Even though I’m a long time twitter user I still find myself confused by some things that go on there. Maybe I functioned too long in a pre-social media world to feel completely comfortable separating etiquettes between digital and in real life.

I know they call twitter a town square, but that implies people standing on soapboxes yelling about stuff, which definitely happens, but for social interactions I tend to see Twitter as more of an office or school environment. You’re out in public, engaging in discussions, informing yourself about things, while simultaneously getting on with your day job. You get to know your colleagues over time as you occasionally chat, and from listening to what’s important to them today or hearing their thoughts about something you say. It’s a casual place, but it’s nice open place with people around to keep an eye out incase someone gets weird, or the kind of weird you’re not into.

Maybe that’s why I’m not a fan of people popping into DM mode instantly? It kind of feels like a stranger cornering you at a party away from the view of others. Twitter is many things, but it’s definitely not a noisy house party, and I’m not drunk. So leaping out of the bushes at me as I try to walk back into the party after getting a beer from the laundry tub full of ice is going to make me nervous. I’m not quite so delicate that I require a chaperone to protect me from the advances of eager suitors, although one to protect me from myself might come in handy.