OUT ‘N’ ABOUT

What’s Buzzing in Vancouver? A Weekly Look at the Social Media Landscape in VanCity – Editorial

With more than 340 million tweets sent per day, it goes without saying that you have a very small window of opportunity to grasp someone’s attention.  Few people can configure wit, emotion, satire, anger, or excitement into 140 characters. It takes strategy, precision, and practice. Seasoned tweeters can attest that tweeting is unquestionably a skill perfected by only a select group of hardcore practitioners. Sure, anyone can tweet, but that doesn’t mean all tweeters are created equal.  Whether you’re pondering if sifting through 140 million users is too daunting of a task, or if you have an account and feel it’s time to start “spring cleaning” who you follow, think quality over quantity. Your Twitter feed can easily become a mecca of information that you actually care about. All you have to do is kibosh those people tweeting about their lunch, their cat, or what their cat ate for lunch. This social media platform can be the much needed escape you need when taking that five minute break at work, waiting in line at the grocery story, or simply wanting to tune out certain people around you. Whether you choose to fill your feed with real estate, politics, or Justin Bieber, don’t forget to include some comic relief, as there are some folks from Vancouver who have mastered the art of the tweet with honest, raw, and hilarious content that will leave you favoriting, retweeting, and hashtagging #LMFAO: 1. Charles Demers @charliedemers Vancouver comedian, author, and a regular on CBC’s The Debaters. What you can expect: “Uh, Christy Clark: just because you work long hours and take care of a white kid doesn’t make you Filipina.” 2. Ryan Beil @ryanbeil Born and raised in Vancouver, he’s a self-proclaimed “actor-comedian-writer-producer-gem”. He was also the A&W guy, so you can stop asking. What you can expect: “Opened a link in a message from someone I didn’t recognize. If I try to aggressively sell you a cell phone plan today/tomorrow…apologies.” 3.Chris James @theCJS. Stand up comedian from Vancouver. If you don’t believe him, ask his mom. What you can expect: “Hate mondays? I have a solution: Get yourself unemployed. Then you take the power back from Monday. This is YOUR life, not Monday’s.” 4. Ken Lawson @kenlawsonsauce This Canadian actor, improviser, comedian and musician is a regular performer at Vancouver TheatreSports. What you can expect: “Yesterday I auditioned as a flamboyant hairdresser then did a show as a Comic Stripper. 20 years ago I worked in a mine. #naturalprogression” 5. Katie-Ellen Humprhies @MsKatieEllen Vancouver comedian and three-time Canadian National 5k Open Water Swimming Champion. Although the latter has nothing to do with comedy, it’s still pretty impressive. What you can expect: “Just got “how much”ed on a bridge. Probably the raw sexuality of my GAP tee/relaxed fits+ iPod – classic daytime prostitute. Honest mistake.”