eStylista

How to… use Twitter

A friend's Facebook status sparked of this post. 

Twitter is a funny thing. We all know it's there. We also know have friends who are 'on' it. But what does one do on Twitter? Where do you begin?

This is Twitter 101. If you use Twitter already - skip the post, or even better add to it via comments. The Twitter help page has all this information, but here is my take.

Twitter is a 'micro-blogging' platform i.e. you say what you have to say in 140 characters. It does play havoc with your spelling and grammar but surprisingly, one gets used to it quickly.

It is opposed to blogging (which is what I am currently doing) where you can use how many ever characters you like.

Choose a relevant 'handle'. This is your identity on Twitter. It begins with the @ symbol. Mine is @priyankagill. Keep it simple, short as it eats into the 140 character limit when people reply. Use the ' _ ' symbol if you have to. Add numbers only as a last resort. Keep it in sync with your other social profiles for simplicity and consistency.

Fill out your profile. Put up a picture. It tells other Twitter users a bit about you. If yours is a public profile, search engines will also index it. So make it count.

Find your voice. You may be a mum of two with a great sense of humour or a fashion journalist or a die-hard knitter or a book-lover. Whatever you are interseted in, I promise there are more like you out there. Use twitter to connect with them. 

Tweet. Often. This means say something relevent, fun, interesting and do it regularly. By the way - its called a 'tweet' not a 'twit'. It's a verb. 

Find interesting people to 'follow'. This will add what they have to say to your 'time-line' which is like your newsfeed on Facebook.

If they are saying something that resonates with you - respond to it. Do it politely. Don't be intimidated. Even celebrities reply rather naturally on Twitter - at least the nice ones do. Like Jonathan Ross (@wossy) - he once responded to me... He's lovely! So did Barkha Dutt (@bdutt). She's quite active on Twitter and a great one to follow.

Twitter is about having a conversation and occasionally evesdropping on other people's conversations. Follow Suhel Seth (@suhelseth), his brother Swapan Seth (@swapanseth) and Soni Agarwal (@SoniAggarwal) to see what I mean.

Obviously follow all the celebrities. The verified ones have a tick next to their handle. It is almost like being a fly on their walls. The more socially savvy ones tweet well and connect. 

Follow friends for sure. They are most likely to support you, to have a conversation with you. But the beauty of twitter lies in how quicly you get to know perfect strangers really well. 

Twitter is great for news - I follow all major news sources. 

Apart from tweeting, you can also 'retweet' innteresting, informative tweets written by someone else. It is a way to send out information to your followers and share the expertise of people you follow.

For example, I follow Hussein Kanji (@hkanji). He is a hot-shot venture capitalist with a strong expertise in the tech world. He reads absolutely everything and tweets links to what he thinks is relevant. I get a big chunk of my tech news via him. I also retweet him a lot.

Use the inbuilt 'retweet' function or write 'RT' and copy, paste the tweet. ALWAYS credit the original writer. Never, ever pass on someone else's tweet as your own for obvious reasons. 

You can also quote a tweet. Comment and put the " " symbols around the quoted tweet.

Always reply when someone mentions you. Be polite. Say thank you for a nice mention or a retweet or even a follow, if you can. Good manners go a long way on Twitter (as they do in real life). Engage your followers. 

If someone annoys you (such people are called trolls) you can block them. I also block 'bots' - computer programmes that follow you, users with obscene profile pics and those who are plain rude!

If you begin a tweet with the handle - only people who follow both you and the other person can read it. To make it public, don't begin with the @ symbol - or at least put a "." before it.

Twitter is fun. The more you use it, the more rewarding it gets. It is a good way to pass time when you are waiting in a cue or are in transit. It also opens up your world to intelligent, wonderful people with a stimulating point of view. 

Film review: The Iron Lady

My review in this week's issue of Tehelka

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Phyllida Lloyd’s biopic of a powerful politician is a chronicle of ageing, loneliness, and sheer sadness, says Priyanka Gill

The Iron Lady is the herald of the many films, books and writings that will chronicle the life of Lady Thatcher, arguably the most famous British prime minister after Winston Churchill. Thatcher was an extremely polarising figure evoking strong opinions ranging from blind devotion to extreme hatred. As the only female prime minister in British history, she remained in power for 11 years.

However, this is not what the controversial film is about. Even one-time Thatcher rivals such as Michael Heseltine found the release of a film focusing on Lady Thatcher’s dementia whilst she is still alive ‘distasteful’. The Thatcher family has rejected the film. They have publicly refused to see it. David Cameron also came out against the film saying, “I wish they could have made another day.” Lady Thatcher’s detractors have taken the issue with its lack of criticism.

Thatcher’s tale is told through a series of flashbacks, through the disjointed memories of the octogenarian lady suffering from dementia-induced delusions. The film is a love story, an intimate look into her relationship with her husband Denis (played by Jim Broadbent). In the film’s timeline, he passed away several years ago, but she has touching conversations with him about the minutiae of her daily life and her past. Towards the end of the film we see her valiantly trying to banish his ghost from her mind in a tear-jerking bid to remain sane.

It’s a chronicle of ageing, depicting the loneliness, the loss of control and sheer sadness that is the unfortunate by-product of an inevitable process.

However, in doing so, the film reduces the strong leader to a senile woman. Her achievements are merely incidental to the storyline and her ruthlessness is a cautionary tale.

The Iron lady is a personal depiction of the guilt and regrets confronting a powerful leader in her fading years. The rise to power, her transformation into a force to reckon with and the many political storms she faced are just hinted at and tantalisingly dangled before the viewer. There is no perspective or historical context offered.

Meryl Streep, of course, remains the saving grace of the film. She delivers a stunning, maybe even an Oscar-winning performance. Not only is she a potent mimic of Thatcher’s mannerisms, but also manages to delve into the soul of the character created by director Phyllida Lloyd. With brilliant make-up and prosthetic enhancement (the process took two hours apparently), Streep portrays Thatcher to the hilt. Moving effortlessly and convincingly between the young and old periods, it is a master class in both acting and making the best of a rather loose script.

One almost wishes they had made the film like they cut its trailer—with a focus on the woman, her rise to power and her achievements. The dementia she became afflicted with in her latter years is an unfortunate ailment, not the key to decoding the woman behind the legend.

Llyod’s film is worth a watch, if only to inspire further study into the force of nature that Maggie Thatcher once was.

Priyanka Gill is a freelance journalist and an avid art collector. 
She blogs at www.estylista.com