I talked to my friend Deimy—she and her boyfriend have been my roommates for the past two years. She regularly uses Twitter, primarily following leftist commentary and humor accounts, and when we’re together we occasionally talk about tweets that either of us have seen. For this practicum, we discussed her use of Twitter and I asked her to guide me through her experience using the platform, including reacting to some specific tweets and talking about how she engages with them. We talked over a video call on Discord, and she also sent me screenshots of some of the tweets she was looking at.

Direct Observations

1. She says she uses Twitter either on her phone or computer (currently phone, with Discord open on computer)

2. Opens the app and is on an an account (@victoriaxxviii) that she was looking at yesterday. Says she had looked at this account because it quote tweeted a viral tweet (“If a girl says your dick is the perfect size…”). She found it funny and went on the page to see if there were other tweets she’d like.

 Personal Reactions

1. Differences between the two devices? Different social contexts in which they’re used?

2. I had seen the original tweet too, from people on my feed responding to it—this network of viral tweets and the responses to them can be a way to find new accounts, and can give different twitter users shared reference points even if following different accounts

The quote-tweeted response (screenshot taken by me after the call)

3. Initially tries to show me what she’s seeing by holding up her phone to the camera—I tell her it’s difficult for me to make out so she instead sends me screenshots 3. Trying to show me the phone felt more in line with how we would interact if we were together offline. This had to be adapted into an online environment in which this kind of interaction felt less familiar. (Interesting given that it’s interaction revolving around online posts—integration of online world into physical social interactions)

The call (screenshot taken by me during the call)

3. She followed the account

4. Reads some Tweets aloud to me:

“Ok I’m starting to think furries exist…” (I missed the end of this)

“Just started The Three Body Problem and James Joyce can fuck off” (she’s confused by what this means)

Picture of what she thinks is a D&D monster

5. Tells me she doesn’t like tweets, except to archive them or find them later. (Why?) It shows followers when you like a tweet, she doesn’t want to show people things, clutters up her archive

 4. Viewing one account’s tweets compiled like this gives a clear sense of tone/personality/”branding,” maybe more so than seeing those tweets among those of other accounts on a Twitter feed

Individual tweets vs. collections of tweets: how do tweets take on different meaning depending on where they’re seen?

5. Privacy—this browsing and Deimy’s reactions to tweets are treated as private rather than public

Desire to have control over what other people see from her (control of public image)

Also means people don’t really know the effects of their tweets: how many people react privately but not publicly?

D&D monster (screenshot taken by me during the call)

6. Finds a tweet that helps her understand the earlier James Joyce tweet: “The best decision of my life was to stop devouring classics and start devouring sci-fi genre”

7. I ask about different levels of engagement with different tweets. Response: “Sometimes I spend hours thinking about a tweet.”

She discusses tweets with her boyfriend if there’s a “spicy take.” Sends them to him on Twitter and then they’ll discuss in person

 6. Different understanding given context: How do followers understand tweets vs. non-followers? To what extent are these tweets in conversation with each other?

7. Tweets as a social object/shared reference point in order to start discussion.

(I’m reminded of Donald Hall’s idea of “the third thing,” in which people in a relationship look at a third thing together as a shared experience… I know that Deimy is familiar with this too because it was discussed in a podcast we listen to together sometimes.)

Also interesting given the somewhat private nature of Twitter browsing. She doesn’t want to like tweets because her followers would see that, but she does want to discuss them with boyfriend—public platform used to motivate private interaction

Tweet she sent to her boyfriend (screenshot sent by Deimy)

8. Sends me a specific example of a tweet she talked about with her boyfriend on a walk (“90% of bad discourse on twitter…”)

Says they used it to talk about responses to feeling politically powerless. “It’s a way for us to discuss ideas that are external to us.”

Says its often a callback to past conversations, or to things they’ve both read

9. Boyfriend came in while talking about this to bring Deimy coffee, but left quickly

10. She says it’s very obvious if she should send something to him. “Just a memory thing” when something reminds her of him

11. Sometimes send things to both me and him, sometimes doesn’t—often depends on availability to discuss (Recently will send things to just him and not me because they’re together and I’m not there)

 8. The tweets are sent not just because they’re valued on their own, but as a jumping off point for conversation (or continuation of a conversational): relational, part of ongoing discussions/relationship

9. Format of a remote interview means you don’t also know who else is there/who else can hear.

Since our conversation ended up being largely about the role tweets play in their relationship, it might have been interesting to talk to both of them together.

10. Are there things that remind her of him that are not sent? How is it determined what is and what isn’t?

11. This online interaction (sending a Tweet) depends on an expectation of offline interaction (in-person conversation)

Tweet she sent her boyfriend (screenshot sent by Deimy)

12. Or sometimes she sends tweets that they don’t really discuss, just funny things that remind them of each other: sent above tweet about moving to him because he’s said similar things when they moved 12. Since we’re not together, these are currently more the kinds of tweets Deimy sends me—doesn’t expect a reaction in the same way she would if we were in the same place.

Difference between tweets as discrete objects or as part of ongoing conversations or interactions (eitheron or off the platform)