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What is the problem your friends have with you not being on Big Social Media? Is it that they want to be able to message you over those platforms? Or do they wa

by mroll 9y ago

What is the problem your friends have with you not being on Big Social Media? Is it that they want to be able to message you over those platforms? Or do they want you to see things they post? Or something else?

gavanwoolery 9y ago
My only form of contact is Twitter for many people (they do not have my email). I posted my email publicly though when I tried to leave Twitter. Twitter is (to its benefit) an extremely low-friction form of communication that is not quite the same as email or a phone call. For example, I can say something on Twitter without demanding a given person's attention - rather, they can read it if they want to. Anyhow, it was more a philosophical problem that brought me back. I said, in so many words, that I wanted to be more "zen" (whatever that means) and eliminate distractions. They argued that I was not in a "zen" place if I let distractions bother me in the first place. So I took it as a challenge (which I failed). I think it easier to turn things off permanently than to master one's own willpower.
- gt_ 9y ago
  Sounds like a fallacy. If I choose to not play a TV in the background on full volume in my office all day while I work, is this a result of my lacking willpower? Also, different people have different sensitivities. Don’t be so quick to write sensitivities off as weaknesses. To illustrate: the nervous system (and most other things) depends on sensing, and would simply fail if it were rendered too insensitive. Your sensitivities are often strengths when managed accordingly. Practicing and challenging them has it’s benefits, but we want to be strategic with this rather than simply withstanding to no end.
  - gavanwoolery 9y ago
    thanks, good points :)
- khedoros1 9y ago
  > I think it easier to turn things off permanently than to master one's own willpower. That's one reason I left Reddit; too much coming down the pipe, even when my subscriptions were pared down to a few technical groups. It was easiest just to completely stop going.
- mroll 9y ago
  For what it's worth, here's my take: turning off social media is far and away more "zen" than having it, no matter how infrequently you use it. Being unplugged from that culture has helped me spend more time thinking about and doing things that have lasting impact on my life. Like learning and building. In my experience, caring about staying up to date on pop culture keeps people from actually doing things they say they want to do.

by mroll 9y ago

gavanwoolery 9y ago

My only form of contact is Twitter for many people (they do not have my email). I posted my email publicly though when I tried to leave Twitter. Twitter is (to its benefit) an extremely low-friction form of communication that is not quite the same as email or a phone call. For example, I can say something on Twitter without demanding a given person's attention - rather, they can read it if they want to. Anyhow, it was more a philosophical problem that brought me back. I said, in so many words, that I wanted to be more "zen" (whatever that means) and eliminate distractions. They argued that I was not in a "zen" place if I let distractions bother me in the first place. So I took it as a challenge (which I failed). I think it easier to turn things off permanently than to master one's own willpower.

gt_ 9y ago
Sounds like a fallacy. If I choose to not play a TV in the background on full volume in my office all day while I work, is this a result of my lacking willpower? Also, different people have different sensitivities. Don’t be so quick to write sensitivities off as weaknesses. To illustrate: the nervous system (and most other things) depends on sensing, and would simply fail if it were rendered too insensitive. Your sensitivities are often strengths when managed accordingly. Practicing and challenging them has it’s benefits, but we want to be strategic with this rather than simply withstanding to no end.
- gavanwoolery 9y ago
  thanks, good points :)
khedoros1 9y ago
> I think it easier to turn things off permanently than to master one's own willpower. That's one reason I left Reddit; too much coming down the pipe, even when my subscriptions were pared down to a few technical groups. It was easiest just to completely stop going.
mroll 9y ago
For what it's worth, here's my take: turning off social media is far and away more "zen" than having it, no matter how infrequently you use it. Being unplugged from that culture has helped me spend more time thinking about and doing things that have lasting impact on my life. Like learning and building. In my experience, caring about staying up to date on pop culture keeps people from actually doing things they say they want to do.