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Twitter After School Time

2008-03-22 · Hank · watch on YouTube · Internet & YouTube · reflection essay

Hank argues that Twitter, like other online self-presentation, is less about telling people how you are than about defining yourself, and creates a new in-between relationship like his with Nerdfighters; he decides to try it.

What is said

00:00:00 — Twitter jingle; Hank is confused by Twitter; light and tripod trouble

  • ★★ Hank wants to talk about Twitter because he is confused by it. — 00:00:00 · Twitter
  • ★ Fighting light from a window and a stuck tripod, Hank says he used to be good at making videos and no longer knows what he's doing. (playful) — 00:00:36

00:00:36 — What Twitter is: posting only the coolest moments; tweeting his poops; thinking 'password' while typing his password

  • ★★ Hank describes Twitter as writing down what you are doing at every moment, but selectively only the coolest things, like hanging out with someone famous. (playful) — 00:00:36 · Twitter
  • ★★ Hank jokes that his doctor suggested he tweet his poops, explaining he has a dysfunctional colon, and then posts that on Twitter. (playful) (hedged) — 00:01:02 · Twitter

00:01:39 — Twitter as self-definition; a new in-between relationship like his with Nerdfighters; the currency that's not money; Hank will try Twitter

  • ★★★ Hank argues Twitter is not for telling anyone how you are but for defining yourself through the self the internet lets you create across many platforms. (hedged) — 00:01:39 · Twitter, Facebook, YouTube
  • ★★★ Hank admits he cannot complain, since this is largely what Brotherhood 2.0 and Nerdfighting are about, but finds it confusing and asks whether this is how we define ourselves now. — 00:02:12 · Brotherhood 2.0, nerdfighter
  • ★★★ Hank says Twitter followers are a new, undefined kind of relationship, probably like his with Nerdfighters: not fans, not friends, but in between; some Nerdfighters are now his friends. (hedged) — 00:02:12 · Twitter, Nerdfighteria > «They're not fans, and they're not friends. There's something in between.»
  • ★★ Hank says this serves twitterers, vloggers and bloggers: interaction with people who value their humour and ideas, and nothing matters more in this society than having your ideas valued. — 00:02:41
  • ★★ Hank says Twitter, like vlogging, is about getting 'currency that's not money', hard to come by; he hopes he provides it for others and thanks viewers for giving it to him. — 00:03:10 > «that currency that's not money»
  • ★★★ Hank has kind of decided to try Twitter, going in knowing more about what it is for, and says viewers can follow him there. (hedged) — 00:03:10 · Twitter

00:03:36 — Blurbing Book Club: Slaughterhouse-Five round complete, vote in the forum, next book Going Postal; question of the day

Humor (significant)

  • Hank opens with a jingle about Twitter at all times of day. — 00:00:00 > «When you put Twitter on a bagel, you can eat Twitter anytime.»
  • Nobody tweets about their bowel movements, Hank observes, except that he has reason to. — 00:01:02 > «I could tweet my poops. I think my doctor actually suggested that I tweet my poops. I'm so old.»
  • Afraid a mind reader might catch his password as he types it, Hank changed what he thinks. — 00:01:02 > «So now I type my password and I think the word password. I think it's best to play it safe.»
  • After tweeting that his doctor says he should tweet his poops, Hank sums up. — 00:01:39 > «That, my friends, is a killer application of Web 2.0. Oh my god, how lame.»

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