RT - What?

I think differently. My mind works in mysterious ways that don't always align with the common world view.


RT on twitter
The first time I saw "RT @twitter_user_name" what automatically ran through my head was the phrase: "right at twitter_user_name." As in a shout out to the person who first came up with the material. Makes sense right? I thought so. I was thoroughly disappointed to find out in conversation with a few friends that "RT @" really means "ReTweet of twitter_user_name's post", or, as I like to think of it: 'What He Said.'

Why its confusing:
What still bothers me about the whole ReTweet thing, is the syntax that goes along with it. In apps like TweetDeck, PowerTwitter etc., the citation comes before the text of the original tweet. This makes no sense to me, and makes commenting on the tweet tricky. Some people use quotes around the original tweet, or around their comment. Others use brackets, or '...' to break up the tweet. And then different people use parenthesis at the very end. Call me old school, but this is one instance where I think the older, call it analogue even, traditional method of citations works best.

[nerd moment: the first time I thought about this I definitely dusted off my MLA Handbook from High School]

My Solution:
According to Perdue's MLA Formatting and Style Guide, the format for citing a short quote (a tweet fits that description) in a text is this:

Applied to twitter it looks something like this:

"Really cool tweet that I wanted to share" (RT @twitter_user_name) or
"Really cool tweet that I wanted to share" (@twitter_user_name)

Either way just makes sense. You can add your comments before or after the ReTweet, and everyone understands who is saying what. In its basic form, it links back to the twitter_user_name's feed, functioning similar to a works cited. Most Apps do an even better job of tying 'RT' and '@' to conversations between users as well.

My Thoughts on Twitter
My view on twitter is that it is a new, public, communication medium. Tweets can spark conversation between individuals who otherwise may have never communicated. (Awesome) I think that its important to share your thoughts clearly, and this take on ReTweets helps with clarity...I'm also that girl who tries to tweet in complete sentences, and gets frustrated when people use too many pronouns in their tweets, and think the world is full of mind readers.

What do you think?

1-2-3 Go!

Welcome to _emily_rose!
The first thing you need to know is that I can barely believe I'm starting a blog. A good friend of mine would say I'm late to the party. Blogging has been going on for quite some time, and I get this. I've been reading blogs for years, following people, but I've never felt like I've had much to contribute. Some people say that's not the point, but regardless, it has been what held me back. I'm at a point in my life where I do have a few things to say (that are more than 140 characters long) and I hope you find some of these things worthwhile. Now granted, some posts will be more interesting/entertaining/humorous than others, and the topics will tend to bounce around a bit, but I sincerely hope you enjoy the bulk of what I have to offer.

What you need to know about me:
The basic stuff:
I am 27 and I'm currently living in Clemson, SC. I'm originally from the Chattanooga, TN area.

The important stuff:
You will never be able to put me into one category. I like to think of myself as an Artist & an Analyst, as well as a Thinker & a Doer. I have been a soloist in a Ballet Company & a NASCAR liscenced mechanic, and for a while I was both. My education is in Mechanical Engineering, & my most fulfilling job so far has been in Marketing. I have been self employed for the past year as both an Artist (Stained Glass), & a Customer Behavior Analyst for websites. I'm a big dork, I love my friends, college sports, and data acquisition & analysis, and having something to show for my work....Speaking of, this is some of my stained glass work.



The random stuff:
My typing skills suck. You would never know I am part of what is considered the millennium generation/gen y etc. BUT in my humble opinion, that's what the red wavy line is for. (NY Times agrees) Also, I love & appreciate music, but I am the worst person to play the "who sings that" or the "what is the name of this song" game. I'm also digging the old school '&' right now.

About the Name
One thing that I will be constantly complaining about is consistency and standards across the web. _emily_rose is my twitter name. It was the first available combination of my first and middle name. (The funny thing about girls is that our initials have the possibility of changing at some point, so they don't make for good usernames.) This username is not available on gmail, or blogger, as '_' is not an acceptable character to lead with (gmail) or include period (blogger). Hence the' emily---rose.blogspot.com' It would be nice to have everything match, but oh well.