jbrotherlove

It seems Twitter is officially not for geeks anymore. This has been the case for some time. But Twitter early adopters got smacked in the face with it during Monday night’s BET Awards show. I started to comment on Black Web 2.0’s post BET Awards Dominate Twitter, Causes Racist Backlash when I realized I was getting long-winded.

While the criticism of Twitter trending topics is not new, it was interesting to see the reaction to the BET dominated list last night. Some comments bordered on being racist while others went ahead and crossed it. In short, nothing new under the sun in terms of race relations.

See also this tweet by my man @dykc:

Some of the non-racial backlash to trending topics stems from self-appointed, social network gatekeepers attempting to dictate how others should use Twitter. I’ve seen this type of conversation pop up on FriendFeed as well (I’ll write about my issues experience with that service at another time).

Still, I’m amazed so many user seem genuinely ignorant of the intrinsic function of trending topics. It’s what the majority of people are “talking” about on Twitter. That’s it. Sometimes those topics happen not to be news, political issues, startups, or your latest app.

I’m not interested in most of the trending topics either. I also don’t base my use of Twitter on that list. Ideally, topics of interest to you should be something driven by your followees/followers.

Directly related, is the concept of “noise” on Twitter which has more to do with how a user configures their account than actual messages being broadcast. If you only want to know about news-related items, science, technology, etc., you should only follow Twitter accounts dedicated to those topics.

If you follow regular, well-rounded people on Twitter, you’ll see those tweets interspersed with comments about celebrity deaths, award shows, sports, and any number of daily memes.

If you’re bent out of shape over trending topics or noise on Twitter, clean up your follower list or use a Twitter client that allows you to group or filter, such as Tweedeck or FriendFeed. It’s not rocket science.

I finally made it over to Ann’s Snack Bar after a few failed attempts (lines to get in the small spot are crazy long). Naturally, I had the World Famous Ghetto Burger. Is it the best burger ever? Who cares! It’s definitely really tasty and massive for the price.

Two huge, beef patties (each with cheese), grilled onions and deep-fried bacon with mayo, ketchup, mustard, chili, tomatoes and lettuce on a grilled bun. Seriously, it’s like two burgers. Oh, and I had fries, too. And… cholesterol be damned, I’d do it again!

The experience alone is worth the visit. It’s fascinating to watch Miss Ann create and cook each burger with determination. It’s a definite throwback to simpler days before fast food and gastropubs. As for her “soup-Nazi” disposition, I get it (it probably helps that I learned manners from a black mother and grandmother).

Miss Ann had only two minor issues today. She told two people not to use their phones at the counter. The second incident involved a guy with a takeout order. After asking for a cup, and then some ice (she charged him for both because “I can’t just give them away.”), he also wanted a straw. Miss Ann refused. Surprised, he asked how much he had to pay for the straw and she snapped “I’m not selling no straws!”

Anyway, there have been rumors that Miss Ann is selling the Snack Bar. But nothing definite. I’d advise getting there soon (and getting there early) for a piece of Atlanta history while it’s still there.

See also:
The Blissful Glutton: Ann’s Snack Bar: Memorial Drive
Matt Burgess | Ann’s Snack Bar, Home of the Ghetto Burger