With subjects like spirituality, bodily functions and what she ate for lunch in her Twitter stream, @ImTheQ tears down the digital facade that has become so pervasive in social media.
“I basically tweet about what I think, and I think some pretty strange things,” she said in a recent conversation.
Q’s an activist of ideas as well as people, sharing information along side retweets and helping others gain exposure. Where so many people feel they need to censor themselves with religion and politics, Q is comfortable without a filter.
“There’s a shortage of people that just say what they want to say,” she said. “Being a Muslim and a feminist and a liberal on the Internet, you get attacked a lot. After a certain point, you just [stop caring].”
Q attributes her popularity online to her openness and honesty.
“The web is full of agendas,” she said. “It’s important to connect with someone honestly, and if you’re tweeting, you’re social media-ing with an agenda, you’re not ever going to be 100 percent honest.”
On Twitter, Q also admittedly over shares about her everyday life, which is a common complaint about social media. But Q doesn’t see tweets about lunch, for example, as a waste of time.
“I like people. I think people are interesting. I think people are fun and funny, and I think people are worth listening to, even if they are saying mundane things,” she said. “I think it’s the little weird, quirky things about people that make them so amazing.”
Not surprisingly, Q’s advice for those new to Twitter bucks the conventional wisdom that success online comes with finding your niche.
“Trying to put people in a niche is the most ridiculous, dishonest thing you can do. It’s not reality. It’s contrived,” she said.
“There’s no secret to Twitter greatness. You just go online, make a profile and start rapping it up with some folks,” she continued. “As events happen in the world, moods change, you can see these public moods. There are some days where people are very intense, and there are other days when it’s very light hearted. I just jump into the fray and go with it.”
In other words, digital life should reflect real life.
“The same rules apply out there in the real world as they do online and that is, just be cool, man.”
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I love it soooooooo much!! Following Q on Twitter is like being bludgeoned over the head with awesome- everyday she makes my day. I sort of online stalk her- Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, the driveway across the street…….
I love your new series Anna!!