Weird Twitter

Weird Twitter

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Updated Nov 17, 2019 at 09:42AM EST by Y F.

Added Oct 19, 2012 at 05:00PM EDT by amanda b..

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▼ y Follow brendle what @brendlewhat #howareyouathug i am good at hug Reply Retweet ★ Favorite 713 RETWEETSFAVORITES t竏卿 4:15 PM-24 Jan 11 Embed this Tweet

About

Weird Twitter refers to a loosely connected group of Twitter users who are known to experiment with spelling, punctuation and format for humor or poetry. The style of writing can be considered surrealist by participants in the group, with subject matter ranging from creating absurd scenarios to attempting to describe abstract feelings by choosing words for their "verbal aesthetic appeal."[17] However, many of the accounts are grouped together by the same desire to reinterpret the "realness" of life in ways people do not always get to experience.[16][18]

Origin

One of the earliest Twitter accounts associated with these types of tweets belongs to Jon Hendren, a writer for Something Awful[2], who created his account @fart[1] in March 2008. As of October 2012, dozens of his tweets have been favorited or retweeted hundreds of times.[3]




The term "Weird Twitter" was coined as early as March 2012 by @regisl[19] in a caps lock tweet.




Spread

In March 2011, Jon Hendren began cataloging his favorite tweets on Something Awful in a series called "Twitter Tuesday."[8] Though the phrase “weird Twitter” was never used to describe these tweets, many of the Twitter users he quoted would later be included in the group. In August 2012, PhD student Sebastian Benthall posted his first hypothesis about the phenomenon to his personal blog, Digifesto.[4] He argued that he saw the tweets similar to the spam poetry found in the Twitter account @Horse_ebooks, despite no interaction between eBooks Twitter accounts and this community, and that members valued the favoriting statistics provided by Favstar.[5]


Weird twitter posts tend to be of the following forms: sincere statement of personal perspective, often A brutally philosophical and spiritual sentiment, but just as often profane nounal phrases referring to surreal compositions of objects . "sext.", followed by a declaration of attraction that is often only peripherally erotic (to humorous effect) norm-building posts on appropriate twitter behavior, the state of weird twitter, and discussion of 'favstars'

On October 3rd, 2012, a question inquiring about weird Twitter was posed to the Q&A website Quora,[6] where an anonymous user described it as “the Twitter equivalent of /b/,” 4chan‘s random board notorious for its outrageous content. Screenshots of this Quora page, along with Sebastian Benthall’s blog post, were tweeted out by @Mobute[7] on October 16th to nearly 10,000 followers. That day, “weird Twitter” was mentioned more than 1000 times[9] across the platform, followed by many users who typically post in this style complaining about the use of the term.




Also on the 16th, Benthall posted a follow-up article on his blog[11] with a compilation of angry tweets from Twitter users who had perceived the concept of "weird Twitter" in a negative light. (example shown below). Two days later, Benthall posted a third article[10] explaining his academic interest in the study of online communities and his fascination with the amorphous "Weird Twitter community." He also noted that he was attempting to troll the community with the two previous posts, overusing scientific language to stir up controversy on purpose, which did lead to a large influx of hate messages.




On October 17th, a Twitter account named @WeirdTwiterTxt[15] was launched to parody stereotypical "weird" tweets associated with the community. The following day, @tropikoala[14] uploaded a map of 75 “Weird Twitter” users (shown below) that he felt reflected the many circles and sub-groups that existed within the small part larger community he had come in contact with. The image was intended to show just a portion of the vast co-existent universes within this type of tweeting. Also on the 18th, Slacktory[12] posted a collections of the staff's favorite Weird Twitter tweets. On October 19th, Uproxx[13] posted a similar article with more examples of tweets.


PEOPLE WHO MAKE TRILLO POLIS 69 420 TOXES @ cyberhiter @Sack.as. heck ARENTFUN ·OTHER END OFWORMHOLE @ the furlinator omehins, alko 9/11) PURE COOL TABLE ges、JOKE WRITERS @werd @Insh.Dinosaurんgs W.T. FAMOUS PPL @hell-homer enice, mustard g @dogbaner @othersame EEP ORIGINAL COLO NISTS @brendlewhat @ woodmuffin @ ley awn/ DECEASED @UH!汁Yumb @tee.bro 」키 (e @randeezydogge @Dido Hitier @dataisplural @urfavoriteJoel eTsau NED @nobodyman3 . ur-Ae· Qain @bugbucket @Sciemboat @g@m | @f(oghammer@rev-reover @Pissnfle . HIEY ATUAUN MADE The @erarberrysause cakemittens FAMOUS IR ehc. etc.etc ︿OTHER SHIP some OFFICIAL f---, don't even know RaFF vinceness these are supposed ho be clauds) (NOT AT @cocemed Mom69 ochaiMANdork @vrunt @ Coliflower- epudegasn @ petfurniture @ MissChristinaD @hella- brad Qcastne DUELEERS AND THE LIKE RELATED) 3UST PLAINN @tastefactary @beebee890 @notoriouscas e @trillbin TRULY @jackyegh77Y #CLaD. CELEBRInes INON THE JOCE AISUNDERSTOOO COLLEGE STuDENTS WITTER FAME NORMAL PEOPLE BUT HONORAR MEMBERS FOR BN HELLA WESOME@rare. basemen @dudehugs @bug.hugs @radiomary ORHIGH SCH THE REAL WAREZ @ pphfadit Ft @ snughugs? A LOTTA PEOPLE THEY DO NOT EXIST ON THE SAME PLANE NORMAL TWITT (WE HOPE)

Twitter's Response

On August 4th, 2013, The Wall Street Journal reported on the growing subculture of Weird Twitter in an article titled "Some Twitter Users Push Back on Ads," describing the trend as a reactionary movement against the influx of corporate brands and advertising campaigns on the popular microblogging network. The article, which specifically focused on how the group has attempted brandjacking of promotional tweets sponsored by corporations, also contained a quote from Twitter's spokesperson Jim Prosser:

As for Weird Twitter and the conflicted feelings of early adopters as Twitter's usership grows, Mr. Prosser says, "To me it's the eternal battle people have over hipsterdom." "Twitter can feel cheesy sometimes, so promotional and self-aggrandizing," says John Manoogian III, a tech entrepreneur in San Francisco who joined Twitter in 2006, its inaugural year. "It's experiencing Eternal September."

Notable Examples


▼ y Follow helloween homer @hell_homer i)sit in toddler seat of a shopping cart. 2)tip over til feet touch the ground. 3)stand up. you're now a grocery turtle. no one can stop you Reply Retweet ★ Favorite 1,4531,633 RETWEETS FAVORITES 1:10 PM-24 Jul 12 Embed this Tweet ▼ y Follow wint @dril hm lets see.. *Logs On To Dark Net* bomb recipes... voyeur upskirt.. snuff vids..DILBERT?? WHo thef f--- put dilbert on dark net Reply Retweet ★ Favorite 148 RETWEETS FAVORITES 9:56 AM-10 Feb 11 Embed this Tweet
▼ y Follow brendle what @brendlewhat Hello sir, I-*briefcase full of jellybeans falls Reply Retweet ★ Favorite 1,3581,682 RETWEETS FAVORITES 10:02 PM- 3 Feb 12 Embed this Tweet ▼ y Follow kimmy @aRealLiveGhost your body is a ghost factory that takes one lifetime to produce a ghost ← Reply Retweet ★ Favorite 970 823 S FAVORITES 1:16 PM -2 Apr 12 Embed this Tweet
▼ y Follow leanna pupp @leannapapp SEXT: YOUREA SILVER MEDALIST AND I AM THE SILVER MEDAL. YOU ARE DISAPPOINTED TO SEE ME BUTI DON'T CARE BECAUSE I AM A PRECIOUS METAL Reply Retweet ★ Favorite RETWEETS FAVORITES 2:50 PM-7 Aug 12 Embed this Tweet bandit @UtilityLimb ▼ y Follow i'm not racist, but, *cranes neck to see if anyone's around. keeps craning. head unscrews entirely. out of the hole pour jewels & mysteries* Reply Retweet ★ Favorite 784 RETWEETS 720 FAVORITES .鼎1 惸鎬 11:59 AM - 27 Sep 11 Embed this Tweet

Brandjacking

Search Interest

External References

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Recent Images 114 total


Top Comments

Cyber6x
Cyber6x Moderator

Gotta love how bad of a tantrum people can throw because their 'secret clubhouse' of a meme get documented.

Seriously though, if you're mad because what you believed to be sacred has been defiled, you're what's holding back progress. Feel honored that this is popular enough to be documented and don't act like an elitist that believes you and only you are entitled to enjoy something.

+36
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Aw god damn it.

I hate it when public information (Twitter) is posted on other public websites.
ALL of these Tweets were supposed to be a SLIGHT secret and some website
made an entry about em.

Well shit, now everyone knows about them. They've only been reading them for FOUR years
and then "KnowYourMeme" makes an entry about it and ruins our not-secret club.

What the hell is wrong with all of you? Why do you have to take public information and
repost it? All of those tweets posted were supposed to be SOMEWHAT secret.

Don't take other people's public Tweets and post 'em to other public websites.

On the internet, you are NOT allowed to take others PUBLIC info and post it to PUBLIC
websites.

Good job KYM, you've singlehandedly made public information public, oh wait, no… it was already
public BECAUSE IT WAS TWITTER

+30

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