd 'thank you' - if you do something for him (put him an #FF list, do a tweet about his model railway magazine), this is all he will say. Nothing that will give you an opening to chat further - if indeed he reacts at all. He doesn't really like social networking, but accepts that he must do it a bit to promote whatever it is. He's had the same profile photo for the last four years, but this isn't because he's building a brand, it's just because he knew he had to have one, that's all, so dug one up from somewhere. Probably a nice chap, but you'll never know, will you?
The other side ~ When the loner disappears from Twitter - which he will, eventually - few people even notice. He disappears because he finds that promotion via social media has not 'worked' for him. He doesn't realise this is because he has never communicated with anyone...
11. The Saddo
The Saddo appears in two forms. The first uses social networking in an effort to get laid, albeit virtually. His overtures might be overtly sexual, or just a bit pathetic. He will tweet things like 'hello how are you' with no punctuation, and without you having followed him. He will try this many times, then move his attentions elsewhere when you fail to respond. He's the sweaty Billy No Mates in the pub, the one who leers at you from across the room but daren't come across to talk to you. His profile picture might be a section of torso or (in the more extreme form) the male genitalia, neither of which belong to him. The less overtly sexual Saddo will use a blurry self-portrait taken on his mobile phone, or just the Twitter egg.
The second type of Twitter Saddo sends spam-style tweets to both followers and non-followers in a desperate attempt to sell you something; this will be his only form of interaction. He is very, very strange
The other side ~ You might feel sorry for him and want to befriend him, particularly if you are The Friend. The best thing about The Saddo is that he's not too hard to get rid of - a simple BLOCK usually works.
12. The Robot
Whatever category you fit into, or whatever combination of categories, I can guarantee this one won't be included. Why not? Because the percentage of Robots reading this article will be zero. The Robot is rarely actually on Twitter, and therefore rarely sees anyone else's posts. She does everything via hootsuite and other apps that schedules tweets - and auto follow back, auto unfollow and probably auto wipe her backside; she's the one who sends those infuriating 'thanks for following, here's my website' DMs that we all hate. She auto retweets, too - yes, it's her and her mates who RT all your random conversation! You know, 'contributed tweets from @TheRobot are provided by @SomeCrapApp', etc. She is not like The Busy Person, who gets the best out of scheduling; she knows nothing about any of her followers, because she never sees their tweets. She churns the same things out, mostly links to whatever she is promoting. Occasionally, though, you will see one that says something like "How is everyone today?" This, too, will be a scheduled tweet. She thinks Hootsuite is Twitter. Sometimes The Robot realises she doesn't interact enough to make Twitter 'work' for her, so she gets one of those apps that add your name into the tweet, too: "Love your blog, Jane! Thanks for following". Don't be fooled; she hasn't read your blog at all.
The other side ~ I think I've said it all, really....
So what's your sign??? I'm not sure ~ I think I might be The Cynic with The Entertainer rising, and possibly Moon in The Tutor....!!
And finally.....
In some cases, it does need saying...!!
