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I think it’s down to who you follow. First, never ever read “trends” or random tweets. Never trust Twitters official app to show you anything useful. Using thir

I think it’s down to who you follow. First, never ever read “trends” or random tweets. Never trust Twitters official app to show you anything useful. Using third party apps also saves you from ads. Second and most importantly, follow a set of users that are interesting, friendly, and who don’t engage publicly with trolls. It’s a magnificent tool for staying up to date with a narrow topic like a niche technology. Just unfollow or block the negative people and trolls.

garmaine 6y ago
Block early, block often. Think twice before following someone.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  People seem to get furious about being blocked. I’ve seen people post publicly the name of the person who blocked them demanding an explanation. It seems to escalate things rather than calm them down.
  - coldtea 6y ago
    Thankfully with blocking you don't get to see these people ever again...
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      Out of sight out of mind I guess... but meanwhile they're out there trying to shame you in front of your peers.
      - garmaine 6y ago
        And you should care because...? This isn’t high school.
        chrisseaton 6y ago
        > And you should care because...? Because your peers will only get their side of the story while they're criticising you. > This isn’t high school. Sorry not sure what you mean here. What does school have to do with it?
  - sct202 6y ago
    Alternatively you can mute them which is more discreet.
  - FroshKiller 6y ago
    I published all my blocks with rationales to whyiblockedyou.com for a while. Then I decided to get serious about just banning networks of white nationalists en masse instead of blocking one user at a time.
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      Do you block people just for using promoted Tweets in any way?
      - FroshKiller 6y ago
        I sure do!
- raffraffraff 6y ago
  Doesn't that just reinforce the echo chamber? I don't actually use Twitter or Facebook, and I deleted my Reddit, so I'm not the one to talk. But my wife uses Twitter a lot and has managed to get into conversations that are very hard to keep civil. She has found several approaches that work without blocking. 1. Only enable notifications and DMs from mutual follows. People who get into pile ons don't tend to follow their "arch enemies" to do so (because their followers would not like them to follow "the wrong people"). You have full control over who can pester you. 2. Walk away from conversations if your get harrassed, bored or annoyed, but be clear that you are doing it. "This is going nowhere and it's getting late. I'm muting this thread". Again, you have control. If you imagine getting into a heated debate in the pub, this is the equivalent of leaving the table to talk to another group. It gives you the ability to peacefully walk away, and deny someone the opportunity to keep arguing with you against your will. 3. Realise that people don't change their minds during an argument. Always give them room to back down. A cornered animal will always lash out, and we are just animals. 4. Always be clear and civil. Be generous. Don't assume that people are acting out of malice. 5. In sometime is a toxic person who causes pile ons, quote tweets you, intentionally misrepresents you by cherry picking your comments out of context, doxes etc, block the fuck out of them.
  - alkonaut 6y ago
    > Doesn't that just reinforce the echo chamber? Yes. Twitter is fantastic only if you accept that you can’t have arguments on it. It’s just not a good idea. But not all conversation requires disagreement. Also: I use Twitter as a news feed. I don’t tweet, just read. For me it’s the successor of rss.
    - iso1210 6y ago
      Twitter is the kind of place to tell you SHUT YOUR FESTERING GOB, YOU TIT! YOUR TYPE MAKES ME PUKE! YOU VACUOUS TOFFEE-NOSED MALODOROUS PERVERT!!! I'm not sure where John Cleese would be, but I don't think it would help
      - DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
- johnchristopher 6y ago
  And disable retweets.
  - garmaine 6y ago
    What’s the point of that? You must use Twitter quite differently than I do. Retweets are most of the commentary I consume and produce.
simion314 6y ago
>I think it’s down to who you follow. Isn't there the problem where your favorite "celebrity" you follow posts nice stuff but when election or some other event is happening they start posting a ton of "off-topic" stuff ?
- Broken_Hippo 6y ago
  If you don't like the stuff they post, don't follow them. This includes things that you don't think they should post - you know, the "off-topic" stuff. Them posting that stuff isn't a "problem" just because you do not appreciate some of the content.
  - wolco2 6y ago
    You also get posts that they may have favourited or friend a they follow. That's when things get toxic.
    - macintux 6y ago
      Twitter was just starting to share favorites when I stopped using it. What a terrible decision that was.
    - alkonaut 6y ago
      No. That’s not what Twitter does. That’s something some clients do , unfortunately including the official Twitter clients. I just see tweets from those I follow, in chronological order, with no ads. If I saw ads, “recommended” or “trending” etc., I’d get off that client in a hurry.
      - bronson 6y ago
        Twitter indeed works like that. You’ve used the star menu to set your feed to chronological, which is not the default.
        alkonaut 6y ago
whyoh 6y ago
>It’s a magnificent tool for staying up to date with a narrow topic like a niche technology. A blog/website with an RSS feed is even better, IMO. And for in-depth discussions traditional forums (or even subreddits) beat Twitter easily. Twitter is the king of low-effort posting.
leephillips 6y ago
The trick is not to read the tweets of the people you follow, and not to follow the people you read, necessarily: https://lee-phillips.org/howtotwitter/ https://lee-phillips.org/howtotwitter/
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  Huh I might sign up and give this a try again.
- bmcahren 6y ago
  Twitter does a good job of highlighting the important posts someone makes rather than requiring I curate for myself. It also has brought to my attention the important people in the network of those I follow introducing me to insightful people I might not have otherwise known. I prefer twitter's method to RSS feeds. I need curation with the amount of content that my list publishes.
herdcall 6y ago
Actually, if your goal is to stay up-to-date on specific topics, tools like Discord and Slack are much better IMO because of the way they work to allow two-way communication. Even Reddit is offering a similar setup now. If you do want to continue in Twitter, change your location. I used to follow key topics (like Go and Flutter) on Twitter, but couldn't avoid the nasty "trends" Twitter throws at you that (IMO) are very biased. So, I set my location as Iceland (I live in the US), and after that life has been good. :)

garmaine 6y ago

Block early, block often. Think twice before following someone.

chrisseaton 6y ago
People seem to get furious about being blocked. I’ve seen people post publicly the name of the person who blocked them demanding an explanation. It seems to escalate things rather than calm them down.
- coldtea 6y ago
  Thankfully with blocking you don't get to see these people ever again...
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    Out of sight out of mind I guess... but meanwhile they're out there trying to shame you in front of your peers.
    - garmaine 6y ago
      And you should care because...? This isn’t high school.
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        > And you should care because...? Because your peers will only get their side of the story while they're criticising you. > This isn’t high school. Sorry not sure what you mean here. What does school have to do with it?
- sct202 6y ago
  Alternatively you can mute them which is more discreet.
- FroshKiller 6y ago
  I published all my blocks with rationales to whyiblockedyou.com for a while. Then I decided to get serious about just banning networks of white nationalists en masse instead of blocking one user at a time.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    Do you block people just for using promoted Tweets in any way?
    - FroshKiller 6y ago
      I sure do!
raffraffraff 6y ago
Doesn't that just reinforce the echo chamber? I don't actually use Twitter or Facebook, and I deleted my Reddit, so I'm not the one to talk. But my wife uses Twitter a lot and has managed to get into conversations that are very hard to keep civil. She has found several approaches that work without blocking. 1. Only enable notifications and DMs from mutual follows. People who get into pile ons don't tend to follow their "arch enemies" to do so (because their followers would not like them to follow "the wrong people"). You have full control over who can pester you. 2. Walk away from conversations if your get harrassed, bored or annoyed, but be clear that you are doing it. "This is going nowhere and it's getting late. I'm muting this thread". Again, you have control. If you imagine getting into a heated debate in the pub, this is the equivalent of leaving the table to talk to another group. It gives you the ability to peacefully walk away, and deny someone the opportunity to keep arguing with you against your will. 3. Realise that people don't change their minds during an argument. Always give them room to back down. A cornered animal will always lash out, and we are just animals. 4. Always be clear and civil. Be generous. Don't assume that people are acting out of malice. 5. In sometime is a toxic person who causes pile ons, quote tweets you, intentionally misrepresents you by cherry picking your comments out of context, doxes etc, block the fuck out of them.
- alkonaut 6y ago
  > Doesn't that just reinforce the echo chamber? Yes. Twitter is fantastic only if you accept that you can’t have arguments on it. It’s just not a good idea. But not all conversation requires disagreement. Also: I use Twitter as a news feed. I don’t tweet, just read. For me it’s the successor of rss.
  - iso1210 6y ago
    Twitter is the kind of place to tell you SHUT YOUR FESTERING GOB, YOU TIT! YOUR TYPE MAKES ME PUKE! YOU VACUOUS TOFFEE-NOSED MALODOROUS PERVERT!!! I'm not sure where John Cleese would be, but I don't think it would help
    - DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
johnchristopher 6y ago
And disable retweets.
- garmaine 6y ago
  What’s the point of that? You must use Twitter quite differently than I do. Retweets are most of the commentary I consume and produce.

simion314 6y ago

>I think it’s down to who you follow. Isn't there the problem where your favorite "celebrity" you follow posts nice stuff but when election or some other event is happening they start posting a ton of "off-topic" stuff ?

Broken_Hippo 6y ago
If you don't like the stuff they post, don't follow them. This includes things that you don't think they should post - you know, the "off-topic" stuff. Them posting that stuff isn't a "problem" just because you do not appreciate some of the content.
- wolco2 6y ago
  You also get posts that they may have favourited or friend a they follow. That's when things get toxic.
  - macintux 6y ago
    Twitter was just starting to share favorites when I stopped using it. What a terrible decision that was.
  - alkonaut 6y ago
    No. That’s not what Twitter does. That’s something some clients do , unfortunately including the official Twitter clients. I just see tweets from those I follow, in chronological order, with no ads. If I saw ads, “recommended” or “trending” etc., I’d get off that client in a hurry.
    - bronson 6y ago
      Twitter indeed works like that. You’ve used the star menu to set your feed to chronological, which is not the default.
      - alkonaut 6y ago

whyoh 6y ago

>It’s a magnificent tool for staying up to date with a narrow topic like a niche technology. A blog/website with an RSS feed is even better, IMO. And for in-depth discussions traditional forums (or even subreddits) beat Twitter easily. Twitter is the king of low-effort posting.

leephillips 6y ago

The trick is not to read the tweets of the people you follow, and not to follow the people you read, necessarily: https://lee-phillips.org/howtotwitter/ https://lee-phillips.org/howtotwitter/

stjohnswarts 6y ago
Huh I might sign up and give this a try again.
bmcahren 6y ago
Twitter does a good job of highlighting the important posts someone makes rather than requiring I curate for myself. It also has brought to my attention the important people in the network of those I follow introducing me to insightful people I might not have otherwise known. I prefer twitter's method to RSS feeds. I need curation with the amount of content that my list publishes.

herdcall 6y ago

Actually, if your goal is to stay up-to-date on specific topics, tools like Discord and Slack are much better IMO because of the way they work to allow two-way communication. Even Reddit is offering a similar setup now. If you do want to continue in Twitter, change your location. I used to follow key topics (like Go and Flutter) on Twitter, but couldn't avoid the nasty "trends" Twitter throws at you that (IMO) are very biased. So, I set my location as Iceland (I live in the US), and after that life has been good. :)