Echo Chamber Angst...

I'm trying to make peace with my echo chamber. This is not, as you might think, a reference to my lady-bits, but to the online influences that fill my life. Basically, it's Twitter, folks.*

The first three people I followed in 2009. 

When I joined Twitter, I loved that I could follow famous people that I liked. I could get their take on all sorts of things, whether that be the news of the day, or the food they were eating that very moment. Back then, in 2009, the most prolific tweeters I followed were Phillip Schofield and Stephen Fry. Their tweets seemed to be a mix of their latest TV production news and the funny things that had happened to them, out and about. Fast forward nine years and it's all so much more shouty. 

I just checked and I follow 710 people. Not all of them tweet regularly, and some are businesses that only tweet offers and promotions. They're easy to scroll past. The shoutiness comes when journalists, politicians, comedians, writers and everyone else with an opinion, type their conflicting thoughts about everything, every minute of the day. The urge is to mute or unfollow the people that are at odds with my way of thinking. 

At times I have done that. I unfollowed a TV presenter because of their angry tweets about licence fee money being used for Eurovision. They tweeted this ON Eurovision night. Just rude. I also unfollowed a TV personality after excessive tweets about their latest cause (which I didn't care about) filled my timeline for days. It made sense at the time. Last week it was reported that they'd left Twitter after a news story broke over something random that they'd done. I'd forgotten all about them until then. If they aren't in my timeline, I lose track.

The last three people I followed, in recent weeks. 

That being said, I really try not to ditch everyone I disagree with. I try to keep people in the mix who are nice and polite but have different views to me. The problem is that Twitter isn't that nice and polite at times, so it's easy to justify an unfollow. A TV writer I have enjoyed for a long time was recently binned by me. Their initial confusion over a human-rights issue became out and out discrimination the more they tweeted. I tried to stick with them. I tried to see things from their point of view, but it was doing my head in. In my own time, on my own phone, I don't want my head done in by prejudice, no matter how much I enjoyed their TV comedy in the past.

But an echo chamber is an echo chamber and I don't want to lose touch with the ability to listen to a conflicting view. I deliberately follow MPs of all persuasions. (Not ALL persuasions, obviously. I've no place for xenophobia or racism thank you very much.) But a range of MPs' tweets regarding political issues means I see all sides. Mostly. I also manage to get the gist surrounding the latest Big Brother/I'm a Celebrity/Insert Other Show Here scandals without having to watch them. Twitter gives me an insight into an area of popular culture that I choose to avoid in real life. I can take part in conversations at the hairdressers/in Costa/with my mother and have a vague clue what it's all about.

Wrong bodyguard. But still.
There's always room for Frank Farmer.

In recent weeks, I've found a new Twitter activity that makes me forget any echo chamber angst. In the moments immediately following Sunday night's episode of Bodyguard, I click the hashtag #bodyguard (deliberately ignoring #bodygaurd that trends at an equal pace) and read the entire viewing population's thoughts on what's happened, what conspiracies are still to be discovered, who's not really dead, who switched the bullets, who's pulling the strings, and what about Vicky's new fella? It takes a good hour to scroll back and read through the collective comments about this month's must see TV - longer than the episode itself. It's definitely an echo chamber - everyone's a fan - but it's an echo chamber I'm happy to be part of on a Sunday night as I drop off to sleep. I've made my peace with that one, at least.

Have a lovely week, folks.

*I really like this joke. The echo chamber/lady bits one. But it came into my head so easily that I MUST have heard it somewhere else. I've tried Googling key words to see if it pops up, but I think my tentative use of the search box isn't helping me much. So, if anyone can tell me someone that said it first, I'll be happy to credit them in a follow-up tweet. Thank you!