Ode to Twitter
If I were to track my screen time (which I do not, for fear of being confronted with empirical evidence that I am, as my sister’s English teacher calls it, a “Screen-ager”), I would find that much of my time would be concentrated on Twitter.
Like a car crash I cannot look away from, Twitter contains it all: random people arguing about the most pointless of things, TikToks reposted on Instagram reposted on Reddit reposted on Twitter, Russian bots, and of course: really niche gimmick accounts.
Inspired by Ivy’s recent blog post, which mentioned @depthsofwikipedia (an account I follow on Twitter), for my blog this week, I decided to highlight some extremely specific Twitter accounts I follow that bring me great joy. Enjoy!
PostcardFromThePast
@PastPostcard
I only discovered this account a few days ago, but it has quickly ascended to one of my favorites. The owner of the account, Tom Jackson, posts snapshots of vintage postcards, captioned by a line or two from the actual vintage postcard itself. Something about the sepia-filtered postcards and the often bittersweet caption manages to evoke the rawest forms of nostalgia possible, making me long for a time when people actually sent physical mail. I read every single one of the captions on this account in one of those old-timey half-British transatlantic accents.
Graphic Design History
@DesignReviewed
This account, curated by Matt Lamont, houses a great collection of posters, pamphlets, and cover designs from all over the world created during the mid 20-th century – very Mad Men-esque. I’m a really big fan of the clean, abstract, modern style from this time, and I love seeing how color palettes and fonts have changed in the nearly sixty years since. The account is definitely worth a scroll, especially since so many of the designs are just so aesthetically pleasing.
Simplified US History
@Simplified_US
History memes! APUSH was one of my favorite classes in high school, and I really do like learning about history – it reveals so much about how social values and norms can change even within the span of a few years. So when history is presented in an easily-digestible, sometimes NSFW, gen-z friendly format, I am not one to turn away. I hope at least one of these Tweets elicited a nose exhale and maybe served as a reminder that not all history is “boring” 🙂
Weird Medieval Guys
@WeirdMedieval
A breakdancing rat? A fish with legs? A bat in a hat? Twitter user Olivia Swarthout combs through literally centuries worth of digital archives to showcase the best of medieval art in this account, sharing scenes – ranging from quaint to straight up weird – from tapestries, paintings, and manuscripts from the 15th century. Replete with Swarthout’s humorous captions, this account introduced me to a side of medieval Europe beyond the traditional tales of knights and castles. Sometimes, I look at this account, and I get really sad that people decided to choose realism in art. Because although an armless frog is decidedly unrealistic, it is indeed much more amusing.
Rural Indexing Project
@ruralindexing
The premise of this account is simple: two guys drive around America, cataloging rural communities by sharing photos of local builds, landmarks, and signs.
I’ve always been fascinated by how the built landscape varies across America and how socioeconomic differences manifest themselves visually, so this account is a very beginner friendly introduction to human geography. In addition, because the two people running this account are actually Native Chicagoans, a lot of the landmarks and buildings they post come from rural Illinois. I recognize that Naperville is a very insulated area, so it’s always fascinating to see how differences in urban and rural communities vary not just across a continent, but even just across a state.
China in Pictures
@tongbingxue
Another history-based account (I’m sensing a theme here…). Exactly as the username implies, this account features lots of vintage Chinese photos and posters from the twentieth century. Although I have only been to China a single-digit amount of times, my parents both grew up there and immigrated to the states. I love seeing how they might have spent their childhoods and what the cities and homes they lived in might have looked like. It makes me feel a little closer to my parents, and a lot more grateful for the sacrifices they’ve made for my sister and I.
BodegaCats
@Bodegacats_
Sometimes, one just needs to unwind and look at pictures of cute cats. Thankfully, this account posts pictures of cats lounging, scrounging, and generally nosing around New York City’s numerous bodegas. I do not know why NYC’s corner stores have so many feline friend inhabitants, but I am not one to complain.
For now, although my Twitter timeline remains insurmountably and enchantingly long, these are just some of my favorite accounts that pop up most frequently. If you end up checking any of these accounts out, let me know!
Sincerely what a treat it was to read this blog post. I think every time I read your blog post I find your topics and writing style very lovely because, similarly to you, I find joy in small things like plants and niche Twitter accounts. I have never been an active Twitter user mostly because I associate it with just horrible, uninformed, and out-of-pocket political and cultural opinions that I definitely am better off without, but reading this reminds me that there are still good people doing gods work, such as “bodegacats” on Twitter. The Rural Indexing Project is fascinating and surprisingly important, Simplified US History is a good laugh, and China In Pictures is just great. Just because I don’t participate on Twitter doesn’t mean I haven’t found fun little accounts on other social media platforms to enjoy. One of them is on the app Letterboxd, an app where you can log and review the movies you watch. The account is called “my 8-year-old niece” and the account owner quotes their niece’s review of a movie they watch together. She watched the movie, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and her review is four simple words: “Hello. they get shrunk”. Her comment on My Neighbor Totoro was “I just like the movie”. Sometimes they are longer, but they are just generally funny and enjoyable to read. Recently I followed an account @milothewft on Instragram of a Wire-haired fox-terrier that travels around and the owner just takes super cute and aesthetically pleasing videos of him. Another account you should look at is called @jondrafilms and it’s just these short and sweet videos these two brothers make. Finally, I just recently followed @accidentallywesanderson. They just post more interesting photos that are nice to view.
Evelyn! This was such an enjoyable blog to read and I appreciated your overview of each account. I’ve never had Twitter, but my brother says it’s the last thing I need in order to complete the Millennial dog mom starter pack. I always see Instagram posts of some random people feuding on Twitter over some random thing that could not be less important, and I honestly had concluded that that was all Twitter was used for. Seeing the accounts you follow, and the meaning that these accounts have to you is so wholesome to me. I especially liked China in Pictures and Postcard from the Past. The pictures just feel so intimate, as if taking a peek into someone’s private life and getting insight into what they were like. Specifically, the postcards reminded me of how detailed and important each activity is to the person living that life. Does that make sense? Sometimes I forget that everybody lives in a first person perspective. The Postcard from the Past account makes me wonder what could have triggered the captions in the postcard. I want to know the story behind the postcard and see the ending of it through. I also wonder how the owner of the account found the postcards? Were they lost in the mail, never having reached the intended person? Either way, thank you for sharing these accounts!
Hey Evelyn! As a fellow Twitter fan, I really enjoyed reading your post this week. I’ve found that Twitter is a social media platform that I can easily accidentally spend hours scrolling, because it tailors itself so quickly to your interests, and offers irresistible, bite-sized pieces of media. One thing I think is sort of unique about it is how the platform seems to capture the cultural zeitgeist of each day, narrowing in on whatever is being discussed most — although some of these topics vary from disheartening to terrifying, there’s also space for more lighthearted discourse, like friendly banter about the trailer for the Barbie movie or rumors of an album drop for a particular artist.
Anyway, back to favorite accounts. I also really like niche gimmick accounts, whether our beloved depthsofwikipedia or the much less cerebral and much more concerning tiktok comment compilers. I’ll definitely be adding Simplified US History to my following list — I’m not a huge history buff, but I really enjoyed scrolling through the account.
My favorite of the accounts you’ve highlighted has to be the Rural Indexing Project. I think it’s incredible that they’ve been singlehandedly documenting these rural communities for so many years, and I find the photos really striking, at times almost haunting.
Hi Evelyn!
I, too, am a screenager. Though I hate to admit it, this is undeniably true. Instead of Twitter, I am addicted to Instagram reels (this is definitely much worse and more embarrassing. I am not proud of it, but I can’t get away). I enjoyed walking through your feed with you– you seem to have cultivated many unique voices. In past attempts to join Twitter, I’ve always found the structure and content irrelevant/strange, so seeing you build a community/inbox like this was inspiring. I will note that one of my favorite accounts was @SWatercolour . They had a lot of good content at the time (when I used it a few years ago) so I hope and trust that they have kept up the good work. Postcard from the past is so cool! It actually reminds me of an Instagram account that Ivy showed me a while ago, @museumoflostmemories . It is run by someone that finds old photos and mementos and tries to identify their origins and return them to their owners/descendants. Really cool work! The Rural Indexing Project also caught my eye– this is such a cool idea; i love paying attention to architecture even in small manners, and this seems like an appreciation of the mundane. And of course I’d also love to receive daily cat pictures like the bodega ones.