webrampage

Whether you’d like to admit it or not, but Twitter has just become another shallow popularity contest. I personally would be very happy if I was on the winning side of it, but as of now I am not… unfortunately. But, I’m not here to rant about that today.

Lets talk about Twitter and celebs. First came Mr. Kutcher with the title of “Twitter King” and then it was Britney Spears who took over the lead. And then Lady Gaga dethrones Britney about 3 days ago. What a competition. Any chance some of us average tweeters could get some spotlight like that too?

Now I’m not mad that celebs are pretty much being the center of attention on Twitter. I understand that after all they are celebrities and they do have fans. They are well-known figures. That’s fine. But, what’s upsetting is how everyone is encouraging this little race of having the most followers. Like c’mon you’re just ruining the whole purpose of a social networking site.

What’s so social about following around celebs on Twitter and pretty much having one way conversations with them? There isn’t a right or a wrong way to use Twitter, but that definitely wasn’t the intentions of the founders when they first came up with Twitter. Correct me if I’m wrong.

I have nothing against competitive environments. I do believe that the best of products and the worst of humans come out in a competition. And there are lots of examples as to why I can relate to that so much on Twitter.

After all, we average tweeters have the right to have a strong voice too, but the celeb buzz is just too much of a loud noise to compete with.

Twitter does give us the ability to know who retweeted us, but what about favourites? They forgot about that one – at least for now. But, that’s why I love 3rd party applications. They add all these nifty little features that the site forgot or didn’t bother looking into.

Right so you wanna know who faved your tweets and what’s your most popular one? Alright I know of two sites, but the one I always use and is my own personal favourite is Favstar.fm.

Not only can you look into the stats of your tweets, but you can also see which tweets are the most popular ones on the timeline right now on Twitter. And to be honest, some of these Tweets on the leaderboard are absolutely hilarious, so no wonder they were faved so many times.

So, head over to Favstar.fm and jump into action by signing into your Twitter via oAuth – no worries, it is safe since oAuth does not give away your password to the 3rd party application, but only allows access to your account.

Pro Tip: If you have a loyal following on Twitter then tweet up something impressive and try to get on Favstar.fm’s leaderboard, and you maybe surprised by the number of new followers you have gained at the end of the day.

Enough about the latest Twitter tips, tricks and news. Let’s hear your story! Get over on Twitter and tell us why you decided to make an account, but don’t forget to add the #iTweetBecause hashtag at the beginning of your tweet.

The best stories will later be featured right here on tokio.dish! And here are some tips, so you know what to share:

• How did you hear about Twitter?
• Was it a celebrity that influenced you to make an account?
• Do your friends use it?
• Do you use it to promote your business, blog or your site?
• Do you use it in addition to other sites such as YouTube?

Whatever it is, get your voice out there! Everyone will be talking and you don’t wanna miss out on this one.

Update: These were some of the best tweets. Don’t worry if you didn’t make it here this time. There’s always a next time, right?

#iTweetBecause why not? – @Glamypunk

#iTweetBecause I get to talk to new people – @AntaniaxD

#itweetbecause facebook and myspace died – @mohitwhabi

#itweetbecause its fucking awesome when a celeb follows or tweets back! – @xtayytayyx

#iTweetBecause I like putting down my moods and opinions and knowing someone else is reading it – @MeganDelanax

#itweetbecause i have a voice to express my knowledge – @Lemonhead1524

#iTweetBecause I like to keep up with the latest interwebs trends. – @AtticusParker

#iTweetBecause Twitter asked me “What’s happening?” – @Sin_Cee