#72: The subtle art of using Twitter
With a little curation, Twitter can become incredibly nourishing
I want to discredit the myth that Twitter is just another crappy social media platform.
Don’t get me wrong — it can be. But, if you are intentional about how you use Twitter, then you can transform doom scrolling into a nourishing and fulfilling experience.
Let me explain…
Twitter is the modern day town square. Anyone anywhere in the world is given access to a microphone. This means that Twitter can be noisy as f***. But with a little curation, you can turn Twitter from lead into gold.
The secret is to follow the right accounts.
Let me demonstrate…
Here are the Tweets that I woke up to this morning:
Rob Hardy, a fellow online writer and Foster DAO team member, tweeted about cultivating a positive self-image.
Henneke Duistermaat, an online writer and entrepreneur from the UK, tweeted a beautiful and loving reminder about self-care. I discovered Henneke’s profile after a primary connection retweeted her Tweet.
Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist and author, tweeted thought provoking research insights about finding yourself, finding your community, and busting guilt and shame.
Scott deeply studied Abraham Maslow’s teachings and created a sailboat metaphor for navigating life’s choppy turf. The sailboat runs against mainstream messaging of how life is a hierarchy with levels like a video game. I have included a visual on my personal website.
In the below tweet, Scott shares an important lesson: to successfully navigate life’s challenges, we must overcome the barriers of guilt and shame.
On a lighter note, ah-ha! something else that runs contrary to mainstream messaging: playing video games can be good for a child’s intelligence!
Rafa, a Web3 entrepreneur, tweeted a reminder about the therapeutic value of writing publicly and sharing. I don’t personally know Rafa but I have used the product that Rafa is building: Mirror, a Web3 publishing platform for writers, to publish my own writing.
Sara Campbell, a fellow online writer and Foster DAO team member, tweeted a link to her newsletter where she shares a personal and heartfelt story. She writes about how she was 37 and single and unhappy, trapped in a cycle of hopelessness and cynicism. Now, eight years later, things are different. She writes:
Through practice, patience, curiosity, and surely some great stroke of divine luck, I have gained a much wider scope of vision that’s enabled me to appreciate the shape my life has taken.
Her writing is amazing and I just can’t get enough. Here’s a little more:
Dan Hunt, the co-founder of Foster, a writer’s collective, tweets with humility about an upcoming town hall where he will share with the broader Foster community a path forward —to decentralization and community ownership.
Tim Urban, one of the world’s most popular writers, reminds us that seeking external validation is a trap we create in our minds.
The amazing Anna Gat, founder of Interintellect, reminds us that Twitter can be a gateway to belonging (a prerequisite for experiencing meaningful personal growth).
And, finally, I would like to share one of my own tweets.
This reply is spot on.
A pragmatic and simple solution to curate Twitter
The simplest way to curate Twitter and cut through the noise is to use a nifty tool called Tweetdeck. It allows you to create columns for individual accounts or for Twitter Lists, a curated group of accounts.
I have a List called “Pay Attention” with a handful of accounts that I actively engage with. I am mindful about not including too many accounts because my attention is limited. Every few weeks or so, I do “list maintenance” where I remove some accounts and add new ones.
In this way, Twitter is a subtle art that requires practice and patience.
You got it. 💪
Interesting read.