@_haiku I'm writing haikus Because I am able to In just 140

@_haiku
I'm writing haikus
Because I am able to
In just 140 http://bit.ly/eUzYk

@_haiku tweets are the only way; in this crazy world; to keep up with the void

@_haiku tweets are the only way; in this crazy world; to keep up with the void http://bit.ly/114UC6

FAQ

F.A.Q.

Here are some of the more frequent questions in no particular order:

Q: I tweeted a haiku, but it isn't showing up on the site. What happened?

A: There are only a couple of reasons why a haiku won't show up on the site. They include
a) You haven't waited long enough. Typically it will take between one and two hours for a post to show up on the site. Depending on when the site automatically updates and how busy the servers are, it may take as little as a few minuets or as long as 6-12 hours. If you don't see your post by the next day then it probably won't be posted.
b) You didn't include the phrase "@_haiku" (minus the quotes) at the beginning of your tweet.
c) Your twitter feed is 'protected'. This blog uses the public part of twitter to collect a haiku. Only twitter accounts that post to the public timeline will be able to post.
d) In rare circumstances there may be an entry that does not post. It just disappears in to the aether. If you are sure that you included @_haiku at the beginning, and you are posting a tweet that the whole world can see, and you have waited 24 hours, then try posting again.


Q: What if my haiku includes profanity? will it be censored?

A: Absolutely not! There is NO CENSORSHIP on this site. This may be for better or worse, but those are the rules around here. Your haiku may include references to profanity, pornography, criminal acts, copyright infringement, political opinions, religious opinions, nonsense, stream of consciousness, movie spoilers, or anything else that is immoral and/or fattening. Of course, we hope that this freedom will be used sparingly and judiciously.


Q: Why should I contribute?

A: If you are using twitter anyway, why not? It is a good mental exercise to construct a haiku every now and then. Moreover, since anyone with a twitter account can post here, there will be a wide variety of topics represented. Why not include whatever you are thinking about? If enough people contribute for a long enough time, we may be able, using several analysis algorithm, to construct a super haiku; that is, a haiku that accurately represents the average sentiment at some arbitrary point in time. Sounds kinda nerdy, but it just might work!


Q: Why don't I get credit for my haiku?

A: We hope that the total lack of a reputation system will help to promote candid and honest haiku. We know that it is nice to receive credit where credit is due. On the other hand, the lack of a reputation system may help to deter flame wars or anything else that would harsh the mellow. Also, just because you didn't get credit on this blog for that haiku, it will still be in your twitter stream, so anyone following your twitter stream will know that you constructed that haiku.


Q: Do I have to use the 5-7-5 format for my haiku?

A: It is recommended that you use the standard 5-7-5 format (that is the number of syllables in each of the three lines), however, you are welcome to use any format you like. In traditional Japanese haiku, the format is very rigid, but it is also well defined for their language. Once you start writing haiku in other languages (like English for example) there is ambiguity as to how many syllables a word has, or more properly, how many moras a word has. Because of this ambiguity, it is hard to say whether your haiku is proper in the traditional sense, even if it has exactly 17 syllables in english. So write a haiku that you like, even if it has 16 or 18 syllables!

Tips

TIPS

Here are some tips for contributing to this blog. This list will be updated as this blog develops more.

How it works:
Thanks to an elaborate system of tubes, we are all connected by the internet. Nowadays, lots of people use Twitter. We have constructed a mechanism that will automatically post input from people using twitter. This allows us to build a large collection of a specific type of information that is nicely organized and timestamped. Just as in the act of computing a symbolic integral, any particular point (or haiku entry) is trivial, but hopefully we will be able to construct something meaningful by analyzing the trends of these insignificant points.

Posting instructions:
All that you need to do in order to post on this blog is to use Twitter and reply to the _haiku account. That is, use Twitter (on your phone or computer) to write a new entry that begins with the phrase "@_haiku" (minus the quotes). That's It! Please note, however, that in order for your contribution to show up, you must not have 'protected' your posts in twitter. Only user accounts that post to the public timeline in twitter will appear here. Also, don't panic if you don't see your post right away. Updates usually happen every hour or so, but may take as long as several hours, depending on how the tubes between the servers connect.

Credit:
Because of a very technical situation that no one can understand, no Twitter account will be credited as the author of any particular haiku. Of course, on Twitter there will be a record of you writing that haiku, but it is unlikely that anyone outside your social network will ever make the connection.

Formatting tips:

• Use the Enter or Return button to make line breaks between the three lines of your haiku. Don't worry if the line breaks don't show up on Twitter. They will show up on this blog. Also, it looks nice if you type @_haiku, then an enter, then the first line of your poem, then an enter, etc.
  
• The average haiku (including two line breaks) is around 70 characters. Twitter will allow you up to 132 characters (not 140 because every message must start with @_haiku). This means that you have almost twice as much space as you need!
• You may attempt to format your haiku in any way you like. You may even be able to make your haiku stand out by using your own personal formatting.
  

Last updated: June 01, 2009