It’s been ten years since I first started using Twitter. It remains one of the most useful platforms for information discovery that I’ve ever used. And it’s been fascinating over the last decade to watch how different people approach it – before either loving or leaving Twitter for good.
I really like this tweetstorm from Michael Nielsen about his approach to using Twitter:-
Twitter has made a huge positive impact on my life. Lots of people complain about it, so I wanted to write some notes about how I use it.
Love to hear others' strategies too.
— Michael Nielsen (@michael_nielsen) March 20, 2018
It’s worth reading through. But in short, given the fact that you have total freedom of choice of who you follow and engage with, you only really have yourself to blame if Twitter isn’t one of the most fascinating places on the web for you. Of course, you’re not necessarily going to get into the depths of a discussion whilst restricted to 280 characters (an issue that’s definitely been alleviated by tweetstorms).
As Nielsen puts it:
“Intellectually, it feels collectively like having Nobel laureates in all disciplines hanging out in the tea room just down the hall. I can pop in whenever I like, hear them noodling, occasionally contribute myself”
“99% of our cities are dark matter: we know almost nothing of what is happening. Most of the people, conversations, and events that I would most enjoy I will never even hear about. Twitter changes this, in a significant way.”
“There’s definitely a place in life for good argument, a favourite pastime of mine. But with rare exceptions, Twitter isn’t it!”
“Many people I follow are unapologetically optimistic and idealistic, always working to make the world better. I find that infectious and buoying.”
I couldn’t agree more.