Twitter can be mean. It can be nasty. But sometimes it can be the little ray of sunshine that I imagine its creators always hoped it would be.
It’s easy to forget, given what we sometimes see and hear and read. A couple of weeks ago, Jake Roberson chronicled the Twitter trolls who creeped out Curt Schilling’s daughter … and got a bit of comeuppance. Last week, Ashley Judd was attacked on Twitter for sending out a basketball-related tweet in support of her alma mater, Kentucky. (She fired back with a lengthy essay on mic.com.) And rapper Iggy Azalea became the latest in a string of celebrities to quit Twitter, calling it out for being “too negative and draining.”
But Twitter is filled with far more than just trolls and cyberbullies. And sometimes the service can be instrumental in making life a little better, not worse. Take the story of Odin Camus, a just-turned 13-year-old Canadian who threw a birthday party to which no one came.
Odin, his mother explained on Facebook, struggles with Asperger’s syndrome and is sometimes bullied at school. When he issued a “hang out” invite for his birthday, no one RSVP’ed. So his mother asked if some folks might send some happy birthday wishes to her not-so-little boy.
The NBA’s Toronto Raptors were the first big players to respond via Twitter. “Happy 13th Birthday to our new friend Odin,” read the message. Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins himself) tweeted his own well wishes, as did Justin Trudeau (leader of Canada’s Liberal Party) and Jonathan Scott, one of the brothers from HGTV’s Property Brothers. About 11,000 people in all tweeted out birthday greetings to Odin, according to The Peterborough Examiner.
“It’s amazing how people care,” Odin later told the Examiner. “I feel absolutely amazing. Now the bullies will have a second glance at me.”
I’ve been on Twitter for about a year now, maybe a little longer. And, yeah, while a couple of nasty messages have been directed my way, my experience has been pretty positive overall. I’ve gotten vacation advice, props for articles and been asked some probing questions. And truth be told, I’ve made a couple of friends—even though our only interaction has been via 140-character bursts. I’m not the best or most reliable tweeter around, but even in my minimalist way, it’s been mostly fun.
It’s been said that social networks, particularly Twitter, can bring out the worst in people. The 140-character limit can hamstring real conversation. The immediacy of its interface can shortcut important reflection. Its relative anonymity can foster angry, frightening exchanges.
Those things are all true. But Twitter can bring out the best in people, too. It gives us the chance to reach out to people we otherwise might never meet. And sometimes, as in Odin’s case, give impromptu hugs and high fives.
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