Twitter: So the Drama

So, a while back, I deleted my old Twitter account and started a new one. I know I said right afterward  that I would explain to all my followers who were affected by it why I did so. I was too close to the events to do this before, still dealing with the emotions, but I’m able to do it now. I’ll make it as concise as I can.

Basically, as I mentioned in a previous post, I associated with a whole group of tweeps who are, like me, fans of My Chemical Romance, and the band being who and what they are, most of these tweeps are teenagers. To recap, I found myself in something of a mentoring role to some of them, or at least an older advisor who had been through some of the problems they find themselves facing. Unfortunately, things got to be too much for me. Some of these people were whiny; some were, for lack of a better term, attention whores. All too often—and not only from teenagers, but also from some of the people in their 20s—I saw tweets that basically amounted to “i’m being ignored again *sigh* guess i’ll go now”. I ignored these, not giving in, knowing what the game was, but other, younger members of the group would respond, and on more than one occasion, the original tweeter would say something like, “oh i wasn’t gonna go anyway, i just wanted to see if u were paying attention”. It got annoying, but I did my best to ignore it.

I watched these people dealing with issues that, from my perspective, were unimportant but meant the world to them because teens often blow things out of proportion. I remember being a teenager and thinking that the most minor things were life-and-death situations. I tried to point this out on occasion and was snubbed; after all, what could I possibly know, not actually being a teenager, right? So, I tried my best to ignore the drama, just as I ignored the attention seekers.

Then came a tweet—not directed at me, but still visible since I was following both the originator and the recipient—indicating that one of these poor kids was being beaten by her father. What the hell? How was I supposed to react to that? I went to the girl’s profile, discovered that she wasn’t even in the United States. To whom was I supposed to report that? And how was I to prove what I had seen, since this particular person had the habit of deleting most of her tweets after sending them? In my mind, I was helpless.

So what did I do? I ran. I didn’t just block the people that annoyed me and the people whose tweets frightened me. I shut down the account and started anew; I wiped the hard drive and reinstalled, so to speak. Perhaps it was an overreaction, but that’s how it happened. Since that time, a few of the MCR group have come back my way. I’m more careful about who I choose to follow back. I don’t mind being an advisor, or even just a shoulder to cry on at times, but I can’t deal with the more serious shit. I wish I could. I’d love to help all the people out there who are suffering, but I’m a single person with my own problems. If a situation arises where I can offer advice or just listen, I will, but I refuse to take on more than I can handle. I hate drama. I’ve had enough drama in my life, and I know there’s always more to come, no matter how much I try to avoid it. It’s much easier to avoid on Twitter, so if I have to cut it out of my life, that’s the first place I’ll do it.

I love Twitter; I’ve met awesome people, and the dynamics there are reminiscent of the dynamics within a family. I’m happy to be part of the family, and I felt like I should explain, especially since so many people have asked. So, it’s a little late, but there you have it. I hope you all understand.