People often ask me why I like to tweet in an unprofessional manner, i.e. using lowercase letters, shorthand, and weird kiddie slang. Some people even get annoyed at it. Why would a 25-year-old tweet immature words like "poop" and "boogers" on a public platform?
Part of it is because I am actually that immature. Surprise, lol. I love poking fun at everything and deep down I enjoy not caring about what anybody else thinks. That's how I talk and think and dream-- screw professionalism, that's gonna be how I tweet too.
But there's another reason I like to tweet like a child: it removes expectation.
In corporate Washington, D.C., professionalism is everything. In order to get ahead in your career, ore get with the right connections, or get your ideas approved, people have to take you seriously. But there's a great responsibility that comes with being taken seriously-- and that is upholding a ridiculously high standard of conduct-- and that's including on Twitter. Anything you say off or online can and will be used against you, so you'd better walk on eggshells for the rest of your life... if you're the kind of person people take seriously.
Here's the thing: I don't want that. I don't want people to take me seriously, I don't want to be held to the ridiculous standards as all these other guys, and I don't want to be "mainstream." I don't want people relying on me like I'm a reporter and overanalyzing everything I say. I don't care if it means nobody invites me for a tv interview, or if I'm not invited to the most socially coveted parties in town, or if my tweets aren't being treated like gospel.
My goal in life is not to control how other people think or live. It's to be free and do whatever the hell I want and maybe even have an insane amount of money someday.
Being a "fringy online troll" doesn't sound super cool or popular. But if you're successful doing it and being yourself, it's really the best form of media. You aren't sucking the dicks of corporate bosses, aren't beholden to the political opinions of other media elites, and can express yourself publicly a lot more easily without people freaking out and writing a bunch of negative news stories about you.
Just think about the people in your life who are taken the most seriously and whom people rely on for news or information or moral guidance. They're always being trashed by everybody for not being good enough-- you might do the same things they do, but since they've got this credibility to live up to, people hate them more.
Power and respect aren't taken; they are given. And in order for people to give you coveted power, you need to give them a reason to. I used to get super annoyed at myself for not being "normal" or "professional" enough for people to take me seriously and respect me as an adult. Why am I so weird and socially awkward in public? And why do I always say the dumbest things?! I think. But the older I get, the more I realize that I've got it pretty good.
I love power and freedom-- but if I had to choose between the two, I'd choose freedom a thousand times over.