A Little Birdy Told Me: The Beginner’s Guide to Twitter

PRACTICE POINTERS

BY BONNIE C. FRAASE

In my childhood, the daily news landed with a thud on our driveway. Each morning, my dad—a former beat reporter—picked up the paper and inspected the headlines with rapt attention. From breakfast onward, the paper’s contents defined the day’s conversations.

But these days, “the news” is not a curated collection of top stories, spelled out in ink and delivered once daily. These days, what’s trending on Twitter defines office chatter. And if you, like me, have a self-diagnosed allergy to social-media rants, then, like me, you may not have the answer when a colleague asks, “Did you hear [insert stunning development in Texas law here]?” “No,” I resignedly report, “I did not.”

Twitter is the “Speaker’s Corner” of our modern times. To navigate the morass, begin by identifying who you want to follow and why.

To cure my online-babble allergy and improve current awareness, I resolved to curate my own online news experience. I started with the obvious platform: Twitter. With a bit of effort, I’m now enjoying the steady stream of news updates. Here’s what I learned.

Twitter is the “Speaker’s Corner” of our modern times. To navigate the morass, begin by identifying who you want to follow and why. I chose to follow legal thinkers and reputable news agencies because I want to glean developments in legal news. You may also consider following clients—an easy way to stay current on their concerns and celebrate their successes. Once you’ve selected a few handles to follow, Twitter will suggest similar accounts. Tap to follow and you’re off to the races.

To expand your feed, you can follow hashtags or topics. For hashtags, I recommend “Appellate Twitter,” which lives up to its reputation as a font of legal savvy (and snark!). For topics, consider following “Texas” to gather local news or potpourri your feed with leisure-inspiring accounts like “luxury travel” or recent trends like “bread making.”

Having selected who you want to follow, take a moment to consider what you do not want to see. Jot down a list of words you consider triggering. Then take these three steps to hide them from your feed: 1. From the app menu, click on “settings and privacy.” 2. Then, click “content preferences.” 3. Finally, click “muted words” and “add” any words or phrases you would like to hide.

Now you’re poised to play. Start scrolling your feed. And, this is critical: Take ownership of your feed. If an account generates irrelevant content, unfollow or hide it. On the other hand, if an account offers the most salient updates or smartest quips, freely like or retweet the post.

At this point, you have a steady stream of news in your feed. And perhaps the clickbait headlines leave you with the nagging feeling that you aren’t getting the full story. And maybe—just maybe— you’re growing nostalgic for the “full paper” experience. If that’s you, I may suggest supplementing your daily information diet with an Apple News or SmartNews subscription.

Apple News and SmartNews are powerful aggregators of the leading media publications. I utilize Apple News to dig up the full story after finding the headlines that interest me most. As an added perk, the platform hosts the full text of dozens of magazines, from Bon Appétit to the Wall Street Journal. While Austin Lawyer isn’t yet available on these apps, you certainly can follow @theaustinbar on Twitter to keep current and connect with local colleagues. AL

Editor’s Note: You can download the free Issuu app and follow the Austin Bar to read electronic issues of Austin Lawyer.

Bonnie C. Fraase is a federal district court clerk and a former Texas Supreme Court clerk. She is a graduate of Virginia Law (J.D., 2019) and Baylor University (B.A., 2015). All views are her own.