Libera boys twittering

[JimmyRiddle]

Recently a good number of Libera boys have started twittering. Although classed in the 'social network' bracket I gather twitter is a little different to 'facebook' - more open and accountable, having 'followers' appears a little less problematic than accepting 'friends' into personal quarters.

It also gives the boys a chance to promote themselves and their work - for instance Kavana tweeted that they were to appear on the Chris Evans show this week. The first time we've had advance notication from one of the groups active members. He then sent a message of thanks to Chris Evans himself who retweeted it to his 1,000's of followers. So it's an interesting development. I would still ask fans to err on the side of caution and not be too invasive with their requests. The libera boys would still need to adopt a zero tolerance approach with regards to privacy and confidentiality.

[Benj]

Them twittering is like the coolest thing. Ralph also opened an account yesterday shouting out loud that's it's really him

So i guess it is intended for fans and they really want to be found. Soon we should have a list here of each member's twitter account so we can see who's the latest to have an account and add them. Pretty funny some boys are racing on who gets 200 followers first, so lets help their cause They should raise the bar though, 200 would just be like a sprint for them.

Fans getting too invasive with their queries might be encountered of course. That would be the tendency of new fans who aren't too timid to ask. But just like any celebrity on twitter who receives hundreds of messages everyday, i'm sure the boys will learn that they don't have to answer each query.

Well, on my part of the world, it's already christmas eve. Won't wait till someone energetic enough opens a new greetings thread- Have a Mystical Christmas Y'All! Especially to my twittermates- Michael, Murkis, Phlibera, Hannah, Jenna, Liv, Enyu, Yuni, Yukibol, Mayu, Lauren, Mack, Martin et al And of course to all LDF members i've been discussing with all year long- Dani, Yorkie, Jimmy, Maartendas, FDL, TullyBascombe et al. You sure extend the bounderies of friendship by latitudes & longtitudes!

Btw, has the moose mystery been solved yet? I just read a tweet that says he thinks it's RP himself!

[TullyBascombe]

I am rapidly approaching my sexigenariansim, only 8 months left to go. Should I be twittering pre-adolescent boys? Perhaps not. You decide. Sjhpuld you decide yes, then I'll need the addresses with which to do so. Frankly I haven't been doing facebook or twitter.

[Malibu]

I am rapidly approaching my sexigenariansim, only 8 months left to go. Should I be twittering pre-adolescent boys? Perhaps not. You decide. Sjhpuld you decide yes, then I'll need the addresses with which to do so. Frankly I haven't been doing facebook or twitter.

I'll admit, I had to look up what sexigenarianism was...

As for tweeting pre-adolescent boys, I understand your concern. I'm only in my late 20's, and have the same doubts. You could just follow them and receive their updates, and not actively engage. I don't see a problem with that.

Back on the general topic, it does seem like a lot of them are tweeting, and I think it could be a good thing to give some more exposure. I completely agree with JR as to err on the side of caution with any questions or requests. I don't think anyone on the forum would be too invasive, but I'm sure there are other fans out there that could ruin it.

It'll be interesting to see if this trend continues.
Tim

[viabuona]

Soon we should have a list here of each member's twitter account so we can see who's the latest to have an account and add them.

I think I have to clarify this point. Such a list would not be accepted from us because it violates the rule #7 of our Forum-Rules.

[Yorkie]

I'll Twitter for one off events but I don't do Facebook and I don't want to Twitter daily. I especially don't want to Twitter with kids I don't know which, like Tully, I think is a bit OTT.

Sorry, because I know my POV will not be popular but I think it is a fine line between enjoying something that enriches your life and becoming obsessive to an unhealthy level.

That said, Merry Christmas to you all

[maartendas]

You could just follow them and receive their updates, and not actively engage. I don't see a problem with that.

That's what I decided when I noticed Lauren had retweeted Kavana's message about Chris Evans. So I now follow Kavana. But it still feels kind of weird (sorry Kavana if you're reading this It's just, I'm 31 and I love your music and that's it - nothing personal ). I've seen more Libera boys' twitter profiles and ofcourse out of curiosity I checked them out a bit, to see what they would tweet about. But it really feels too much like entering into their private world if I would follow them all. I will only do so when I think it has something to do with Libera or their other musical output (you know, what with Libera's official announcements being rather hit and miss in general, as Jimmy stated elsewhere).
On Facebook I generally don't add anyone unless I know them or have met them personally. Twitter for me is mostly a tool for keeping up to date with people I find interesting and occasionally throwing something out there myself.
Moose was fun to tweet to just once, engaging in a bit of fun. Because I liked the joke of having a group mascot with its own twitter account.

[dani]

There is a very fine line to walk. I follow some of them and have tweeted a few to aske questions. Nothing at all personal tho which other fans should learn from.

I just let the boys get on with it. Some " fans" seem to tell them off if they don't like what they say which i find disgusting as they are boys and none of us have any right to tell them what to say or to apologize over a comment they may of made. We are not there parents and are not judge and jury.

[psykick]

I think we should stop putting unnecessary labels on the followers. It seems the consensus is that when someone follows one of the Libera kids, it's out of bad intentions? Or if someone older than the boys follow them, it's deemed as something 'creepy'? Then how many people could actually follow the boys? Only people under 17?

If the boys didn't want other people commenting on their statements, they would not have created a Twitter account in the first place. If there's a tweet to them that they don't want to address, they can simply ignore it or block the follower. It's really not up to people in the forum to dictate whether the boys are tweeting to be harassed or not. It's up to the boys. And if the boys feel that way, they will simply shut down the account or block people.

Of course, not everyone that follow them are doing so of the best interest of the boys - or for freedom of speech, for that matter - and seem to be scarring the true nature of temperate fandom. However, as I have already mentioned, if the boys do not like what they see or if something rude has been said, they always have the option to ignore it / block the follower / etc.

I truly cannot comprehend the reason why people on this forum are expressing the feelings of the boys for them, when the boys themselves have functioning twitter accounts that they specifically created in order to express themselves.

And a Merry Christmas to everyone, as well.

[Yorkie]

I think we should stop putting unnecessary labels on the followers. It seems the consensus is that when someone follows one of the Libera kids, it's out of bad intentions? Or if someone older than the boys follow them, it's deemed as something 'creepy'? Then how many people could actually follow the boys? Only people under 17?

If the boys didn't want other people commenting on their statements, they would not have created a Twitter account in the first place. If there's a tweet to them that they don't want to address, they can simply ignore it or block the follower. It's really not up to people in the forum to dictate whether the boys are tweeting to be harassed or not. It's up to the boys. And if the boys feel that way, they will simply shut down the account or block people.

Of course, not everyone that follow them are doing so of the best interest of the boys - or for freedom of speech, for that matter - and seem to be scarring the true nature of temperate fandom. However, as I have already mentioned, if the boys do not like what they see or if something rude has been said, they always have the option to ignore it / block the follower / etc.

I truly cannot comprehend the reason why people on this forum are expressing the feelings of the boys for them, when the boys themselves have functioning twitter accounts that they specifically created in order to express themselves.

And a Merry Christmas to everyone, as well.

You will of course do what you want to do. I was just answering Tully's question on whether he should twitter with young boys he didn't know. My belief is no but I'm not surprised that other people disagree. To be honest I find the whole phenomenon laughably dull so perhaps it is understandable that I am in the naysayers camp.

I'll just go and listen to my LP's now.........

[Benj]

I'm glad Jimmy acknowledged this latest development cos i think when the rules were created, none of the boys were tweeting yet. It's classified as social networking but kinda different. Thank you viabuona for clarifying the official forum stand right away.

Jimmy merely cautioned everyone not to be too invasive. Malibu mentioned there are other fans out there that could ruin it. Psykick says it’s ok since the Libera boys can simply ignore tweets & block people they don’t like; that’s why it’s a different kind of social networking.

If someone tweets a Libera boy ‘what’s your favorite color?,’ he may choose to answer directly or if he thinks it’s an invasion of privacy or simply doesn’t feel like answering it, then he can ignore it. It’s as simple as that.

But I think I know what Dani is referring to. One of the boys tweeted about someone he didn’t like; Me & another follower concurred; but another ‘fan’ lectured to the Libera boy about not saying such things! She actually lectured on me & the other follower too but I simply ignored it. I do realize it’s really as simple as that.

Let’s respect everybody's opinion- perfectly alright of course, if a person doesn’t want to follow. It even occurred to me that perhaps there is someone out there just observing us who thinks it’s actually the other way around: it’s not weird to follow the Libera boys on twitter, but forum-ing about them is! Crazy and obsessed fans he probably thinks! Let’s respect his POV too.

Frankly I don’t think the Libera boys care about the age, the gender, the nationality of their followers. They also don’t care if we decide to follow them or not. Anyway, if they don’t like someone they can always ignore them.

I apologize for the long post, it’s an interesting topic. You can choose to ignore it too! We just finished a midnight Christmas feast & my mom told me not to sleep yet while I’m still stuffed.

[dani]

I'm glad Jimmy acknowledged this latest development cos i think when the rules were created, none of the boys were tweeting yet. It's classified as social networking but kinda different. Thank you viabuona for clarifying the official forum stand right away.

Jimmy merely cautioned everyone not to be too invasive. Malibu mentioned there are other fans out there that could ruin it. Psykick says it’s ok since the Libera boys can simply ignore tweets & block people they don’t like; that’s why it’s a different kind of social networking.

If someone tweets a Libera boy ‘what’s your favorite color?,’ he may choose to answer directly or if he thinks it’s an invasion of privacy or simply doesn’t feel like answering it, then he can ignore it. It’s as simple as that.

But I think I know what Dani is referring to. One of the boys tweeted about someone he didn’t like; Me & another follower concurred; but another ‘fan’ lectured to the Libera boy about not saying such things! She actually lectured on me & the other follower too but I simply ignored it. I do realize it’s really as simple as that.

Let’s respect everybody's opinion- perfectly alright of course, if a person doesn’t want to follow. It even occurred to me that perhaps there is someone out there just observing us who thinks it’s actually the other way around: it’s not weird to follow the Libera boys on twitter, but forum-ing about them is! Crazy and obsessed fans he probably thinks! Let’s respect his POV too.

Frankly I don’t think the Libera boys care about the age, the gender, the nationality of their followers. They also don’t care if we decide to follow them or not. Anyway, if they don’t like someone they can always ignore them.

I apologize for the long post, it’s an interesting topic. You can choose to ignore it too! We just finished a midnight Christmas feast & my mom told me not to sleep yet while I’m still stuffed.

Yes but you are an adult. To make a 11 year old feel bad when you dont even know them to me is crossing a massive line. It is not anybody right to lecture them .

I normally air on the side of caution with the boys because of there age but as long as people are not intrusive then it is fine. They seem happy enough and a few have said they wont reply to fans tweets and wont answer personal questions.

[Benj]

We are arguing in circles. But are actually in agreement that followers should exercise caution and not to be too invasive. That is in the first post. Clearly there's no argument there.

The problem is-- not all twitter followers - especially non-LDF members - realize this! Such as that incident that occurred. So what can we do about it?? Nothing! We can post as much as we want, tell people to respect their privacy as much as we want but if that person never even heard of LDF, to him or to her it might even be perfectly ok to be invasive.

Twitter is here to stay, there is even Formspring and perhaps another social stuff we never heard of. For some reason, Libera decided to take advantage of it and now the boys using it to interact with people they do not know. So, for sure Libera is aware of the pros & cons of having a twitter account. If their parents or Libera supervisors think they are not ready to handle followers then they wouldn't be allowed to open an account in the first place. They will learn to handle these things.

All we can do is to remind others. And i'm with you in this crusade. But the boys will still keep on encountering such incidents as long as they have active accounts. And believe me, there is nothing we can do to stop it. The boys can however, one way is to simply ignore them! And you yourself just stated that the boys are gonna be doing just that.

[Yorkie]

If someone tweets a Libera boy ‘what’s your favorite color?,’ he may choose to answer directly or if he thinks it’s an invasion of privacy or simply doesn’t feel like answering it, then he can ignore it.

And that is my point in a nutshell. Inane and pointless drivel that becomes invasive. Maybe the boys do like it, but they are children and I am not. People will do as they wish, of course, and we all differ in our opinion of acceptable behaviour. I come from a different generation and am probably out of touch with the modern world. Hey ho.

And you are right, it is weird to post so much on this forum but for the most part people here are adults and a good many of them I've met in real life. That, I think, is rather different from chasing children around the internet.

[Murkskis]

It also gives the boys a chance to promote themselves and their work

IMHO this is the main reason why such an active twittering has started. If they would be willing to chat with each other in private- you have an e-mail or Facebook for that. It's obvious that they are allowed to and this seems like a planned action.

Let's not forget the reason why Twitter became more popular among the forum members. It was #Libera at StarkeyHearing event where many forum members tried to get them more into the spotlight of the mainstream audience. Then it turned into live Twitter 'parties'- that is- active live chatting during live performances. Then came '#Libera' twitter 'online party' that was supported by Libera's Facebook webpage.

Twitter is a very handy tool for short communication in real time. And for chatting as well (including any off-topics). Twitter is not the best place for long discussions or structured/on topic discussions that can last several weeks in a row and longer. That's a plus of the forum.

However, people on this thread have made a strong point about respecting the privacy of the boys. I agree.

Could one can be too old to be on Twitter? No, not at all. You might ask why? My answer would be a question - could you be too old to see a concert or to listen to CD? OR to be a fan of a group of young performers? I think this is a kind of an answer.

Can you be too invasive?- sure you can. I will definitely try not to
Could you make someone feel uncomfortable? Sure. But people usually try not to.

If someone would have asked me in 2007 - do you like any boys choir or do you listen to any church music?
No, not really ... *what an awkward question .... *

Environment changes as usually. Opinions can be different- it's not the first time
Common sense is what always remains. Let's see how it goes.

Merry Christmas to everyone