For those who love twitter, it's a digital haven full of friendly conversationalists - but for others, who have never quite got into its groove, it's simply a chore. So why do lukewarm tweeters keep pushing themselves to post?
Search Twitter for 'I should tweet more' and you find hundreds of posts Photo: 123RF
Music journalist Craig Hayes is the author of music blog Six Noises, which covers "loud, weird, and/or frequently disreputable music". The Facebook profile picture of his blog is the grinning maw of Jaws' unforgettable shark, and he has hundreds of followers.
In other words, Mr Hayes is no internet rookie: hundreds of people have liked his Six Noises page, and he joined Twitter when it launched, accruing 1,800 followers on his first account and between 500 and 600 on his second.
But last week, he said goodbye - for good - to the social media platform. He posted on his Facebook page that he had "dumped" the account, saying that ultimately twitter had proven to be "not his forte".
"I got into it because I thought it was a really great way to get my name out there, but on the way I found it quite antisocial," he said.
"Fights, bullying, very much self-serving networking."
He grew tired of seeing what he called a constant stream of negativity.
"There were a number of final straws [including] a couple of examples of people [being publically shamed], and I thought, 'I don't want to play a part in this, I don't want to watch this anymore'.
"I did make some great pals along the way, but I just found it very cynical and self-serving in the end."
Mr Hayes describes himself as a reluctant tweeter, who would mostly only tweet when he had something to promote, like a new post, or there was a conversation he wanted to add to.
"Overall, I just really didn't enjoy the stream of conversation that I had to look at every day," he said.
'I should tweet more'
In a world intrigued by the Twitterati and the power they wield (much of the push to include the Red Peak flag in the referendum came from Twitter), it could be easy to think Mr Hayes is alone. He is not - search Twitter for "I should tweet more" and you find hundreds of posts. But if it's such a chore, why do reluctant tweeters keep forcing themselves to post?
I should tweet more
— Matthew (@pots_matt) October 14, 2015
I should tweet more
— wiSe guy (@smoove_logic) October 14, 2015
I should tweet more
— Mekzeditor (@xMekz) October 14, 2015
I should tweet more often.
— 赤狐卍卐卌二 (@VulpesVulpes42) October 14, 2015
The job listings site seek.co.nz holds some clues. There are currently over 300 advertisements that call for social media prowess, and specifically twitter, as a requirement of the role, mostly in marketing, PR, communications or journalism industries.
And for those wanting to improve their social media skills, there are a bevy of online courses designed to bring jobseekers or professionals up to speed.
Michael Carney runs SocialMedia.org.nz, which offers online training courses on digital marketing with a particular focus on social media.
He said that irrespective of whether it was part of a person's role, in the workplace there was an expectation that New Zealanders understood what social media was and how it worked.
"If you're in an office job of any sort, then typically you might be expected to understand the medium, even if you aren't actually using it."
It isn't hard to see how, for those who do have to use it at their desks, it might well feel like a professional obligation - or irritation - that they're anxious to keep limited to the workplace.
But some Twitter users aren't using the platform for work, but have a vague nagging feeling that they should be posting.
Jeff McClintock, a computer programmer from the Hibiscus Coast, said he felt like it was something he "should" do.
"I tweet something once in a while, out of a feeling of being obligated to use it, kind of a chore, like brushing my teeth," he said.
He would perhaps be comforted to know that even if it seems like everyone else is on Twitter, the numbers are actually remarkably small - only one in 10 New Zealanders have an account, compared to the more than half of the country liking away on Facebook. And those numbers don't seem to be changing dramatically - while image-based networks Pinterest and Instagram surge ahead, Twitter and Facebook user growth has remained stagnant.
At least the lukewarm tweeters who can't understand Twitter's appeal are in fine company - the comedian Jon Stewart describes the process thus: "For the uninitiated, here's how Twitter works - I have no f***ing idea. I have no idea how it works - or why it is."
No followers, no favourites, no retweets.
