This isn't Twitter. Pack it in with the @, if you'd be so kind

[Habbibu]

Have noticed this lately - and ToadintheHole, I'm going to apologise straight off, because you've just done it to my name, but it's not an attack on you, it's been bugging me for days - lots of @username when addressing someone.

Now, I'm assuming that this has some technical necessity on Twitter (don't touch the stuff, myself), but what's wrong with just username, without the @. If you say my name, I know you're addressing me. I really do.

Oh, fgs, "t'internet" is bad enough, but "My t'internet" is just plain wrong.....

How about the "interweb" or "internets". I'm down with the kids, me.

Following you now, trinity (I'm jmr)

ive followed trinity
the thing about twitter is its not just women belating on about kids.
its funny and as mamg will tell you there are MEN>
and cybbo is on there.
and samule johnson who i adore. and ssarah brown cuts me down to size occasioanlly.

This is brilliant, it started off as a thread that was a bit anti Twitter yet it's morphed into a Twitter fest for name swaps.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@rgh!

alouiseg
the queen of cookies

Someone said on Twitter this morning "Facebook is for friends who have become strangers, Twitter is for strangers who have become friends."

Very true

by parents for parents

angry women i think

That was me with the profound quote, and me with the scrumptious biscuits.

I love Twitter

Oh, yes, so it was alouiseg - my timeline didn't seem to want to go that far back for me to check.

Yes, I talk 90% bollocks but the other 10% is so inspired it's worth hanging around for.

I also have the knack of relaying a recipe in under 140 tweets.

is that a twitterism - I've never even been on twitter - but have been doing @ whoever for years

ive read the alousieg qquyote before
think tiw as an asutralian guy who said it

Trinity, you may want to protect your tweets so that only followers (of which I am now one!) can read them. Entirely up to you, just wanted to make you aware the feature was there!

To return to the original theme of the thread, I tolerate (although generally don't use) "@[person's name]" in a long email if there is a specific question/action for them - personally I just bold their name or expect people to read my emails all the way through so they do what I tell them! (I find the world runs more smoothly when people do what I say )

This is the worst kind of thread hijack. My first ever discussion of the day, and this is what you do. You bastards.

Twitter and Facebook are for the needy. So ner.

Habbs- sorry you don't like it... but "@username" has been around a lot longer than twitter has. Chatrooms, bulletin boards, IRC etc all have it as standard convention to address someone's point.

Why is that? is it in case people suddenly lose the ability to recognise their own names?

Habbibu - in the case of Twitter, the "@[me]" replies go in your news feed but not the "@[someone else]" replies don't, unless you also follow the someone else in question.

Basically software can process the @ symbol and "do stuff" with it, which it can't unless it is taught to recognise everyone's usernames in posts :)

Facebook also does it but in a more sympathetic way.

Well done on getting a discussion of the day!

Is that why the stuff Nancy talks about has it to, as a software "trigger"?

Meh about DOTD. I appear to be losing...

How odd, I have something very similar to the OP as my Facebook status today. Utterly pointless bit of punctuation (and I've been hanging round internet forums arguing and picking up men for years and never seen it).