Just reached the 100-follower mark on Twitter. So that makes me like a centurion, right? Like the one in Matthew 8:9:
For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
OK, I’ve already figured out that no one is going to do what I say just because they’re my “followers.” But as silly and insubstantial as it all is, I’ve acquired a miser’s acquisitiveness on this point. How many MORE followers can I get? I picture myself like Spartacus (just to continue with the ancient Rome thing), roaming the countryside while hundreds, thousands flock to my banner… (Warning — it ended badly for Spartacus and his followers.)
And even though there are no rules, or even conventions I can think of, I have it in my mind that, if only I can have more followers than I myself am following, I’m … I don’t know… an influential person. Or at least, ahead of the game. Whatever the game is. It’s the only way I know to keep score, anyway. And currently my score is 100 to 75.
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“Who is Brad Warthen?”
“I’m Brad Warthen!”
“I’m Brad Warthen!”
“I’m Brad Warthen!”
Instead of swords and leathery/metallic armor, everyone gets t-squares and red pens.
And to think, you used to knock it! 😉
http://www.twitter.com/NathanBallentin
Mr. Natural would say, “Keep on truckin’.”
I’m Spartacus.
Do you see what’s happening to you? Didn’t I warn you? This is going to end in rehab, I just know it.
My advice? Let go of the need to have more followers than you are following. There are some that just don’t follow you back. It’s ok. (But if you MUST see who follows you back, check out http://www.lessfriends.com.)
The fun of Twitter is getting to make your own rules–and change them if it’s not working for you!
Can’t go to a Web site called “less friends.” It’s ungrammatical. Should be “fewer friends.”
I heard a young person say that most of the people on Twitter are older people who just want to say they are on Twitter. She and her friends think Twitter is worthless.
[shakes head]
Twitter isn’t worthless in Iran right now. I’m watching them coordinate protests, announce arrests and attempting to work around suppression.
Yes, it’s pretty amazing. Read Kristof’s column on Freegate (I’d give a URL if I weren’t on the Crackberry). It’s about how software developed to foster freedom in China is doing the same in Iran. If Twitter can help break down the cyber-barriers that Kristof terms the “21st-century equivalent of the Berlin Wall,” then three cheers for Twitter.
Does anyone suspect, as I do, that “Lee Mueller” is actually Brad’s alter-ego? I mean, what better way to create a response on your thread than to have an antagonist who can be counted upon in every situation?
I wouldn’t say that is dishonest at all, just editorial freedom.
Lots of reasons I think that, but just wondering if anyone else does.
112 now Brad, I am now part of the zombie mob.
Herb, I think Lee is your alter ego. Herb is the little angel that sits on our shoulder and lee the little satan…
Brad, I was scanning your Facebook friends list and it struck me that your connections are an asset you have retained. What’s the latest with your profession? It feels like the Iranian situation is a watershed moment in journalism. Huffington Post, Facebook, and Twitter are way out front on this. In looking at other newspapers online, you seem to be way ahead of MSM.