An Artist in Cyberspace: Yoko Ono’s Twitter
A lot of things come to a person’s head when they hear the name Yoko Ono. It is either met with admiration for her work or aggravation for her “supposed” involvement in breaking up the Beatles. Ono is one of the most influential artists of the counter culture era. She is a multimedia artist, singer, songwriter and peace activist. A creative force in her own right, she was known to collaborate with husband John Lennon in various peace demonstrations and “bed-ins” as well as produce music together. One of the most popular Lennon-Ono projects was the Double Fantasy album which was released in 1980, three weeks before Lennon’s murder on Dec. 8. It went on to be a commercial and critical success, winning Album of the Year at the 1981 Grammy Awards.
Being an artist for over 50 years brings a lot of changes to one’s career and different outlets to express one’s self. Twitter is no exception. Ono’s verified twitter account has been active since Nov. 2008. Since then, the posts pertain the re-release of old films she’s made, pictures of famous life-long friends and short tweets. These blurbs are inspirational sentences, advice and head-scratching statements.
If the rules are not broken, we will be.
— Yoko Ono (@yokoono) April 10, 2017
Rebellion is trying to live in the way you wish to live, instead of conforming to the way others want you to live.
— Yoko Ono (@yokoono) April 13, 2017
First thing in the morning
thank the Universe
for another magical day— Yoko Ono (@yokoono) April 7, 2017
If someone makes you feel bad, release your negative reaction.
Say thankyou for the challenging lesson that just made you wiser & stronger.— Yoko Ono (@yokoono) March 31, 2017
Don't adjust your self-expression to find an audience
You will regret it
It's only fun if you are accepted as you are
And you will, one day— Yoko Ono (@yokoono) April 23, 2017
We are all scared of jumping into any water. Just do it.
— Yoko Ono (@yokoono) April 20, 2017
The last two tweets may be personal favorites of mine. They have both come onto my Twitter timeline when I needed them to.
Ono stands out on Twitter because of her consistency in posting and the fact that she is 84 years-old. Most artists and musicians from her time avoid social media like the plague or they have someone run their approved accounts just to announce concert dates or album re-releases
While some users with powerful platforms are using Twitter as their own “Burn Book,” others use theirs for poetry, inspiration or just as another vessel for their artistic endeavors. Twitter can be used for good, contrary to what we’ve been seeing lately.
Despite what you think of Ono, either positive or negative, her Twitter is a nice account to follow when you’re sick of seeing online arguments and stressful news updates. Does she run the account fully by herself? Who knows. With a tweet like the one below, I hope so.
Seeing guys pushing baby strollers in the park makes me smile
— Yoko Ono (@yokoono) April 12, 2017
