Why I'm Changing the Way I Use Twitter

The following was a tweetstorm I shared on Twitter in February 2018:

What the hell am I doing on Twitter? (An evolution of sorts…)

Alternative title: Why I’m probably about to change the way I use Twitter.

I got on Twitter in May 2008 — way before most of you.

In fact, here was my 1st tweet:

I didn’t know what the hell I was doing…

I tweeted about my internships, things I was doing, and shared some early (and very rough) blog posts.

Mostly, I just tried to talk to and connect with people I admired.

I was amazed I had access to all of these smart people’s thoughts and ideas. Twitter even landed me my first job in 2008 after the economy collapsed.

From 2008-2014-ish, I (mostly) used Twitter to learn about various aspects of business and marketing. When I was in healthcare, I studied the best healthcare marketers. When I was leading marketing for a tech start-up, I studied our niche, growth-hacking, et al.

In addition to learning from others, I would share smart things I found (usually about business/marketing), but also funny things, and, occasionally, something personal or political. I don’t know if anyone was listening or anyone cared, but Twitter was a net good in my life.

I’m not sure that’s true anymore.

What changed?

Somewhere around early 2015, a lot of *really* hard work and a *a lot* of reading + implementation compounded into enough knowledge and experience that I acquired a certain command over my job.

And that’s when the trouble on Twitter started…

I had spent 7 years studying all things business/marketing and now all of I sudden I had wanted to understand ‘everything.’ I yearned to be a full blown polymath and starting exploring things like: behavior change, psychology, nutrition, mental health, neuroscience, mental models & more.

So, what’s the problem?

Now, I’m following all these new and interesting people… people opening my eyes to certain truths. Truths that are irrefutable when you open your eyes and take your head out of the sand. And they’re commenting on Twitter trends — politics and the like.

All of sudden, things I previously had no appetite for (politics, etc.) started making me go hmmm.

Back to the truth… I’m a huge proponent of the truth. This might be why “Belief” is one of my top 5 Strengthsfinders.

So, when I believe I’ve uncovered a verifiable truth and I share that on Twitter, even with a multitude of evidence, some people don’t like that.

Why?

Because people tie their identity to the things they believe and they’re unwilling to change their mind so they go on the Internet where Jenny McCarthy tells them immunizations are bad and they believe that nonsense despite no scientific proof.

Today, truth is problematic

“Keep telling the truth. You’ll attract the ‘right people and build your tribe.”

That’s what some of you will say, and my blog impressions would agree, but real life doesn’t work like that.

Anti-fragility is a goal of mine, but I’m a long way away. I currently work for “the man.”

And, quite frankly, I really like my job. I’m damn good at. I enjoy the people I work with (on my immediate team, at least), we do valuable work to help people in need, and most importantly… Now, I have a son. He’s a stud. (Editors note 2021: And a daughter. And another son on the way!)

Before my son, I didn’t care if WrongThink! came calling.

F— them, I thought.

I’m going to speak the truth and share my opinion and if they fire me, I don’t want to work there.

That was fine, then, but now it may be irresponsible.

My family means more to me than a bunch of people on Twitter.

I miss the days when grown adults could disagree on things and still respect each other, still count on each other to pull their weight and get the work accomplished for their teammates, their customers, their patients.

Sadly, those days are gone.

I’ve enjoyed trying to uncover and share the truth (especially these last 7 months or so) and I’m grateful to those of you who seem to care.

In many ways, you gave me the courage to speak up more often, but once you go down the rabbit hole, this world is a scary place to raise a son.

Examples:

Postmodernism
Victim-mentality
Gender differences
Critical Race Theory
The attack on free speech
Identity politics & intersectionality
Equality of outcome instead of equality of opportunities

But, here’s the thing…

I Will Get Cancelled One Day

Sharing these ‘truths’ on Twitter doesn’t actually matter. It makes zero difference.

Many of you who follow will like/RT, but 95% of people will never change their mind.

And many co-workers (and others in the “real world”) will (at best) respect me less/act differently towards me and, at worst, ostracize me for career growth or, worse, fire me.

I used to joke that Twitter would get me fired one day. It’s no longer a joke.

This is the world we live in now.

What makes me sad about this is how many people write to me and tell me they wish they had the courage to speak these truths, that they agree 100%, but can’t risk doing so publicly.

Perhaps, there are sane people left, just not on Twitter.

Rather than spending time conjuring up ‘smart’ tweets for likes and re-tweets from “influencers,” and checking impressions and followers, I’m going to start spending even more time leveling up my life.

How?

Less hustling. Less comparison. Less politics. Less outrage. Less busy work. And busyness in general. Less consumption. Less distraction.

And, I’m going to replace those things with these things:

More family. More friends. More walks. More books. More listening. More love. More humility. More patience. More perspective. More spontaneity. More gratitude. [Always more gratitude.] More creativity. More music. More curiosity. More conversations. More fun.

So what does that mean for me on Twitter?

In truth, I don’t know yet. I may there less. I may be there different. I may re-tweet something from someone else doing important work, but I’ll likely keep MY beliefs to myself.

I don’t envision I will be full ‘monk mode,’ but I *will* be trying to have more of an impact on things I CAN control: my family, my friends, my workplace and my community.

Additional menu

What the hell am I doing on Twitter? (An evolution of sorts…)

What changed?

Today, truth is problematic

My family means more to me than a bunch of people on Twitter.

I *Will* Get Cancelled One Day

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

I Will Get Cancelled One Day