Thanks to Hatch for sending me to the Dating Twitter Advice Bureau, I’m not entirely sure if they’re trying to send a message to me…
Anyway, my romantic shortcomings aside, Twitter is one of my favourite social platforms so when I was asked to visit their latest pop-up I couldn’t wait. Twitter is fast paced, ever changing and can go from sharing serious posts about middle eastern politics to laughing hysterically at a video of a cat, all in the space of 10 seconds. The last few years have been trying for social media platforms, with mental health, election rigging and safety concerns being prominent in the news agenda around it, however the bulk of this has fallen at Facebook’s feet (deservedly or not).
With this in mind, Twitter has been on a mission to highlight the best content shared on it’s feeds to showcase the positive side of the platform, and has chosen to create a number of pop-ups to do so like the #ScottishTwitter Visitor Centre. The latest iteration was launched yesterday in time for Valentine’s Day and is focused entirely on #DatingTwitter. The #DatingTwitter Advice Bureau consists of some of the best, worst and funniest tweets chronicling modern relationships, dating and love which have been turned into interactive exhibits including Twitter Dating Guess Who, the Ghosting Graveyard and a mini peep show for those ‘x-rated’ tweets.
Love is in the air. And now it’s in Covent Garden.
The #DatingTwitter Advice Bureau is now open
⏰ 10.00am to 8.00pm
📆 13th-16th February
📍 James Street, Covent Garden— Twitter UK (@TwitterUK) February 13, 2020
The campaign has been fronted by comedian Phil Wang, who featured in a chuckle inducing video [ to help raise awareness of the activation. This was a fantastic way to give a flavour of the pop-up to those across Twitter that can’t make it, but also to entice those in London to head down and visit. The unit chosen is in one of the most high-footfall areas in the UK, so traffic into the activation is not going to be an issue, but what awaits them inside will not disappoint.
A bunch of dating tips from @PhilNWang and the #DatingTwitter Advice Bureau.
Beats a bunch of roses. pic.twitter.com/D7eMQ4KvIN
— Twitter UK (@TwitterUK) February 13, 2020
The exhibition itself was genuinely fun and brought to life some of the internet’s funniest tweets which had me stifling laughs the whole way around. There were plenty of opportunities to capture content to share on social media, as you’ll see from my delightful Théoden King image below. The activation was a physical representation of everything I love about Twitter – funny and engaging content that speaks of your own experiences in less than 280 characters, in this case love, that are inherently shareable. I would have loved nothing more than to be there with some of the other Hatchlings to share the experience, which reflects exactly how social media should be.
Pop-ups don’t always work as imagined, but I think Twitter has hit the nail on the head here. In the #DatingTwitter Advice Bureau, they have created something fun, reflective of their proposition and packed with shareable content to reach those that aren’t able to be there. One of my main objections to Facebook’s Privacy Cafe was that it had very little substance and felt like a disappointing afterthought to their equally disappointing privacy tool which failed to address some of the issues at the core of Facebook. In fairness to Facebook, Twitter is on the front foot with this activation, highlighting the positives whilst the news cycle seems quite favourable towards them, but they have also executed it infinitely better.
It’s hard to compare having privacy policy explained to me with a free cup of coffee to an all encompassing, interactive exhibition of timely and hilarious content, that I would say I enjoyed more than some of London’s museums, but as I am doing just that, it’s the difference between driving a Skoda and a Lamborghini.
Twitter has set a benchmark for taking the digital and making it real by staying true to their proposition and giving visitors a flavour of what this part of Twitter is all about – enjoying incredible, organic content that speaks of yourself or your relationship with another person.
#GIFTED – I’d just like to make it clear that this favourable review has nothing to do with the Twitter underwear I was gifted.
