Stuff and Things

theatlantic:

If you’re just newly aware of SXSW and are now reading Twitter and thinking that everyone’s having a great, interesting time, well, you should know: Everyone’s speaking in code. They’re saying one thing but they really mean another. Let’s break it down.

They Say: ”Psyched for the [Vague Internet Topic] panel featuring @FriendOrCoworker’sName.”
They Mean: ”Going to go watch people I know from my hometown talk to other people I know from my hometown about some vague kind of thing so we can all say we did something down here.”

They Say: ”Worst part of #SXSW? Standing out in the sun/rain.”
They Mean: ”I just waited in a line for three hours so I could tweet about the weather.”

They Say: ”Ugh, crowd at the @SomeCoolInternetProperty party is crazy/random. Thank god for beer.”
They Mean: ”While I don’t really want you to know that I’m standing alone at this party getting drunk and fiddling on my phone, I really want you to know that I’m at this party at all, so I’m tweeting.”

They Say: ”[Brief, wacky anecdote]” followed by “Only at #SXSW” or something similar.
They Mean: ”This is my first time here but I want it to seem like I’m an old pro.”

The Say: ”[Quote from @RespectedPerson’s keynote speech]”
They Mean: ”I want you to think I’m smart and interested in things but really I’m so bored that I’m tweeting rather than listening.”

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