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My mom is a secret Twitter genius

Read. Laugh. Learn.

 

Eve Peyser

Internet Culture

Posted on Aug 7, 2015   Updated on May 28, 2021, 5:13 am CDT

My mother has four followers on Twitter: me, my bestie Sue, my college radio station, and a spam

account. She only follows two people: an old friend of hers (he does not follow her back) and me.

Pretty solid ratio. 

My family has been infatuated with my mother’s Twitter account since she started it four years ago.

It has an unintentionally aggressive tone, sprinkled with dark humor and anecdotes about

what it feels like to get older. Her (sometimes bizarre) insights about aging are what make her

account unique for me; she’s the only person over 60 I follow on Twitter, aside from the wonderful

Martha Stewart

Mom doesn’t tweet often, but when she does, her perception of the world makes me uncomfortable in a

simultaneously banal and profound ways. Her tweets are reminiscent of @sosadtoday, an

account she’s definitely never heard of. I enjoy her simplicity and her earnestness, but sometimes

I’m unsure whether I’m laughing with or at her. She’s accused me of mocking her, and I reply, “A lot of times people are funny in ways they don’t understand, and that’s okay. That’s

where a lot of comedy comes from.” 

My favorite of her tweets is: 

My least favorite one is probably: 

In her old age, my mom sincerely does not care about getting followers or attention on the Internet generally, which I respect. She’s just a lady tweeting her feelings. Enjoy!

On December 4, 2012, my mom tweeted: 

I was going to answer her question and say, “A little bit of both,” but I actually think she answers

it quite well herself: 

… and really, isn’t that true for all of us? Keep on keepin’ it 100, mom.

Photo via Eve Peyser

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*First Published: Aug 7, 2015, 11:00 am CDT