I tried twice to use Twitter back in the day (and met some lovely people over 10 years ago on the first try that I met in real life from there) and later because there were lots of discussions happening there which were interesting for my work (energyTwitter, climateTwitter etc). But ... I'm also a woman, who believes and works in equity and human rights and maybe doing something about not killing the environment and things so it's a pretty hostile place for that 😅
I heavily avoided it for anything tech and business as it's largely dominated by marketing and a certain gender/class/political view of person with threads to create noise, and influence and make ever more money. I just stopped reading it one day and never missed it (never had the mobile app so that helped too). It's a pleasure to have absolutely zero idea what is going on over there and I don't feel like I miss anything at all.
I think when you're in a position of love / hate but you do feel some urge to return it's probably best to consider the why. I know for previous businesses we "had to do" social media and we would choose one channel where our audience really spent a lot of time, and do it as well and human and engaging as humanly possible and just interact only with that. But I've also since changed my work and projects significantly to not have to be on any social media at all which is a dream for me and is possible depending on the business.
So, do you absolutely need to be on there for work / marketing / because that's where your audience is? Or is the urge to return because you're missing a certain community there that you can't find elsewhere (in which case the tips from others are great to keeping your time clean and useful on there)? Or is it the information you would get on certain topics or spirited discussions on a subject (you might find these elsewhere too, on longer substack commentaries or in private podcasts or newsletters)?
I think if you feel good using it, don't feel like it's a time suck and meet genuinely awesome humans (of a diverse range) and / or are more well-informed on the things you want to be and / or have a good way to reach your audience that feels genuine, then it can be good. Otherwise - there are hundreds of other alternative options :)
It's a pleasure to have absolutely zero idea what is going on over there and I don't feel like I miss anything at all.
That's how I feel every time I stop using it 😅
For me, it's mainly about the community and cool people I can learn from. But you're right. I can definitely learn it from somewhere else.
If it's a pleasure to not be there - don't go back! Simple pleasures are underrated :)
I absolutely understand re community. There are some fantastic newsletters and substack comment sections (and I suppose medium for business more) communities where incredible humans are that really seem thoughtful and because it's not a feed or marketing, its drama-less and more focused on genuine conversation and interest and it feels less energy-suck; you consciously spend time when you have it / want to, to go there.
Hi!
I tried twice to use Twitter back in the day (and met some lovely people over 10 years ago on the first try that I met in real life from there) and later because there were lots of discussions happening there which were interesting for my work (energyTwitter, climateTwitter etc). But ... I'm also a woman, who believes and works in equity and human rights and maybe doing something about not killing the environment and things so it's a pretty hostile place for that 😅
I heavily avoided it for anything tech and business as it's largely dominated by marketing and a certain gender/class/political view of person with threads to create noise, and influence and make ever more money. I just stopped reading it one day and never missed it (never had the mobile app so that helped too). It's a pleasure to have absolutely zero idea what is going on over there and I don't feel like I miss anything at all.
I think when you're in a position of love / hate but you do feel some urge to return it's probably best to consider the why. I know for previous businesses we "had to do" social media and we would choose one channel where our audience really spent a lot of time, and do it as well and human and engaging as humanly possible and just interact only with that. But I've also since changed my work and projects significantly to not have to be on any social media at all which is a dream for me and is possible depending on the business.
So, do you absolutely need to be on there for work / marketing / because that's where your audience is? Or is the urge to return because you're missing a certain community there that you can't find elsewhere (in which case the tips from others are great to keeping your time clean and useful on there)? Or is it the information you would get on certain topics or spirited discussions on a subject (you might find these elsewhere too, on longer substack commentaries or in private podcasts or newsletters)?
I think if you feel good using it, don't feel like it's a time suck and meet genuinely awesome humans (of a diverse range) and / or are more well-informed on the things you want to be and / or have a good way to reach your audience that feels genuine, then it can be good. Otherwise - there are hundreds of other alternative options :)
For me, it's mainly about the community and cool people I can learn from. But you're right. I can definitely learn it from somewhere else.
If it's a pleasure to not be there - don't go back! Simple pleasures are underrated :)
I absolutely understand re community. There are some fantastic newsletters and substack comment sections (and I suppose medium for business more) communities where incredible humans are that really seem thoughtful and because it's not a feed or marketing, its drama-less and more focused on genuine conversation and interest and it feels less energy-suck; you consciously spend time when you have it / want to, to go there.