strange praise for twitter

I love Twitter. I use Twitter regularly. Okay, obsessively. I've turned into one of those people who log in expecting to write one haiku and that's it, and then two hours later, I'm still there eating virtual pancakes or having a dance party or swapping bad puns with friends (in case you don't use Twitter, yes, all of these are possible and recommended). 

There are excellent people on Twitter, really kind and thoughtful. There are people who take time to answer questions. There are people who celebrate when something important happens in your life. There are people who will send you whatever makes you feel better --jokes, cats, music, words, etc. --when they notice you are feeling low. There are people who commiserate with you as we stumble through years like 2016. I seek these people out because everybody needs more of that in their lives.

At times, though, there are those among us Twitter users who can't ask for what we need, or we interact in a way that may challenge others' patience. These people need the same things as the rest of us, but sometimes, they get stuck in patterns of behavior that don't help their cause. They feel despair, panic, anger, fear, existential nothingness, ... . I have friends like this.

There is a history of mental illness in my family. Amongst our motley crew, there's anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and personality disorder lurking around. I recognize behaviors consistent with these labels in wonderful people I have met through Twitter. That description above about people who answer questions and send you things and commiserate? In my case, I've noticed, the people who are first to offer kindness are often the ones who need it, too. And sometimes, the people who are first to offer kindness are the most challenged in seeking it out and receiving it --and, in some cases, even recognizing it. They are the most sensitive and the least sensitive.

Twitter allows people with limited social contact to have contact with other people. It's not the same as face-to-face interaction, but in some cases, it is a lifeline. If you have not experienced social isolation, I hope you never do --there are psychological experiments on its effects that are no longer permitted as they are considered inhumane. People are made to be with people, but in the meantime, there's Twitter. 

If you use Twitter and you know someone who has mental health challenges and experiences social isolation, regardless of negative experiences you may have had with him or her unless those experiences meant threats to safety, please consider reaching out to tweet hello. This doesn't mean you condone or excuse any behavior that makes you uncomfortable, but it does mean you accept him or her as a fellow human being. I say the same thing to my friends who have mental health challenges and experience social isolation --you can also tweet hello to people, and you don't have to condone or excuse anything that makes you uncomfortable. The 5 characters required to type 'hello' (6, if you add an exclamation point!) can make a world of difference. 

You'll be using Twitter for its most ideal purpose --keeping the world connected. 




[Note added 13 November, 2016: Reaching out is now more important than ever. You do not have to agree with everyone, you do not have to like everyone, but if we are to move forward in this world that seems to be splitting into pieces, we need to maintain respectful contact with other human beings. Sometimes, we can't talk about more than "Hello" or "Have a nice day", and that's okay. Please try. And please take care of yourselves and each other.]