Doesn't the 'tweeting' Twitter bird look so happy and optimistic. It's even a calm, aesthetically pleasing sky blue colour. I've used Twitter on and off for a while now, sometimes for myself, it kind of acts as my own personal newspaper, and I also use it occasionally for work. Recently however, I have started volunteering for my local Greenpeace group and seem to have fallen into the role of 'tweeter'. As you can imagine I am now a Twitter regular, using almost solely my Greenpeace account to follow likeminded people and groups, and to tweet about interesting Greenpeace stories and campaigns.
Something I always notice when I log on is the up-beat, witty tone of the tweets that greet me. The majority of people seem to be in a good mood when they tweet. I have tried to mirror this in my Twitter tone, something I have found amazingly easy. It struck me though, that it's quite a feat to be tweeting about such serious, and potentially life changing things, in as enthusiastic a way as we do. You wouldn't get that in real life where people walk around with their umbrellas up and their eyes to the floor. Trying to approach a serious subject within a group of people face to face is like treading on thin ice. You risk being contradicted, starting arguments, maybe even debating your argument to the point where you don't even know if it makes sense anymore. Not with Twitter though. Once you've put a tweet out it's there, you can't retract it, everyone will look at it and think about it. You can back it up with a link to an evidential article and people actually seem to take what you say on board. There isn't the opportunity to instantly react so instead we read, and as a result, listen.
I can't help but think that the unassuming, all embracing blue Twitter bird really does reflect the tone of Twitter. We log on because we are interested and hungry for information. We want to know what's happening in the world and if there's an opportunity for us to help. There are of course objections, but generally I feel that Twitter, as well as being a fantastic marketing tool, is also an opportune place for us to bring people who care, into Greenpeace. Let's carry on approaching issues that matter in a pro-active and optimistic way, let's even attempt to learn something from Twitter and transfer this attitude into real life. No-one ever got anywhere by moaning.
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