Twitter users are constantly creating new slang. A few recent examples include mood, chapstick and mascara Twitter, and stan. Now there’s another term that everyone is throwing around the social site: locals. What are locals? According to various online sources, locals are uncool people (sometimes from your hometown) who don’t understand Twitter lingo. Urban Dictionary calls them a “less cringey term for “normies.”
https://twitter.com/wrathofthehands/status/970829996116803584
Locals are often seen as people who need someone to explain internet culture to them.
https://twitter.com/ultraviolentaf/status/971716864190681088
https://twitter.com/xcx_mario/status/971192730369093632
when locals can’t speak in stan twitter or memes so you have to re-educate thempic.twitter.com/kA4l4WfObg
— kenny (@imkennybrian) March 2, 2018
When locals jump on a popular meme, like Evil Patrick, or a queer internet term like wig (which Katy Perry references in a preview of the upcoming season of American Idol), the rest of the internet freaks out.
https://twitter.com/HUNTYCHAN/status/971576363193982982
https://twitter.com/im0danieI/status/971249104792772608
2018 is the year locals ruin anime https://t.co/JGbOcpJ5uK
— lex (@weeab00bz) March 6, 2018
And there is a clear division between stan Twitter and locals Twitter. Stan Twitter, of course, is made up of people who are die-hard fans of a celebrity or a form of entertainment (Call Me By Your Name has a big stan-base on Twitter).
The denizens of stan Twitter often mock locals who are trying to encroach on their little corner of the internet.
https://twitter.com/holiestfool/status/971573715199815680
https://twitter.com/onelastlana/status/970924798875447301
https://twitter.com/greedyforari22/status/968686261199253504
https://twitter.com/Jesmila_/status/970118623716171776
https://twitter.com/hoIdingmeback/status/971057620269305856
One thing is certain: stan Twitter doesn’t want to interact with locals Twitter.
https://twitter.com/UntrueFeelings/status/970452291231928328
https://twitter.com/bleuvaIentine/status/968260719358742528
https://twitter.com/GLOWINGYOONGl/status/968352878170689540
When locals start following your twitter pic.twitter.com/3PWGOLbDPG
— the original self-identified emo (@ThyArtIsMemes) March 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/_jodilynnn/status/970748040452517888
So what do locals actually tweet about that makes them stand out as locals? According to other people on Twitter, the topics are pretty mundane. Locals like writing happy birthday messages and retweeting accounts like Common White Girl. It all sounds very similar to the British Fiat 500 subgroup.
https://twitter.com/amyklltt/status/968232550278815747
locals Twitter's are just birthday shoutouts and retweets from the post malone and russ parody accounts
— bianca finch (@beeefinch) March 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/virtualcry/status/933293717414449152
https://twitter.com/blingspice/status/945845107839979520
https://twitter.com/fillegrossiere/status/960247670580371456
https://twitter.com/Jnoubi_Elite/status/968000905135128576
Locals are apparently causing some people to spend less time on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/koIivna/status/968354062008713218
The term ‘locals’ has been in use on Twitter for years, but there’s a proliferation of these tweets in recent months that mention it. Maybe there are more locals on Twitter now than there were several years ago.
The people who dislike locals don’t want the Twitter they love to change, a Twitter that is filled with inside jokes and memes. So what’s the solution? Some say it’s a locals-free Twitter.
https://twitter.com/energydriinks/status/968412232357826561