Things I have done to take Twitter less seriously

  • Wrote Twitter rules.
  • Don’t have notifications turned on. Just search for my name on Twitter so that I can find tweets I am tagged in.
  • Turn my Twitter private from time to time.
  • Literally told people to unfollow me.
  • Gave my wife access to my Twitter account.
  • Tried everything I could to cut usage.
  • Told people to do the same.
  • Delete my tweets everyday.
  • Wrote why Twitter is bad for career growth.
  • Shit on people who QT me.
  • Always optimise on: fighting less on Twitter. I always try to post a nuanced view even if the twitter algorithm rewards the most one sided unhinged views.
  • Care less about follower than posting what I am actually thinking about.
  • Deleted ‘follow me on twitter’ footer from all my blogposts a few months back. I even removed the link to my Twitter account from my homepage. I actually did control F on Atom to make sure there is no single link to my Twitter account.

All of these are silly little games I have played to get rid of Twitter. I wish I could just delete my fucking account and move on with my life. I even tried doing that. It takes 30 days to delete permanently. 20 days into the deactivation process, a friend made some solid arguments on why having a Twitter account still has upside. Maybe deep down I wanted to remain. So I reactivated. 6 months later, I am still arguing with people there.

Why I still use twitter

  • Ego. I somehow keep thinking that a single thread I write might help someone take a big life or career decision. Yes, I am that vain.
  • People DM’ing me thanking me for my tweets makes me think they are/ I am important.
  • Dopamine hits. I don’t post on any other social media.
  • Career growth. I spent yesterday complaining about titles and calling most leaders winner of the startup lottery. By night I had a CEO reach out to me with a job offer. Though I will continue to say that Twitter should remain far down the priorities one should have if they want to have a successful tech career, but it does help at some level.
  • I can complain about companies if I am unhappy and sadly it is the only platform where customer service folks listen to escalations. Also, don’t have Facebook. So where else will I complain if my Amazon order is very late?
  • I have made a few really good friends from Twitter. No matter how much I shit on networking, I would have fewer people in my life without Twitter.