@Erica_Rosie on Boredom, Hyperactivity, and Misinterpreted Jokes

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@Erica_Rosie is 23 and lives in Tampa, FL. She’s really tall and could be killed by a walnut. This week she spoke to me about four of her favorite tweets, plus banh mi, “mainstream Twitter,†and where to find the unfollow button.

Erica: Part of me thinks you got the wrong person, another part of me thinks this is a cruel weird joke meant to somehow humiliate me but luckily I’m all out of shame so I’m willing to talk about my tweets! Lol I started doing whatever it is I’m doing on Twitter in 2011 when I was depressed/bored after graduating high school. Now I’m graduated from college, still bored (read: depressed haha (sorry, Mom)) and still tweeting for some reason!

This one came as a result from crying in the bathroom at work and avoiding coworkers the rest of the day. We’ve all been there, haha! What I find really hilarious about this tweet is that someone at BuzzFeed actually thought it was about allergies and used it in a “realistic tweets about allergies†article. I’m sure all the people with allergies appreciated humor they could finally relate to, and I greatly apologize for bursting the bubble that my tweet is NOT about allergies. It’s about being sad.

What emotions most often inspire you to tweet?

That’s tough because I try not to tweet with emotion. I get upset or mad or sad and want to tweet a complaint or something self-deprecating, but that rarely works out in the long run. I guess the best combo for me is boredom paired with hyperactivity.

How do you generally feel about your tweets getting curated in listicles like this one?

Getting my tweets listed in columns is cool because I have a hard copy to show my parents when they ask me “what exactly I’m doing these days.â€

I’m willing to argue this is my greatest tweet ever, and am VERY willing to physically fight anyone who may have also made this joke. I thought of it on the spot at work while a manager was trying to figure out what to get for lunch. It got a lot of laughs, mostly from me, possibly a pity laugh from someone down the hall. It was hard to tell (I was laughing pretty hard). It’s also an informative tweet because the unfollow button IS on the top right of my profile (at least on mobile)!

In your experience what makes a joke fit for Twitter vs better for just being told aloud vs BOTH?

Okay, so this is tricky. I love telling jokes but struggle with delivery; I have trouble organizing my thoughts in a story narrative and occasionally lose my audience (reason why I haven’t done standup yet) so I feel like I’ve thrived with Twitter thanks to the limited space. That being said, definitely dumb, funny one-liners are perfect for Twitter. HOWEVER I freaking Love those long crazy story threads that I’ve seen on Twitter. I wish I had an example (one was about a girl who got sucked into trapping in Miami?). [Interviewer’s note: this!]

To be fair this banh mì was probably worth 4 stars (it was too spicy for me).

How has the way you use Twitter changed and stayed the same over time?

Twitter is such a weird vapid wasteland. It was fun as a distraction/social outlet for a couple years but I definitely haven’t enjoyed it lately since the campaigns and elections. Why the fuck are nazis allowed on Twitter?

I’m including this 4th tweet because this is still the funniest shit (pun intended) I’ve ever seen on Twitter and was overall too overlooked by mainstream twitter. I also hate myself for using the words “mainstream Twitter†and also for still using Twitter.

Who are your fave non-comedy celebs to follow on Twitter?

I love this question because celebrities are a) completely in their own worlds and b) all use Twitter differently. I love following Jaden Smith and watching him grow up (wtf?) and go from Deep Tweeting With Every Word Capitalized to Self Awareness/Activism With Every Word Capitalized. Also @cher is a natural shitposter.

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@Erica_Rosie on Boredom, Hyperactivity, and […]