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!