I do not like what Twitter has become. Yet much as I’d like to wash my hands of the platform, this is easier said than done. As someone who’s work involves communicating and engaging across boundaries, Twitter, for all its flaws, is somewhere I still need to be — even though this sucks sometimes!
With this in mind, I thought I’d try something new and develop a set of personal Twitter “rules of thumb” to help me stay sane and productive on the platform and, quite frankly, help me navigate the fine line between Twitter burnout, and acting like a Twitter jerk!
Of course, this may turn out to be a spectacular failure, but we’ll see how it goes.
In the early days of Twitter, I quite enjoyed being a part of the community. I made connections with people I’d probably never meet otherwise. I developed new and enduring professional and personal relationships. And I found myself being part of a community where people actually engaged in productive online conversations.
Then everything changed.
I’m not sure when the tipping point was, but in comparison, today’s Twitter is a miserable place. It’s a platform for shouty opinions and polarized perspectives; for affirming allegiances and eviscerating those you disagree with; for puffery and self-aggrandizement; and for indulging in playground politics –albeit at a grand scale. It’s a place where opinion rules; where to be considerate and humble is to be disdained; and where, in the marketplace of loud voices, listening is a lost art.
And yet, Twitter is also a place where many people spend a lot of their time. And despite my cynicism, I suspect that most users are genuinely trying to find something of value within the cacophony of opinionated voices that sometimes seem to dominate the platform.
And so I persevere with Twitter. But I’d like to do this with more intentionality than I’ve had in the past, if only to hold on to my waning sanity!
Thinking through how to do this, I’ve been playing with the idea of developing some personal Twitter rules of thumb to help guide me. Nothing grandiose — just a short list of things might help me personally be a better Twitter citizen and add value to the platform as well as getting something back from it.
This, then, is what I came up with:
- Be informative, interesting, and serendipitous; make people think and smile.
- Be supportive and responsive; engage generously.
- Be humble and kind; respect others, and don’t be quick to judge.
- Be discerning; watch out for confirmation bias.
- Be true to yourself.
I’ve intentionally kept the list short, simple, and positive (an earlier iteration had lots of “don’t do this” rules of thumb, but it ended up feeling too much like a list of rules than a helpful guide). It’s also quite personal to me, and I suspect that others would have a very different list.
Now to see whether it’s in any way useful or helpful!
