Sunday, May 27, 2012

My night on Twitter


I spent last night on Twitter. By that of course I mean I spent the night watching tv with my phone beside me occasionally checking the words of wisdom coming from some amazing people.

Because Twitter and the people on it can be amazing. A night on Twitter can be a life changing experience. It truly can . Last night is a case in question. I managed to go through a wide range of emotions last night all due to the information imparted to me via my phone screen.

It started off when my beloved Wests Tigers won. There were quite a few fans tweeting congratulations and talking about player performances. Curtis Sironen made his first grade debut. People my age remember his dad, Paul as one of the best Tigers players to ever play the game. Tweets about the nostalgia felt by some fans nearly made me well up with tears. It is a just a game perhaps but capable of giving us some lovely heartfelt moments.

Then it would appear Eurovision was on tv. On SBS here in Australia to be precise and just about everyone I follow on Twitter was watching, and tweeting and making me laugh hysterically. I was not even watching, had never intended to and probably never will but these tweets were clever, funny and basically left out any need for me to watch the program myself. It was all unfolding on Twitter. It has happened to me before. I never have to watch the program qanda as my Twitter stream reliably informs me what is happening.

In any case back to Eurovision. Of course there was the odd tweet about the human rights record of the host country but that didn't seem to bother anyone. They kept the jokes up regardless.

Everything from urging the Azerbaijani entrants to make a run for it to questioning what would happen to next years Eurovision if Greece won. Not to mention that the outfits, including one very big pair of trousers were discussed (for 'discussed' read 'had the piss taken out of.') as did the hair and props etc. Surprisingly most remained quiet about the actual singing. If you don't believe such musings can be entertaining then type #sbseurovision into the search in Twitter and see for yourselves.


So Sweden won. I think it was rather an anti climax as the tweets stopped pretty much when it was clear who would be winning. Did the best team win? I have no idea. It seems irrelevant.

Then it was race time! Yes the Monaco F1 Grand Prix was on tv and Twitter last night. Having been laid low with a nasty bug and coughing so much it was hard to sleep I was staying up to watch it. I was ensconced in my warm bed with my toddler asleep beside me (don't ask...) about to watch the race. I found a few F1 twitter fans to follow to help me enjoy the race.

One in particular stood out. At one low point during the race he announces he is off to put fish cakes in the oven and then proceeded throughout the race to inform us of the status of his meal including his observation that the Red Bull pit team can change four tyres quicker then he can move from the couch to the kitchen and turn two fish cakes. He timed it. His Twitter name is sniffpetrol. Go and find his tweets. Even now after the race is over you will still laugh.

As much as I have enjoyed watching the racing this year after an hiatus from viewing the sport I cant remember laughing so much during a sports broadcast and it had nothing to do with the commentary.

So Mark Webber won. So what an day! A great Tigers win, Sweden wins Eurovision and an Aussie wins in Monaco! All is right with the world!

Except of course it was not and is not. I could not, as much as at times I would have liked to, avoid the more serious stuff on my Twitter stream. A retweet from someone I follow made me aware of an horrific situation going on in Syria. Yes while the jokes flew around Eurovision, children were being beaten to death in Syria. There was an amazing person,I don't know their gender, for some reason I imagined they were female, sitting in her home in Syria whilst chaos rained around her and she was tweeting about it.

Her updates were terrifying and devastating. She spoke of the sounds of the soldiers, the constant gunshot and rumblings. She tweeted pictures of a photographer who was killed filming the carnage, pictures of happy children before the violence broke out. I learned that children were being slaughtered and the claim was 'self defense.' No help was forthcoming. There were no UN monitors in sight. There was no medical assistance. Field hospitals were being targeted by the shelling. At one point she causally describes a weapon she can see and asks whether anyone on Twitter can tell her what it is.

It broke my heart and made me weep. All this while I was also laughing about fish cakes of all things.

So here I was. Sick certainly but warm and comfortable watching very privileged young men ( ok and Michael Schumacher, a privileged not so young man...) sitting in very expensive cars driving around a picturesque peaceful principality that just reeks of wealth and prestige. Every now and then the cars would pass under the massive signs for the Monte Carlo Casino or whizz past the opulent building with a bright blue swimming pool atop it. At times you would not have been surprised if the crowd had been holding up signs saying 'We are all very wealthy.' with a smiley face drawn underneath. They cross to the pits and show the worried faces of the crew as rain threatened. Could be disastrous. Completely. The stress must be awful.

First world problems huh? You betcha. How many of this pit crew had witnessed a baby being beaten to death? How could I even imagine checking my Twitter feed whilst typing furiously wondering if each tweet might be my last as I was in the middle of a war zone?

So as much as I enjoyed the race and the Eurovision jokes I wonder how many people knew what else was going on in the world? Whilst Swedish people celebrated and champagne was flowing in Monaco, citizens in a place that is geographically not all that far away were being slaughtered.

So as I turned the TV off and put my phone away I found I could not sleep. Many things going through my head. How great that the Tigers are winning again, our national anthem being played in Monaco. Not to mention my fears for myself. Will I manage this week? What with my chronic fatigue symptoms and this flu I have been struggling. But my thoughts kept going back to a person in Syria. Sitting like I was, perhaps even with a child beside them. One they would protect with their lives. How much easier it was for me.

I try and imagine. What if I could not venture outside for fear of being killed? I envisage hearing the artillery, gunshots, stampeding soldiers who may or may not stop outside my front door. The cries of the wounded, the screams of the grieving mothers, the silence of the dying. In my head is that dead baby and children. How can this happen in the world?

So my night on Twitter was a mixed bag to say the least. It perhaps changed me just a little. Those of you who do not use Twitter perhaps do not know the power it can have. It is an eye into the world; all the good, the hilarious and the bad, often the very very bad.

So last night Twitter made me think, reminisce, laugh, guffaw, cry and feel outrage. For that I thank it.