I'm going to drop Twitter (and ration the rest)

For a few weeks now, I've been thinking through a strategy that would let me avoid fully "disappearing" from social media while significantly cutting down the time I spend on it. I'm not the first, and I won't be the last. This decision isn't directly tied to Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. It's been on my mind for a long time, and let's say the Musk takeover gave me a convenient excuse to close the cognitive gap between my ideas and my actions. I should also say that what I'm expressing in this piece reflects my own, necessarily personal, relationship with social media. So it's obvious it won't speak to each of you in the same way.

Cutting back significantly without disappearing (for now)

Why cut back? First of all because I don't really like it, Twitter and LinkedIn. More broadly, I don't like what the dominant social networks have become, at least as seen from inside my filter bubble. Too bad if it sounds nostalgic or like an old grump saying it, but yes, I think it was better before. When there was less volume and more quality. Less algorithm, less advertising, less attention-grabbing, less toxicity. When exactly was that again?

So, I don't like these networks. I can't stand the aggressiveness and extremism you have to dodge anymore, the touchiness you have to manage around, to the point of self-censoring. Yes, I'm too sensitive to exchange or debate calmly on a platform like Twitter. And paradoxically, too much of an activist to stay quiet. On a different note, I can no longer stomach the constant outpouring of not-always-authentic personal/professional mush. That one's particularly aimed at LinkedIn. I no longer want to force myself to play that unhealthy game, under the pretext (one I gave myself) of needing it to be heard, as someone who writes articles, as an independent looking for work, as a citizen with ideas to get across.

And why not just disappear altogether? Good question, maybe that'll come later too. Probably because I still think social media is (unfortunately) useful, if not essential, for at least relaying my articles and my curated links, given that having actual conversations there isn't really possible anymore. Maybe also a mix of ego, fear of disappearing, of being forgotten. And maybe, finally, because if I leave these networks, the last ones I'm still on, I'm afraid I'll end up living in a completely different dimension of the web and stop understanding the world and the people around me...

My strategy for significantly cutting back my presence on Twitter

I first set up a few automations with IFTTT. The first one, so my curated links get shared automatically on Twitter. The second, similar, to automatically share articles published on my site. So logically I'll be writing a lot more on my own site, including short blog posts, not just long reflective articles. I've already started, and I really enjoy it. Finally, I set up a series of automations so that my articles and curated links shared on Twitter get relayed to Mastodon, and vice versa. For that I use Mastodon Crossporter with a few rules, since by default everything gets cross-posted.

Next, I wrote a page explaining how my presence on Twitter (and LinkedIn) works, what I do there, and above all, what I don't do there. I'm going to post the link to this page on my Twitter profile, right after my intro message. I'll also post a quick thread on Twitter summarising my reasoning, ending with a link to that same page. And finally, I'll pin that thread to my profile.

Why this strategy?

Without fully disappearing, this strategy should let me reduce my dependence on social media. Both in my own usage, since I'll be spending (a lot) less time there. But also, and above all, in their ability to drive traffic to me. Because the goal is that if my content interests you, you come "directly", without these networks acting as middlemen. Which brings me to the following question: how can we communicate better with each other?

Communicating better

Blogs and personal websites, through the magic of RSS

The time I used to spend on social media, I'm going to spend reading you more faithfully instead. On your blogs, your sites, or whatever other outlets you express yourself on. I was already a big fan of subscribing via RSS, so my habits won't change much, except that I'm going to cast my net a lot wider. If you like what I write, you too can follow me directly through my RSS feed. No more excuses, I wrote a short piece explaining again how it works, and, more importantly, sharing why I think it's increasingly essential not to fully depend on information middlemen for how we access information.

Comments

I know you can't be bothered to write a comment. Neither can I, when I'm on someone else's site. So what if we both made the effort? With the time saved from social media, why not comment less, but better? Instead of doing 10 retweets with a scrap of a sentence (or more often, nothing at all) to feed someone else's network (we're literally all collectively creating value, our thoughts, on a network none of us has any control over), I'm going to focus instead on writing somewhat considered comments on the articles that genuinely caught my attention, stimulated me, or annoyed me. Less, but better.

Newsletter and email

If RSS isn't for you, you can subscribe to my newsletter! It's at most once a month (usually less, actually), and it's a mix of updates on my projects, my articles, and my curated links. So you can stay in touch with me, reply directly by email, and unsubscribe the day you're no longer interested!

Serendipity

You can also subscribe to neither the RSS feed nor the newsletter, and just drop by whenever you like. I write a few pieces a month, generally one in-depth article plus a few shorter blog posts. So if you visit every 2-3 months, you should find something to read. My site is fairly rich, you can easily get lost in it by browsing resources, searching for an article, and letting yourself be pointed toward other sites and blogs just waiting to be (re)discovered. To get back to the spirit of the web, let's be (a lot) more curious!

One last social network?

Twitter is a social network I don't like, AND one with a toxic business model. Mastodon, which I've already talked about, is a social network I also don't like lingering on, BUT one with a far more virtuous model. So it'll be my last social network for quick exchanges, aside from comments, emails, phone calls, or Mattermost channels. So don't hesitate to follow me on that network, I'll follow you back. And we'll see where it takes us.

Thanks a lot for reading! Feel free to share your own thoughts, your disagreements, or your own strategy!