DC speaks to some avidly followed Twitterati for their take on humour and being famous
Chennai: Gone are the days when one flaunted being grandiloquent, giving harangues and writing super-long letters. It is now the golden era of technology, when the quirkiest and wittiest of messages are said in 140 characters on Twitter. ‘Extreme brevity’ is the new cool these days. Blame it on the short attention span of today’s youth or preferring to communicate simply, anything that’s said in fewer words finds greater reach. From even overthrowing governments to helping stay abreast of celebrities’ lives to indulging in plain banter with friends, the friendly social media website empowers its users.
But not everyone becomes a star on Twitter. While celebrities are followed by thousands of users despite some writing mundane stuff on Twitter, many common men choose to stay like phantoms, silently following others’ Twitter profiles. Perhaps not everybody manages to master the art of packaging a succinct message in 140 characters, and so, not every user is widely followed. However, when a user posts out-of-the-box, tongue-in-cheek sort of tweets, in a blink of an eye, he/she becomes a celebrity on Twitter.
Harish Iyengaar, Avinash Iyer and LocalTeaParty are considered ‘Titans of Twitter’ for they are followed by thousands of users and their tweets are wacky, extraordinary and even spread awareness in a lighter vein and highlight common absurdities.
We conducted an email interview with these Twitter stalwarts, who are so used to voicing their opinions in 140 characters that their responses to each question was also almost around those many characters, proving their prowess at being short and ‘tweet’! In this interview they discuss how they shot to fame on the social media website, how writing on Twitter helps them sound smart and witty, and why women sound less humorous and have less followers on Twitter.
He is a ‘punny’ man
Avinash Iyer (@Iyeravin), a media professional, joined Twitter in 2010 and had over 4,000 followers when his account was compromised in 2013. “I have created another account now. But the nature of my tweets has hardly changed. They are always quirky and funny with a lot of word play,” he says. The young Twitterati says that he is witty and funny in real life too and his online image goes with what he is off screen. “I’m not deliberately or consciously witty on Twitter. Also, I don’t like tweeting a lot about random and mundane things,” he says.
His tweets range from current affairs to films to mythology and he doesn’t write much about sports and politics. He is widely followed for his wordplay and puns. “It is not exactly a differentiator, but yes, it does make your tweet stand out from the crowd — sometimes in a good way and sometimes, bad,” says Avinash.
Influences:
I don’t think anyone has influenced me or that I look up to anyone on Twitter. One’s life becomes an inspiration.
Do’s and don’ts on Twitter:
You can tweet all you want (it doesn’t matter if you are witty or not) as long as you don’t get abusive towards anyone. But I must add that watching two people fight on the timeline is sometimes quite entertaining. It’s when the fight turns abusive that it becomes ugly.
Favourite Twitter users:
They may or may not be the best, but there are two tweeters I’m really fond of because they are funny in their own way and their tweets are different from that of mine @zecache: Very random humour and @69fubar: Caustic/biting humour.
Are women hilarious on Twitter:
There is no such thing as women being dead serious. Humour is not gender-specific. Stand-up comic Aditi Mittal (@awryaditi) is a perfect example of this.
Mastering the game of wit
LocalTeaParty, who prefers to keep his real identity a secret, works in the social sector. “As usual, I fulfilled my Karma for this birth by doing engineering. Which also means I do nothing related to engineering now,” he says in an I-mean-it tone. He joined Twitter around the time when India won the World Cup. “It was great fun. Initially, some people thought I was a bot or some troll account. I then had to go around and introduce myself declaring my a/s/l and proving I was human. Then people got around reading my blog posts and that’s how the number went up. It usually requires a very consistent presence to increase the follower count, which roughly means you have to be online 24x7,” he says.
This Twitter master says that he is not always witty. “I have to be serious at times, but I mostly try to see the lighter side of things. And of course, Twitter is a game of wit. The wittier you are the more the re-tweets. It all boils down to the number of retweets,” he points out.
He tweets about everything that he encounters and he is often having imaginary conversations with mosquitoes and cockroaches. “Recently, I took a fascination for spiders,” he says, and those tweets have gone down well with his followers too.
What’s the fun in tweeting when users only sing one’s praises, we ask. He reveals that his tweets have irked many a user, but the anger doesn’t last for more than a few hours. “Love and hate are two sides of the same tweet. Sometimes people say things like ‘Awesome’, ‘That was brilliant’ and sometimes the same people say politely unmentionable things,” he says.
Influences:
Everyone gets influenced by someone on Twitter. You look at them and see how they react to something and then decide what to say next. For me, it was @sidin and @rameshsrivats (of course). These are people who show that 140 characters is more than enough to make a point.
Do’s and don’ts on Twitter:
Follow some interesting people. Try to understand what makes them connect with a large number. The only way to gain more followers is to tweet your thoughts. Don’t put that egg-thing as your DP, it turns people off. Use a picture to show that you are human and not a bot. If you are sly-tweeting, just don’t make it too obvious. Takes away the fun for others. And please don’t retweet something nice that someone said to you. There is no magic formula to make your tweets stand out in the crowd. But what will work is originality. Behave human. People don’t want to read a news ticker all the time.
Favourite Twitter users:
I really enjoy following, such as @nayakgirin, @diogeneb, @kbalakumar, @nandu, @cheese_charmer, @YaavanoObba
Are women hilarious on Twitter?
@nandu, for one, was a hilarious tweeter (I hope she comes back). @himsini could be a riot on her day.
From a parallel universe
Harish Iyengaar (@scaryhairyman), a techie, joined Twitter when he was in college. According to him, “he had all the time in the world then,” and now has 3,000 followers. “Reasons for the increase would have to be the more brilliant ‘celebrity’ handles that have shared some of my own tweets over time,” he says.
His tweets, which occur daily, bespeak his outlook on life. Harish reveals that he tweets the way he talks to people. “I think humour is a perception of life and that’s what I tweet about. It’s the way I normally converse with people and the subtle jokes that fill my conversations that go on my timeline. I don’t make much of an effort to literally ‘construct’ tweets,” he says.
Harish seems to possess the innate ability to make people laugh, but he believes that his ‘parallel universe’ takes on most issues and seeing the lighter side of things garners attention. “I don’t really see my tweet as standing out, but it’s always good to know if it made someone smile,” he says. How does he handle brickbats? “I receive the most hate for my PJs (poor jokes),” he grants.
Influences:
I don’t have any great influencers per say but I think the people who I follow (about 500 and rising) should account for that. There are some personal favourites of course, such as @NumbYaar @AskThePankazzzz @DorkStar @Bucketheadcase @DesireMaze @Lattraversiamo @LOLendrasingh etc. but I think everyone on my following list is great at keeping my timeline interesting
Do’s and don’ts on Twitter:
Anything is a ‘do’ on Twitter except if it involves popular figures. Free speech is fine but some principles do go with it.
Favourite Twitter users:
I would recommend everyone whom I’m following presently. I have put together the right mix of every kind of tweeter for my timeline — humour, politics, takes on life and love, music, movies, utter randomness. Ultimately, when it comes to whom to follow, it always comes down to a ‘to each their own’ kind of choice.
Are women hilarious on Twitter:
Womenare just as humorous and have more followers than men. @awryaditi @vantaskigoli @GuptRogue @mumbaiifreak are some humorous contributors
Celeb speak
Vishakha Singh, who has a very active presence on Twitter says that her posts are usually about her everyday activities, travelling and topic she feels strongly about, “For instance, I was supporting the Dark is Beautiful and PETA campaigns very strongly on social media. Similarly, the elections, violence against women... I do want to make my opinion felt on such issues. However, I was very vocal in my support of the AAP and had to deal with a lot of abuse from followers! That’s the downside to being on Twitter.”
She also adds that it’s when the educated, smart people actually try to irk celebrities, it gets a little tough to handle. “However, I remember what Abhishek Bachchan once said to me — when you get nasty responses, that’s when you have truly arrived! So, I chose to believe that. It is nice to connect to a lot of well-wishers, but I’d like to restrict them to being a virtual entity in my life.”
As far as people she follows goes, Vishakha says it’s important she connects to those outside her field of work, so as to keep updated about a larger spectrum. “I follow a couple of journalist friends for news updates, that inform me of unbiased happenings. But of course, I follow friends like Priya Anand and we enjoy a Twitter conversation sometimes,” she adds.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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