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I once read an interview with a recording artist in which she claimed she never went to McDonald's or read Heat because "it's so bad to be basic". Is it? Basic is an interesting word – so evocative and yet covers a lot of bases. And a lot of basics. I find it yucky, but I'm nothing if not a massive hypocrite and have, of course, used it myself here and there. Yet I still puzzle over its meaning. It does seem it's a byword for poor, or less fortunate, or less cultured...

We all have that oversharing friend, don't we? The one who posts millions of selfies or is always checking in on Facebook, drowning under the weight of their own humblebrags or passive-aggressive attention-seeking. And only the very kindest of us wouldn't have a quick sneer with other mutual friends – maybe fire off a bitchy text or a moany DM. "They're at it again!" And that's OK, that's human nature. Unless you're very careless or downright malicious, nobody finds out and nobody gets hurt. One opportunistic person wanted to take this...

We say so much on social media – over 500 million tweets are sent in one day alone – but what's more interesting is what we don't say. There are some things we'd probably love to post on social media but, unless we're feeling extra bitchy, never would. Nor would we admit we'd even think of such a thing. But I'm on to you. And if you can't recognise that at least 5 of these cross your mind as you scan your social media faves, you're in denial. Aren't we all? 1. “We’ve...

Twitter isn’t just for cat GIFs, cod politics, think-pieces and bitching about reality TV, it’s also a place to find love! Spotting someone getting it on over Twitter is easy to do once you know how. Here are 25 signs those two faves you follow might be about to move on to being more than serial retweeters. 1. Regular liking of tweets – especially really boring attention-seeking ones. 2. Increased retweets. 3. Starting an @ conversation in response to nothing, not even a blogpost or a thirst-trap selfie. 4. Meeting...

The 2010s are truly the age of the share, whether Instagramming pictures of your breakfast, Facebooking all your friends about your holiday or tweeting a link to your latest blog. Social media has turned us all into broadcasters, producing special-interest programming on every aspect of our lives and thoughts. We are all our own chat show. But while we gently mock those who overshare or bore on about their children or their dull jobs or impart half-baked political opinions, social media has also given us a window into people’s lives...

We hear a lot about trolls in the news these days. A sub-class of human previously restricted to the mysterious world of specialist messageboards and forums about dodgy TV shows nobody watches any more, the troll has now been brought front-and-centre, blinking uncertainly in the shimmering light that is Twitter. The adoption of Twitter to the bosom of the mainstream has finally done for social media what Facebook could not and would not: it’s made it okay to talk to absolute strangers, even if you’re not an ‘internet geek’. Those...

It’s an uncontrollable urge, a reflex action. No matter how hard you try, you can’t help yourself. Like a tantalising ‘Do Not Touch’ sign at an exhibition or a ‘Keep Off The Grass’ warning on a beautiful lawn, if you see a link to a picture on Twitter, you’ve just got to click it. What will it be? Another cooked breakfast? Perhaps a cordon bleu luncheon in a fancy restaurant? Maybe a heavily filtered Instagram rendition of a darling chimney pot at a vintage fair? Check the calendar before you...

Social networking always starts off with the best of intentions. The aim to encourage people to share information and stories and feel ‘part of something’ is all well and good, but when you throw a load of gay men into the mix, it isn’t very long before the talk turns from poaching eggs and what’s on TV to exchanging those infamous ‘headless torso shots in the mirror’. While some of us are intent on telling everyone about how nice our morning porridge was, the other half of Twitter has their...