Sorry, reference in the web sense. I'm writing something to appear on the web and I say "That BBC news article about guns this week" it would have been better had I given a URL. On twitter if I'm writing about that bloke Dave Turvey it would have been better if I had given an @ address.
Except that and @ is not the same as a URL. A URL doesn't also forward on your blog post to the person it's referencing. Using @Sting in your tweet is the same as writing a blog post with a URL and then emailing it to the person you wrote it about. Hence, worse behaviour, IMHO.
It allows that person to see the tweet easily yes. We can argue all day about which is the appropriate metaphor: Is it like 1) insulting someone and then posting them a copy of the insult or 2) posting a hostile webpage with a link to someone's web page so if they choose they can search for the incoming URL or 3) posting a link to a livejournal post saying "this guys a fool" knowing they'll be hit by the pingback bot.
Really though, that's pretty unhelpful. It is what it is and I'm not sure trying to transfer known "good behaviour" from one context is helpful.
1) It's the correct way to provide a reference to that person on that system. On the other hand: 2) It has the effect of alerting that person to the reference.
We trade that off differently.
If someone were insulting me on twitter and not using @ I'd think "Well, why are you hiding that from me you coward" as it's a deliberate attempt to conceal.
I disiagree with your (1). I would say that "It is the correct way to provide a reference to a person who you also want to see your tweet."
But I don't think we can come to meaningful agreement on that.
I also don't expect people to tell me directly about every problem they have with my behaviour, or everything I do that's annoyed them, only the ones they consider worth it. People talk about other people all the time, and only occasionally is it worth trying to effect change/have a socially difficult conversation with them.
I agree that in many social contexts we complain about a person and would not want that person to know. On twitter, however, unless it's a locked account, you are openly complaining to the whole world while deliberately not informing the person. So for me I would be more offended by someone omitting the @ than including it. It's just ill mannered.
It may be that your rule will become the established social consensus as to "polite" as I've heard it from two different people in the public eye, questioned them on the subject and heard their rationale (similar to yours). One was Mitch Benn, I can't remember the other, possibly Graham Linnehan (sp?).
Well, I'm just aware that if I say "I like the new series by @Glinner" then I've just cluttered up his twitter feed and made it harder for him to see anything with actual content in it.
On the other hand, this is a problem only for famous people, and it's not like Twitter is a reliable communication method anyway.
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philmophlegm) wrote2012-08-01 11:59 am
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Is it like
1) insulting someone and then posting them a copy of the insult
or
2) posting a hostile webpage with a link to someone's web page so if they choose they can search for the incoming URL
or
3) posting a link to a livejournal post saying "this guys a fool" knowing they'll be hit by the pingback bot.
Really though, that's pretty unhelpful. It is what it is and I'm not sure trying to transfer known "good behaviour" from one context is helpful.
1) It's the correct way to provide a reference to that person on that system.
On the other hand:
2) It has the effect of alerting that person to the reference.
We trade that off differently.
If someone were insulting me on twitter and not using @ I'd think "Well, why are you hiding that from me you coward" as it's a deliberate attempt to conceal.
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But I don't think we can come to meaningful agreement on that.
I also don't expect people to tell me directly about every problem they have with my behaviour, or everything I do that's annoyed them, only the ones they consider worth it. People talk about other people all the time, and only occasionally is it worth trying to effect change/have a socially difficult conversation with them.
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Damned modern technology and it's making social rules difficult!
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One was Mitch Benn, I can't remember the other, possibly Graham Linnehan (sp?).
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On the other hand, this is a problem only for famous people, and it's not like Twitter is a reliable communication method anyway.