I’ve wrote before that Twitter has inspired a fixation by online marketers like myself because of how it can be measured. Since my previous post, Twitter has continued to grow its influence among newsmedia, brands, and consumers around the world.  Even among experienced Twitter users like myself, Twitter use has changed significantly over the last year as the social network broke records and even breaking news.  As of writing this blog post, marking my first 4 years using Twitter, here’s how I’ve used Twitter:

• I joined Twitter 1462 days ago on September 15, 2007
• I’ve posted over 16,100 tweets in four years, almost double my total since April 2010, and average 11.3 tweets per day and 328 tweets per month
• I’ve gained 1677 followers, about 2/3rds more since March 2010, and I’m following about twice as many Twitter users (1347) as I was during my prior blog post measuring Twitter

In celebration of my 5th year using Twitter, I wanted to update my status about how I use the social network, so I created this infographic using Visual.ly to help illustrate my use on Twitter as of September 2011:

Click here for a version of Matt Hurst’s Twitter infographic which is automatically updated based on my most current usage on the social network.

Extra credit: Follow @MattHurst on Twitter and see how I use Twitter and hear what I have to say.

Outside of Instagram, here’s a few more ways to measure the impact of mobile on photo sharing:

• The iPhone is the most popular camera on Flickr overall, and I’ve uploaded more than 5% of my 8194 photos on Flickr from pictures taken using my iPhone camera.
• Photos are the most used app on Facebook, and they’re rumored to be working on a mobile photo app
• At least 2 million photos are posted to Twitter each day on average, and doubtlessly more buzz comes from image driven Tumblr posts and photoblogs

Most recently with the announcement of Twitter’s new photo sharing functions, as well as their deeper integration with Apple products, photography continues its push into mobile platforms and remains a key driving force behind social media into the foreseeable future.

Extra credit: check for updated stats about how I’m using Instagram, and see a gallery of my favorite photos in my Photography portfolio. And of course you can look for my photos by following “MattHurst” on Instagram…

What Mr. Sheen hasn’t learned through his own use of social media is true for many other organizations who want to promote their brand and protect their reputation using social media: you’ve got to have a communications strategy.  And no, “going viral” is not a strategy, it’s only a goal (which can sometimes backfire).  To that end Charlie Sheen captured the attention of the online world, but without a strategic approach his haphazard embrace of social media seemingly hurt, rather than helped his reputation.  In contrast with individuals who have developed their personal brands, Sheen lacks personal experience to cultivate the tremendous interest in his brand in the best direction, which seems justify his search for a third-party who can give his Twitter account a positive spin.  Yet instead of looking for an intern, he should take a page from the many established brands who’ve successfully managed their social media presence, either though hiring online marketing and PR agencies or developing internal resources to plan their communications strategy.

Of course many brands didn’t always feel this way; when I started this blog in 2009 I wrote about my own experience using Twitter as a tool to find internship opportunities. At the same time agencies turned to my generation of recent grads and millennials to help them understand social media, so many were receptive to the idea of an interns helping out with a niche website like Twitter or Facebook. Especially because many businesses still considered social media a new fad (and not an important emerging platform) many were willing to let interns manage accounts for their brands; after all many simply assumed it was only kids using new media.

What seemed true in 2009 should not be assumed in 2011; social media have emerged as core platforms not only for promoting brands but for building businesses. With 600 million members on Facebook, and an established user base on Twitter that averages over 30 years in age, no brand would risk putting their reputation in the hands of an inexperienced graduate, much less an intern.  Instead organizations who want to build their brand through social media should hire professionals who’ve developed their strategic approach through experience, especially those who have tactical experience using blogs and social media to promote another organization.  Brands should look for professionals who’ve learned about social media through broad online experience, not necessarily specific skill-sets related to individual platforms like Twitter, because it demonstrates their ability to adapt and learn as new platforms emerge.

For prospective interns and job candidates, Twitter continues to stand out as a great tool to network and find job opportunities like my own Twitter internship. It’s also an excellent platform to share ideas and build your online reputation as a knowledgeable professional, particularly for social media marketers like myself, in a forum that’s highly visible in search results for those screening applicants. Likewise for job recruiters, social media offers a unique opportunity to screen potential employees and get a fuller picture of the people outside of their resume.

While it’s yet to be seen what the outcome of Mr. Sheen’s search for an intern may be, it seems likely that the same lack of direction that stifled his own social media efforts will sabotage any intern’s efforts.  At the end of the day a brand is only as strong as it’s own commitment to their unique offering, and that comes only through the knowledge and experience all members of an organization share.  To be sure, Charlie Sheen has earned America’s collective attention fixed on his social media presence, so what he is able to achieve depends not only on what he says but also who he chooses to manage his brand’s voice online.

Update:Since I published the original post on my Twitter internship, people have asked me about what most appropriate role for an marketing/communications intern might be.  First I should note that Internships are valued most for helping gain experience in the field, but that legally Interns are usually prohibited from making contributions to the main business practices of a company. Social Media may have been considered an emerging platform in the past, but Facebook and Twitter are now core parts of a brand and many organizations now use their blog as a primary outlet for communications. As much as today’s interns may want to demonstrate their own understanding of new media, no organization fulfills their educational (or legal) obligations by assigning an intern to perform services they should expect of their PR/marketing/communications professionals.

Of course this isn’t to say interns can’t make valuable contributions using their own insights into new media, only that they shouldn’t be acting as social media spokespersons for their organization.  Instead there are many additional roles an intern can serve, including social media monitoring, auditing, and even old school media clippings with an online twist. In a Sales capacity, I’ve also seen interns do great research work identifying sales prospects using social media, and turning these leads over to an appropriate sales representative for the company.  Internships are a great way to gain experience using new media professionally, but they shouldn’t be representing the public face of their company externally.

Blog: Wonkette has been a guilty-pleasure of mine the past two election cycles, with its tongue planted firmly in cheek.  This former-Gawker blog whose irreverent, sarcastic humor has a decidedly inside-the-beltway appeal yet still makes me LOL.

Film: 500 days of Summer. At times this film is reminiscent of the best French New Wave, almost like a sequel to 400 Blows if the protagonist grows up and moves to Los Angeles.

Meme: Rent is 2 Damn High. Jimmy McMillan stole the show at the NY governor’s debate, riding a wave of memorable one-liners that introduced this candidate to voters in every state of the union. While the candidate may have lost his election bid with less than 1% of the vote, his single-minded focus brought attention to a serious issue (housing costs) in an election dominated by Tea Parties.

Music: Charlotte Gainsbourg. On top of being an accomplished artist already, Charlotte had the good sense to reach out to Beck to produce her second solo effort. The result is claustrophobic imagery and jangled beats that build the atmosphere around story of it’s titular IRM and illness. Consider this Beck channeling Nico and Velvet Underground, making it a strong contender for Album of the Year in my book.

Social Network: Twitter. Most of Twitter’s users might not call it a social network, but that began to change this last month with a redesign that gave users an immersive experience interacting on-site with their own social graph.  Or at least Twitter has given us a new reason to use their microblog by adding insights between friends, finally giving me a reason to use their service on Twitter.com rather than any number of external tools.

Theory: Measured Life. Without realizing it, I create a mountain of data everyday; from energy usage and water consumption to daily check-ins on Foursquare.  Even though my day job is very much about measurement, I’ve only begun to leverage the insight new tools have to improve my life.  Call it Better Living Through Measurement, and I’ll be writing more about this soon.

TV Show: Community. I’ve been a fan if Dan Harmon since his Channel 101 days, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to see his rapier wit on Network television.  For the uninitiated, this sitcom depicts a study group of misfits at a local college, who play out some common sitcom themes.  Needless to say, I LOL watching this show.

As a special bonus to those who just can’t get enough, or at least those connected to my RSS feed, here’s a few more ideas worth sharing:

App: Square. It’s a credit card reader you plug into your headphone jack, instantly helping you split that check or providing receipts  at your next garage sale.  And it might just change commerce for small transactions.  (Thanks Jack!)

Follow-up: Rally to Restore Sanity was the irreverent parody we all wanted it to be, and as much fun watching the crowd as those onstage.

Theme Party: Movember. I’m participating alongside my teammates/coworkers in Facial Attraction, to raise money and awareness for Men’s health issues.

In the last month I’ve begun new endeavors, publishing my first major Press Release and attending AdWeek as representative of my new employers. You could say I’m on a roll, so In celebration of 10.10.10 here are the Top 10 ideas shaping my life over the last month.

Blog: Mashable. I read Mashable every day because it is the best source of current news on social media and online marketing, period. When Facebook was down this month I looked to them for the first to explanation of what was happening and why. Ditto on Foursquare and Twitter. It’s become such an obsession of mine a friend recently asked “when did you become the Mashable promoter?”. Thanks to Pete Cashmore and company for giving me something to look forward to reading everyday.

Colleague: Sean Ludwig. I want to recommend Sean because he’s a talented journalist and writer with in-depth knowledge of technology (especially mobile) and experience using social media.

Film: The Social Network. As a Film Studies major and Communications grad, I think I’m qualified to say this film lives up to the hype. Audiences should already be aware that the film is not biographical, and I like it better that way; their writers created dramatic (if oversimplified) characters who would make this film enjoyable to anyone, even if they’ve never used Facebook (including Mr. Sorkin). In other words, Mark Zuckerberg is going to become the Bud Fox of this generation; see this movie and bring a Friend.

Meme: Rally to Restore Sanity. I plan on attending this satirical event, organized by the producers of The Daily Show and Colbert Report, at the end of this month. Establishing once again my own zealousness towards this radically irrelevant television program, I’m looking forward to renewing irony in DC. Hopefully with thousands of other friends of rational discussion.

Music: Plastic Beach by Gorillaz. Over six months of listening to their new album, and I’m still putting this record on repeat. Gorillaz’s subtle melancholy reminiscent of their prior efforts sing in unison glistening pop-hooks stick around in my head for days. Their current touring efforts have brought them to my mind this month, although they haven’t left my rotation since the album dropped.

Social Network: #newTwitter. If I haven’t covered my love of Twitter extensively enough already, Twitter gave me even more reasons to love them with their smart redesign. More importantly for Twitter, it gives social media marketing pros like myself reason to spend more time on their site (instead of any number of Twitter tools I’m using).

Television: Chuck. It’s no secret that I’m a fan of this show, which I only watch through Hulu. I discovered this show back in 2008 using Hulu, and I’ve been hooked ever since, albeit through my own time-shifted schedule. Perhaps I identify with the young, geeky protagonist who is thrust into world-shifting conflict each episode, all while trying to figure out his own identity. Or maybe I just like listening to indie tunes after kung-fu fights and explosions, alongside a smart and funny cats of well-developed supporting characters. Either way, I’ve been eating a lot more Subway sandwiches since the series was canceled and subsequently rebooted through an online campaign.

App: Chump Dump. I admit that I have a problem: too many friends and followers on Twitter to keep tabs on those who’s ideas I care about the most. This app should help me attain a better balance (or at least a lower ratio) by helping me loose random twitter followers, particularly those most prolific narcissists currently clogging up my Twitter stream.

Blog: Wonkette. With Election season in full swing, I’ve become a daily reader once again of this DC-based liberal rag with its tongue planted firmly in cheek. Sarcasm runs thickly through each post, pulling together the best (and most embarrassing) news clips from around the blogosphere to add their irreverent take on our nation’s partisan political dysfunction.

Film: Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Comic books, video games, rock and roll; what’s not to love in this romantic comedy? Of course it’s geeky, so I love it.

Meme: Check-in Fatigue. As an early adopter of location-based social media, I’ve been anticipating the growth and inevitable backlash against these platforms as they mature. It’s interesting to watch my friends walk through the same curiosity, excitement, and disappointment as these services start to become adopted by the mainstream, most recently Facebook.  What was first a fun, new way to connect with friends and meet people has grown into an all-consuming competition that frustrates new users with legitimate privacy issues.  Of course I’ll still be playing along, so don’t hate the players (hate the game).

Music: Plastic Ono Band by John Lennon. His solo effort has become the anthem of my summer, driven by irresistible hooks, existential uncertainty, and all the emotional power of a young man trying to plant his roots in the world. Lately I can identify with those themes.

Social Network: Glue. At first the name of this social recommendation engine is puzzling, until you realize it’s apps and extensions help it connect media and the net. The cousin of Facebook’s Liking system improves on their social graph parent, allowing you to add semantic status updates; telling your friends what you’re watching on TV, reading, or listening to.  With the impending closure of my prior favorite Hot Potato following their purchase by Facebook (congrats y’all), it’s refreshing to see former Facebookers go on to create innovative social media outside of the mothership.

Television: True Blood. Sure the series is trashy romp with thinly veiled allusions to sex, drugs, and southern hospitality meeting the occult. It’s also driven by nuanced characters living in the well-crafted universe by writers who keep me guessing at every twist and turn. I’m a fan.

Theory: Transparency. It’s what helped me become interested in becoming a PR pro, and now it’s part of my daily work. So in the interest of full disclosure, I want to acknowledge that I’ve begun working at The Nielsen Company as a Communications Analyst, specializing in Online insights on their Communications team. Otherwise you should consider the opinions I express here as my own ideas, and not necessarily those shared by my employer.

Since Twitter was a start-up it has fostered a strange fascination with numbers: 140 characters, following-to-follower ratios, and a whole ecosystem to measure RTs and @’s from influential people.  Since I’m a communications professional working with social media, I’ve made it my business to try using many of these measurement tools, both for clients and my own (perhaps narcissistic) profiles.  Of course numbers only tell part of the story of interpersonal influence; gross popularity means less than the net of mutual friends who can trust each others’ judgment.

I share this fascination with measurement, especially in understanding interpersonal influence. As a result, my use of Twitter has been synonymous with my professional growth at the beginning of my career, charting my own progress all the while.  On this blog alone I’ve written about Twitter nearly a dozen times; to date search results for “Twitter Internship” bring the most organic visitors to this blog. My use of Twitter is frequently the first thing people learn about me, often before we’ve ever met.

So to celebrate tweet #8888 (88 is sort of a lucky number of mine), I wanted to thank 8 followers on Twitter who have been following me since the beginning (or at least the longest):

• @CourtneyChesley – My first follower, who introduced me to Twitter in September 2007. She’s really creative, smart to boot, and is one of the most generous people I’ve met through social media.
• @GeekDave – Dave’s a blogger I met as another blogger in STL; naturally we have a lot in common. Geeky is the new hip, as far as he’s concerned.
• @Lolololori – Lori is a passionate advocate for the things she loves – music, local culture, and online media – as thusly serves as a role model to all of us.
• @BillStreeter - Bill continues to be an early adopter, probably making him the biggest social media rockstar I know online and IRL.
• @LaurenReid – The better half of my social media relationship status was also the first person I convinced to join Twitter.  Though reluctant adopter at first, Lauren probably has the most social media savvy of anyone I know.
• @BarackObama – What, really? I’m a little skeptical of this, although Twitter insists his account is among the longest of my mutual followers. His own mastery of new media in a campaign inspired a whole generation of my peers, and led me to persue political communication in DC the fall of 2008.
• @Bitca - My long lost friend from a past social media life (on a social network which no longer exists) is an early adopter, occasional geek, and a one woman force-to-be-reckoned-with.
• @CMaue – Chris Maue is my colleague from the class of 2008 at Webster University, creative companion, and eventual inheritor of my Highway 61 (revised) legacy.  He’s never afraid to try innovative tools for himself, and has earned the right to call me out on my own BS.

I think @GBullard probably belongs somewhere in that list, alongside these other early followers who are Honorable mentions: @socialthing, @ioubeer, @NaomiSilverArt, @LisaRokusek, @StephenTColbert, @PubDef, @TwitPic, and @TheRoyale

In addition to qualitative measurement of these long standing social media relationships, I found a few surprising quantitative results:

• I made 1224 tweets before I gained my first 88 followers on May 12, 2008
• I gained my 1000 follower @DrakeTex on March 19th, 2010
• I joined Twitter 931 days ago (September 15, 2007), and like most others on Twitter my audience grew most over the last year.
• #PRcamp is my most frequently used hashtag- 35 times -before, during, and following the event in November 2009.
• I’ve earned at least 533 mutual followers out of the 775 I’m following.  Over 70% of these contact might be considered my friends on any other social network!
• I was retweeted the most during #PRCamp, where I reached a potential audience of 8839 through RTs from 6 other participants.
• At least 16% of my tweets are replies to other users, and another 7% are RTs, which help share good ideas and offer feedback.
• Over 50% of my tweets come from Twitter clients rather than on Twitter.com, as most other users do. This usually means site visits through Twitter links will be difficult to distinguish from organic or direct traffic.

Perhaps its not surprising then that Twitter itself is on of the most frequent subjects I discuss using Twitter, wherein the medium is also the message.  Let’s consider this an ongoing conversation that I invite you to join by following me @MattHurst on Twitter.

Every month I share a short list of ideas that I think deserve your attention, or at least commandeer my own.  This month I’ve included a few extra as an early holiday gift to readers.  I want to wish everyone a Happy Holidays, and hope to see you in the new year.

Blog: Framing Science. Matthew Nisbet will change how you understand science.  We take for granted that the facts should speak for themselves, but our understanding of these complex subjects are largely a matter of communication.  His blog covers so much of what I learned in his classroom, and it is recommended reading if you care about climate change, public policy, or evolution.

Colleague: Nina Keim.  I met Nina as a Graduate student at American University (maybe Classmate is a better title), and have always been impressed by her initiative.  Unlike some of my peers, Nina displays an endless curiosity; she seeks out new ideas in communication and isn’t afraid to try them out for herself, often before their value is readily apparent.  Rather than merely acting as an informer, Nina embodies the role of an opinion leader in her own right.

Meme: PR does not equal “Press Release”. Sure Press Releases still work, but the question is “should you send one?“  At #PRCamp we first realized that the words Press Release should never be used near anything Social Media.  PR practitioners build relationships and tell stories, and in today’s media landscape that cannot be limited to broadcast and print news releases.

Music: Bob Dylan’s “Christmas in the Heart”.  I’ve made many jokes over the past month about the music video, which I’m convinced will soon become another Rick Roll.  What convinced this unassailable icon to record his first Holiday album may have been a favorite charity, but I’m convinced it must’ve been Santa.

PR Agency: 2ChicksInc. Full Disclosure – I’ve been working (as an intern) with this start-up PR group over the last month.  Working with the women who are its namesake, I’ve learned how a boutique PR firm can use their expertise to innovate online campaigns.  And their generous part-time position has helped me continue my own career search (thanks again for the opportunity).

Shameless Plug: The Brew Noob. My side project has evolved from 140 charecter beer reviews on Twitter into a Tumblr blog of own right.  As usual, I’ll test the brews so that you can enjoy tasty beers.

Social Network: Hot Potato. Why use hashtags or checkins if you only want to talk about an event while it’s happening?  It’s not meant to replace Twitter or Foursquare, but its a new take on an old idea. Another revelation we made at #PRCamp was that not everyone will use Twitter (the brand), but that SMS/mobile messaging (the idea) were here to stay.  Try it.

Thanks for reading through; please consider these next ideas my holiday gift you, my loyal readers…

App: Tweetie. I’ve been loyal to Twitterific since I bought a Mac, and since I started using iPhone OS since it’s free. I wouldn’t usually pay for an App on a service that can update via SMS, but this app is worth it.

Charity: Water. You already know I care about People to People International and the Living Classrooms Foundation.  But please check this out; they bring a gift that is fundamental to all life, and they could really use your help.

Video(s): Besides the wig in a aforementioned video to Bob Dylan’s “Must Be Santa”, this  beard seems to be making the rounds. Also James Lipton wants you to Give It A Ponder before Sexting, using his beard and all.

Full disclosure: I’ve been addicted to Twitter since I started using it in September of 2007. Since then I have witnessed its explosive growth as a daily user of this social network, growing from thousands of daily users to millions now.  These attacks are evidence of Twitter’s importance, and like Facebook before it this social network is gorwn large enough to be experiencing a backlash.

Unlike many social networks before it, Twitter has become an agenda-setting media.  This might seem obvious because broadcast and print newsmedia about Twitter have been nonstop, frequently breaking news stories or framing an issue through its social media context. As a social network (although many of its users of Twitter do not think of it as such) Twitter facilitates interpersonal communication in which opinion leaders, or at least some with a large number of followers, introduce new ideas to their network which help set the public’s agenda.

Because Twitter serves an audience that is constantly engaged in the discussion of new ideas, frequently accompanied by hyperlinks, Twitter has succeeded at become agenda setting media like none before it.  To be sure Facebook, itself a much larger social network, only recently overtook email as the primary means for most individuals share news stories and links to websites.  But rarely have these social media, including social bookmarking websites like Digg and Delicious, taken part in constructing the news agenda with the wider public much less offline as Twitter does.

The explosive growth of Twitter is not necessarily because of any special function the site offers (there have been other microblogs before) but because of it’s core of users, who themselves have set the tone of what Twitter should be used for.  This isn’t to say there is a right way or wrong way to use media, just that some practices seem to work better. The critical difference in using a social medium comes from those who are using it; in this case the core users who serve as a social model are opinion leaders in diverse subjects such as communications, celebrities, and politics.  And it’s easy to see the appeal; opinion leaders are provided a platform to introduce ideas about culture (and even about themselves), while the accessibility of the platform allows individuals to interact within their network of connections which make even celebrities (who continue to lead the way onto Twitter) seem approachable by any fan.

Perhaps this model of influence offers a clue to one recent trend on Twitter, in which power-users remove all of the users they follow in order to reconstruct a list which better reflects a tightly-knit social network.  While some organizations scramble to create a list of followers on Twitter which seems to be the largest, these users illustrate the power of influence over a small agenda-setting audience they want to stay tuned into.  Because in social media influence is not measured as the number of followers who might read the monolougue you’re broadcasting to them, but by the relationship between individuals which is built through a dialog.

Never before has there been such a media tool to listen to the audience’s ideas, and to engage them in conversations about them.  The backlash may have been inevitable, but it has almost always come from those unwilling to participate in a dialog; it would seem from what I’m hearing that Twitter is here to stay.

Blog: Things Marketing People Love.  If you ever work in or with a marketing agency, this will make you LOL.  You have heard these words bandied about as if they were sacrosanct, although on their face they mean very little.  Since we’ve already learned about white people and journalists, why not marketing?  And make your own submissions via Twitter.

Colleague: Gabe Bullard.  Back when we were working on Highway 61 (revised), there was no one who’s insights into online communications I trusted more. That hasn’t changed, so if you’d like to share these ideas, he’s still on the internet.

Meme: #hcmyth . With so much disinformation being active spread about Health Care reform, why not make fun with ridiculous myth-making of your own?  My colleague Beth Carpenter helped start and promote this hashtag on Twitter, which set off any number of LOL funny myths about health care.  My favorite? “RT @tobytobitobe : Under ObamaCare, all Starbucks beverages will be pre-ordered “skinny, nonfat, hold the whip.” It’s for the best. #HCMyth“

Music: Blip.FM . As you might have guessed reading my post about music and opinion leaders, I am enamored in the peer recommendation system of Blip.  Or maybe I just enjoy playing DJ, even if it’s just to my Twitter followers.

Social Network: 3121. This is an idea who’s time has come; the social network for Capitol Hill staffers. While you need a House, Senate, or Committee email address to sign up (still in beta), it’s easy to see the promise of a networked directory (3121 is the extension of the Capitol switchboard) that connects people and ideas in such a focused audience. Congrats to the National Journal and New Media Strategies, and god luck on launch.

Theory: Balance of Power. In politics, this describes a group of strategically allied parties that come together to create parity in systematic power.  In the world of hip-hop, there are Great Powers (Jay-Z, Kanye West, 50 cent) and middle powers (The Game, T-pain, everyone on Def Jux). This theory actually works well when it’s explained at length, so please

Video: Mister Rogers defending PBS to the US Senate. Your favorite neighbor was always there for the children, inspiring many generations of kids to know they are special and loved.
One time I was asked “what’s cool and new in your ‘hood?”, to which I replied:

Being polite, friendly, and helpful. Lately I’ve been helping my new neighbors move in, or even just talking with them about things I would ordinarily care less about. Since we’re together we might as well stay. Sometimes they don’t even steal my packages.
But as usual, the cool things in my ‘hood are IMAGINATION and MAKE BELEIVE. It helps out a lot when you live on the wrong side of the trolley tracks. Won’t you be my neighbor?

Please support your local public media.

Extra Credit: Twittering too much.  On top of the Twitter backlash and outright recycled cliches (thanks AP), those of us actually in the know (ie using Twitter) now have the capacity to call out abuse of the statusosphere. And while I am guilty as anyone else of using microblogs in micro-minded oversharing, Twitter remains an opt-in system where “unfollowing” is just as effective as “block”. Ultimately there is no one right way to use social media just as there is no single valid cultural expression, but the overshare of information just serves to diminish your own ideas.  You can call out abusive tweets on TweetingTooHard or simply LOL as Tweetspeare calls me out on it.