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I'm was never at the level described by the author, but I left Twitter for the same thing. I too am a creator and I'd get retweets with very little action. That

I'm was never at the level described by the author, but I left Twitter for the same thing. I too am a creator and I'd get retweets with very little action. That was a huge moment for me because I realized the reality of Twitter. It's one giant bullshit factory. You can even tell how much it affects the minds of people who are prolific other places. Writers for tech blogs stop writing about useful shit and start writing about the reactions of twitter posts. You can see how the self obsession causes people to try to craft those perfect 140 characters. Everyone thinks they are a comedian. In the end I found that no matter how diverse your followership, Twitter is a hopeless echo chamber populated by twentysomethings with no real life experience who are chomping at the bit to eat you alive if you don't conform to the enforced political correctness of the moment. I'll never go back.

csydas 10y ago
> You can even tell how much it affects the minds of people who are prolific other places. Writers for tech blogs stop writing about useful shit and start writing about the reactions of twitter posts. You can see how the self obsession causes people to try to craft those perfect 140 characters. Everyone thinks they are a comedian. In the end I found that no matter how diverse your followership, Twitter is a hopeless echo chamber populated by twentysomethings with no real life experience who are chomping at the bit to eat you alive if you don't conform to the enforced political correctness of the moment. I wouldn't quite go that far; I barely use Twitter - the concept is not appealing to me and I really don't care for the type of interaction it enables, but to call it an echo chamber is basically the same as calling the Internet an echo chamber. You are limited by your decisions on who you want to associate with and who you want to read. The suggestions may be tailored to you, but ultimately you pick. Anyone can find an echo chamber for themselves on Twitter. Many businesses have found a lot of value in Twitter - status accounts, event updates, and so on are handled really well through Twitter as the platform lends itself to subscription via text as well; I've used it successfully in the past for such purposes and we never had a problem with it. How you decide to invest yourself in the system will determine your experience. The social interaction part of twitter isn't for me because it's not really the kind of conversations I like and I find the format limiting. But that doesn't mean it's a bad system, it's just not my cup of tea,
- TheRealDunkirk 10y ago
  I think you've actually touched on the precise nature of the problem. It's GREAT as a marketing and PR platform. It SUCKS as an interpersonal communication medium.
  - leephillips 10y ago
    Well, one of the author's points was that it didn't work for him as a marketing platform. Perhaps he was doing it wrong?
    - coldpie 10y ago
      Yeah, that part surprised me. I use Twitter primarily as a way of keeping up with creators whose work I enjoy. I regularly click links from them, because that is why I follow them. I was surprised to see that with 50,000 followers, not a single one actually wanted to consume what this person creates; or perhaps their followers find other avenues to consuming the author's content.
    - TheRealDunkirk 10y ago
      To be fair about my original point, what you're talking about is when the author tried to use it as a sales tool. Maybe I'm just being pedantic? Anyway, it's lousy for that too.
      - leephillips 10y ago
        Maybe I don't appreciate the distinction between "sales tool" and "marketing platform". I'm willing to learn.
- leephillips 10y ago
  "status accounts, event updates, and so on are handled really well through Twitter" But Twitter doesn't even guarantee that your followers will see all of these updates.¹ Wouldn't RSS or email be more reliable? ¹https://lee-phillips.org/tsb009009009/ https://lee-phillips.org/tsb009009009/
mountainethos 10y ago
Surely you realize that perhaps you're taking your bad experience and extrapolating it to the rest of Twitter? Saying that Twitter is a "giant bullshit factory" "populated by twentysomethings with no real life experience" is a generalization that invalidates everyone who doesn't fall into your stereotype.
SolaceQuantum 10y ago
I also wouldn't go that far. I follow the literary scene on twitter and have had no experiences with bullshit, and there certainly aren't very many 20somethings with no life experience among editors, published authors, and literary agents! What party lines? I guess the last big thing was when vox day called nk jemisin a half-savage when she decried him for being racist and part of sfwa. I guess if that's there party line then sure?
thatwebdude 10y ago
I'd like to emphasize that all these social media platforms are >giant bullshit factories. I, myself, am getting too caught up in it all.

csydas 10y ago

> You can even tell how much it affects the minds of people who are prolific other places. Writers for tech blogs stop writing about useful shit and start writing about the reactions of twitter posts. You can see how the self obsession causes people to try to craft those perfect 140 characters. Everyone thinks they are a comedian. In the end I found that no matter how diverse your followership, Twitter is a hopeless echo chamber populated by twentysomethings with no real life experience who are chomping at the bit to eat you alive if you don't conform to the enforced political correctness of the moment. I wouldn't quite go that far; I barely use Twitter - the concept is not appealing to me and I really don't care for the type of interaction it enables, but to call it an echo chamber is basically the same as calling the Internet an echo chamber. You are limited by your decisions on who you want to associate with and who you want to read. The suggestions may be tailored to you, but ultimately you pick. Anyone can find an echo chamber for themselves on Twitter. Many businesses have found a lot of value in Twitter - status accounts, event updates, and so on are handled really well through Twitter as the platform lends itself to subscription via text as well; I've used it successfully in the past for such purposes and we never had a problem with it. How you decide to invest yourself in the system will determine your experience. The social interaction part of twitter isn't for me because it's not really the kind of conversations I like and I find the format limiting. But that doesn't mean it's a bad system, it's just not my cup of tea,

TheRealDunkirk 10y ago
I think you've actually touched on the precise nature of the problem. It's GREAT as a marketing and PR platform. It SUCKS as an interpersonal communication medium.
- leephillips 10y ago
  Well, one of the author's points was that it didn't work for him as a marketing platform. Perhaps he was doing it wrong?
  - coldpie 10y ago
    Yeah, that part surprised me. I use Twitter primarily as a way of keeping up with creators whose work I enjoy. I regularly click links from them, because that is why I follow them. I was surprised to see that with 50,000 followers, not a single one actually wanted to consume what this person creates; or perhaps their followers find other avenues to consuming the author's content.
  - TheRealDunkirk 10y ago
    To be fair about my original point, what you're talking about is when the author tried to use it as a sales tool. Maybe I'm just being pedantic? Anyway, it's lousy for that too.
    - leephillips 10y ago
      Maybe I don't appreciate the distinction between "sales tool" and "marketing platform". I'm willing to learn.
leephillips 10y ago
"status accounts, event updates, and so on are handled really well through Twitter" But Twitter doesn't even guarantee that your followers will see all of these updates.¹ Wouldn't RSS or email be more reliable? ¹https://lee-phillips.org/tsb009009009/ https://lee-phillips.org/tsb009009009/

mountainethos 10y ago

Surely you realize that perhaps you're taking your bad experience and extrapolating it to the rest of Twitter? Saying that Twitter is a "giant bullshit factory" "populated by twentysomethings with no real life experience" is a generalization that invalidates everyone who doesn't fall into your stereotype.

SolaceQuantum 10y ago

I also wouldn't go that far. I follow the literary scene on twitter and have had no experiences with bullshit, and there certainly aren't very many 20somethings with no life experience among editors, published authors, and literary agents! What party lines? I guess the last big thing was when vox day called nk jemisin a half-savage when she decried him for being racist and part of sfwa. I guess if that's there party line then sure?

thatwebdude 10y ago

I'd like to emphasize that all these social media platforms are >giant bullshit factories. I, myself, am getting too caught up in it all.