Tawkers.com Makes Funny Meaningful

Tawkers.com is a social media site built on a platform of public instant messaging. Many of the "Tawks" are political, and the site wants to be a home for real and meaningful online discussion. How does humor play a part?

Some of the roughest subject matter makes the best jokes. Just watch George Carlin for a little while to see a little of that in action. Sometimes the jokes that make you laugh the hardest come from the places that would otherwise make you cry the most. Laughter can be light-hearted, but comedy touches on passions and meaningful topics. To paraphrase the great John Cleese, just because something is serious doesn't mean it's not funny.

The folks behind the intriguing social media platform Tawkers.com know this. They have a team of just over a dozen resident hosts, producing thought-provoking content in which users can engage. The resident hosts come from all walks of life, including psychology students, musicians, professional TV hosts, and comedians. They have a lot of comedians, but even the other hosts know the value of a sense of humor. There was a Tawk on November 21st, featuring VP of Business Development, Jordan Birnbaum and Fox News Anchor Amy Holmes, entitled, "Lefty and Righty: Fierce and Mighty." The two discussed serious topics of the day, but inserted a little humor to keep the discussion lively.

No less than six of the fifteen resident Hosts identify as comedians. Almost none of their Tawks, which are sort of like interactive lectures, focus exclusively on the art of comedy. Resident Host Lee Camp invited notable comedian Ted Alexandro on to talk about comedy and activism, which was, appropriately, the name of their Tawk. Alexandro shares his experience with being involved in "Occupy Wallstreet," and Camp does an admirable job of guiding the conversation through shared experience between the hosts themselves and the very engaged audience.

That's the strength at the core of Tawkers. While the two Hosts are expected to hold and guide a conversation on their side of the screen, they get input from the community in the forum, where the Tawkers users get to chat amongst themselves. The online discussions can include posts from the user base that the forum finds helpful or edifying. Those comments get spotlighted and dragged into the main window. Those users are at the core of what makes Tawkers tick. That's the engaged, eager, and educated audience that craves the meaningful yet funny, even when the kind of funny that's laughing only because you can't cry. The user interaction is why Tawkers has that sense of optimism about it, even when the Hosts are Tawking about deep topic. Tawkers maintains that is is important to know how to laugh in the face of adversity.

For more information on Tawkers.com, visit the website: www.tawkers.com