I deserted my Twitter account years ago. I am not proud of it, but I did. I know it started as a good place to engage and interact with other like minded people during events, on trending topics and it proved useful for some social movements, but I deserted it. Facebook dominated the market I worked for and there were very few active users I found useful to engage with on Twitter. I had Facebook, blogs, forums for that.
But now that I have worked for more than 18 months for the North American market I can appreciate how easily it can give you a glimpse into American social media behavior, one Twitter handle at a time.
First of all, social care is a big deal in North America.
Much bigger than in Eastern Europe and smaller markets. For some, writing to brands on social to get customer support is as natural as calling a 800 number. And expectations are high. If as an Analyst you cannot provide the best possible set-up to identify and engage on such issues you are facing a big risk especially if working in a B2C industry.
Twitter handles showed me just how one-sided mainstream media in my country really is. And how the informational bubbles we live in are dangerous to our understanding of current events and foreigners.
Mainstream media in my country only delivered a skewed message on the #POTUS, always critical of the republican president. Twitter handles of conservatives, republicans, extremists have shown me a different way to look at American politics and shed another light on political decisions of the American electorate. The intensity with which supporters of @realDonaldTrump broadcast his messages and fight his battles are a force to be reckoned with, a force that helps divide the US (nothing new here, societies and electorates across Europe seem to be more and more divided and conflictual, too).
Guns are a reality I do not want to deal with.
On ads that promoted security cameras Americans would comment that a gun will do a far better job. They talk with pride of their guns and their right to use them to protect their propriety. I knew of this reality, but reading about it and seeing it first hand in social posts is still unsettling for me. Why? Maybe because you cannot buy or legally own guns as easily in Romania as you can in US. And if you do own one, you are looked on with suspicion by members of your community. The state and its public security forces are in charge with citizen security, both personal and propriety.
With 0.14 firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population per day, Romaia is not not even on the map.
People install home security systems mostly for burglars, but they’ll shy away from confrontation and call the police instead of turning to guns and conflict. When one high profile pilot shot a burglar who entered his home at night public debate was heated as the court deemed the pilot innocent. He was the first one to be aquitted for such a deed in 2005.
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