Oh, Twitter. I love you, I really do. I enjoy the mixture of information deployment, news gathering, casual conversation, like-minded connection and, yes, ego-stroking you offer. I do not hold you up as the answer to all things social media, and I know that like everything else online you have a shelf life. I use you for work, and I use you personally. You’re great.

I do understand that when people everywhere are talking about you, that’s going to attract a few reluctant cynics. Some are converted, some aren’t. But it’s the arrogant attitude of some of the new people joining (many of them tech folk who obviously feel they’ve turned up embarrassingly late and underdressed to the party) that’s driving me mad. Yes, it’s annoying when people over-evangelise Twitter, but most of us – even those of us who demonstrate our use of it as advice to others – really aren’t that much of a scary Twitter Hive Mind.

So, and I’m switching ‘you’ from Twitter to the newcomers now, why join with the attitude that “you’re not sure you have time for this” (that person’s now gone in a cloud of hissy fit) or “what’s the point of this?”. The first tweet used to be “trying to work out Twitter”. Now it’s more commonly something knowingly marketing speak from those who haven’t understood that marketing on Twitter has to be honest and authentic – no worry, they’ll learn – or “so, everyone’s doing it and I think it’s all just egotistical nonsense”.

Well, coming from you it is. Because you’ve come on there to see how many people are interested in you not to see what you’re interested in coming from other people.

Look, it’s okay to think Twitter is rubbish – more than okay, it’s your right. And it’s your right to waste your time on something you think is pointless, and your right to say so. But it’s also my right to wonder why on Earth you’d want to bother, and to think you’re quite irksome and patronising.

So, we all have our rights.

(The difference is, I’m the one who’s right).