3 ms·

as good as you make it implies it takes some effort, if it's worth it or not for you specifically is of course your call ...

gregjor 4y ago
Yeah I get your point. I tried for years to make social media into something useful for me, but the effort didn't pay off. I can't recall anything of significance ever coming across my Twitter or Facebook feeds, or on Instagram, or on LinkedIn. My wife uses social media to chat with her friends and share photos, but even that limited participation has led to arguments, and I don't get the value of seeing what someone had for dinner or learning that they got a new purse. I freelance (programming and system admin) for a living. I had a customer earlier this year who wanted to screen me over a video call before committing to a project. He asked me for my LinkedIn and Facebook accounts so we could "connect." When I told him I don't use those platforms he expressed shock and asked how customers could find me if I don't use social media. I asked him "How did you find me?" Obviously not on LinkedIn or Facebook. In 15 years freelancing I never got a single professional lead through social media. I suppose some people find it suspicious when they run into someone who doesn't use social media -- what are we hiding? In any case I got the project and the customer communicated with me by email and phone.
- nathias 4y ago
  I mean I hear this a lot, and I don't have the same experience, so I can only say that for my special case it seems to work very well, twitter is one of the rare internet hubs where normal discussions sometimes happen. I'm a philosopher that works as a software dev, I'm grew up on the internet and am very openminded and anti-ideological so I can't really get offended, but even so I don't think many have really tried. I use twitter mostly for philosophy discussions. I haven't really been a target of any noteworth toxicity except in the Trump erra, where I had to unfollow a lot of official professor's accounts that were just spamming anti-Trump articles 24/7, I guess some people thought I was the asshole as I have been blocked by a few but mostly without any interaction (I think just for following others that they don't like). As for freelance jobs, I can't imagine where I would even look without Linkedin. There are some local forums that have job postings but nothing useful for a freelancer in EU.
  - gregjor 4y ago
    My family and some of my friends went down the MAGA vs. anti-Trump path all over social media. I finally quit all social media during the Trump administration, but I had thought about it before then because I questioned what value any of it added for me. My day-to-day life really didn't change because of Trump, regardless of my opinions about him, or what anyone else thinks. The sequential social media outrages and controversies didn't change my mind and I doubt they changed anyone else's. I can't say that what goes on in Washington has ever affected my life since the Nixon administration (ending the Vietnam war just before I reached draft age). Politics (at least in the US but I suspect in most places) long ago turned into mostly a series of pseudo-events, distractions intended to keep politicians and celebrities and "the elite" in the limelight, virtue signaling and "owning" the other side, while nothing that actually matters gets addressed. Maybe I don't understand it or see the need because of my age. My kids all use social media, sometimes they get really upset about what goes on. They all grew up with the internet and social media, I date back to rotary phones and daily printed newspapers on the porch. I stuck with LinkedIn for 12 years thinking it was a necessary and useful platform for "professionals." Never got anything out of it beyond recruiters contacting me about jobs that matched one keyword in my CV. I get work through an agency now, before that it was all word of mouth and referrals, and I still think that works better than trying to find work through online marketplaces and social media sites. To bring it back around, I don't doubt that some people can get value from Twitter and other social media. I don't, but I don't project my experience on the rest of the world. My original comment in this thread intended to answer "I hate Twitter, what can I use instead?" Stop and ask what you expect to get out of Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn and then periodically check that you get that. Thanks for the reasonable conversation. I only participate here on Hacker News anymore because most of the time I can find some interesting topics and the conversations usually stay civil and useful. HN can go into the weeds but I hold it out as an example of what good moderation and a respectful user base can create. I haven't found that anywhere else.

gregjor 4y ago

Yeah I get your point. I tried for years to make social media into something useful for me, but the effort didn't pay off. I can't recall anything of significance ever coming across my Twitter or Facebook feeds, or on Instagram, or on LinkedIn. My wife uses social media to chat with her friends and share photos, but even that limited participation has led to arguments, and I don't get the value of seeing what someone had for dinner or learning that they got a new purse. I freelance (programming and system admin) for a living. I had a customer earlier this year who wanted to screen me over a video call before committing to a project. He asked me for my LinkedIn and Facebook accounts so we could "connect." When I told him I don't use those platforms he expressed shock and asked how customers could find me if I don't use social media. I asked him "How did you find me?" Obviously not on LinkedIn or Facebook. In 15 years freelancing I never got a single professional lead through social media. I suppose some people find it suspicious when they run into someone who doesn't use social media -- what are we hiding? In any case I got the project and the customer communicated with me by email and phone.

nathias 4y ago
I mean I hear this a lot, and I don't have the same experience, so I can only say that for my special case it seems to work very well, twitter is one of the rare internet hubs where normal discussions sometimes happen. I'm a philosopher that works as a software dev, I'm grew up on the internet and am very openminded and anti-ideological so I can't really get offended, but even so I don't think many have really tried. I use twitter mostly for philosophy discussions. I haven't really been a target of any noteworth toxicity except in the Trump erra, where I had to unfollow a lot of official professor's accounts that were just spamming anti-Trump articles 24/7, I guess some people thought I was the asshole as I have been blocked by a few but mostly without any interaction (I think just for following others that they don't like). As for freelance jobs, I can't imagine where I would even look without Linkedin. There are some local forums that have job postings but nothing useful for a freelancer in EU.
- gregjor 4y ago
  My family and some of my friends went down the MAGA vs. anti-Trump path all over social media. I finally quit all social media during the Trump administration, but I had thought about it before then because I questioned what value any of it added for me. My day-to-day life really didn't change because of Trump, regardless of my opinions about him, or what anyone else thinks. The sequential social media outrages and controversies didn't change my mind and I doubt they changed anyone else's. I can't say that what goes on in Washington has ever affected my life since the Nixon administration (ending the Vietnam war just before I reached draft age). Politics (at least in the US but I suspect in most places) long ago turned into mostly a series of pseudo-events, distractions intended to keep politicians and celebrities and "the elite" in the limelight, virtue signaling and "owning" the other side, while nothing that actually matters gets addressed. Maybe I don't understand it or see the need because of my age. My kids all use social media, sometimes they get really upset about what goes on. They all grew up with the internet and social media, I date back to rotary phones and daily printed newspapers on the porch. I stuck with LinkedIn for 12 years thinking it was a necessary and useful platform for "professionals." Never got anything out of it beyond recruiters contacting me about jobs that matched one keyword in my CV. I get work through an agency now, before that it was all word of mouth and referrals, and I still think that works better than trying to find work through online marketplaces and social media sites. To bring it back around, I don't doubt that some people can get value from Twitter and other social media. I don't, but I don't project my experience on the rest of the world. My original comment in this thread intended to answer "I hate Twitter, what can I use instead?" Stop and ask what you expect to get out of Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn and then periodically check that you get that. Thanks for the reasonable conversation. I only participate here on Hacker News anymore because most of the time I can find some interesting topics and the conversations usually stay civil and useful. HN can go into the weeds but I hold it out as an example of what good moderation and a respectful user base can create. I haven't found that anywhere else.