
I quit Twitter for a month and it changed my thinking about mostly everything. - HenrikJoreteg
http://adambrault.com/post/37201680402/i-quit-twitter-for-a-month-and-it-completely-changed-my
======
Tichy
I logged out of Hacker News for a month recently, and also part of the time
out of Twitter and Facebook. I was still allowed to read HN, just not to
comment, as the latter tends to waste the most time.

What I have come to feel is that my use of the internet is mostly driven by
rage - and it seems to be similar for a lot of people. On HN I waste time
trying to correct people who will never in a million years be swayed by a
random internet comment.

On Twitter the problem for me is not the noise - it is being able to rant at
any given time. Whenever something upsets me, I can immediately tweet about
it, which will amplify the emotions. The better alternative is to simply not
get upset about things so much.

Being logged out really helped a lot, because sometimes the urge to correct
was really strong. Obviously it is the strongest when reading the wrongest
opinions, which are also held by people the least likely to change their
opinion. Double waste of time.

Edit: I don't just rant on my Twitter account, but ranting is the most
wasteful use of my time, hence the emphasis.

~~~
tokenadult
_On HN I waste time trying to correct people who will never in a million years
be swayed by a random internet comment._

Have you not seen the xkcd cartoon "Duty Calls" before?

<http://xkcd.com/386/>

Painful experience after being regularly online since 1992 (!) has taught me
that there is always someone wrong on the Internet. Sometimes there is even
someone (but I am not referring to this thread, not at all) who has a top
comment on a widely viewed thread on HN who is nonetheless wrong. I try not to
worry about that too much. Surely in the "old days" before there was
instantaneous international written communication available to the masses
things were even worse. I have learned from quite a few of your posts
(including this one to which I reply) and I have learned from a lot of people
here on HN. I try not to invest too much worry or self-esteem into trying
single-handedly to correct all the mistaken ideas in the world.

~~~
npsimons
The thing of it is, it's just so freakin' awesome to leach knowledge from all
the smart people on HN. Some comments are full of useful links; some have just
one really awesome link. Other comments describe a trick, technique, or
experience that is enlightening.

Slashdot used to be this way for me; I'm not sure what changed, but it saddens
me now that it's mostly a flamefest between the Linux old-timers and all the
Apple fanboys and Windows shills. That's one of the reasons I came to HN.
Funny thing is, I was just about to post an angry response in another story
thread, but was on the fence about it; I used to do that a lot on slashdot. I
think I'll just go and close that tab now; it doesn't really add much.

------
acqq
What I still don't understand is how people who use Twitter use it at all? I
mean, you can't give much information in 140 chars. So I guess most people
post links. Now, if they post links, more than that, shortened links, the only
way to follow people is to click on every 140 char message. Which means you
don't read, you click and click and you don't even know what you're supposed
to get before you click. It's hard to understand for me that people actually
do this regularly and why do they bother to actually "follow" the tweets?

Can anybody explain me what's that that I don't understand?

~~~
adrianhoward
A few reasons for me:

* Serendipity of content. I follow a stack of interesting folk. They tweet about interesting stuff. If I have some downtime that I want to fill with something interesting to read I can find something (NOTE: this does not mean I go to twitter every time I have a quiet time. I like quiet time. I have books and shit too ;-)

* Serendipity of people. I've met people in RL via twitter. Folk have come up to me at conferences and events and said "Hi - I follow you on twitter". I've done the reverse. It's been a great ice breaker in meeting new people. For me Facebook is something for the people I already know. Twitter is something that has let me meet new people.

* It's got me work. I talk about the stuff I'm passionate about. People see that passion and start a conversation.

* You can fit a surprising amount into 140 characters. In fact the discipline of getting useful info into 140 characters is a great one to acquire. It's a crash course in headline/lede writing.

* It's a place to talk to some of my friends. I live in a fairly rural area of the UK at the moment. A bunch of my "real" friends are not local. The ones who are not on facebook, or email, tend to be on twitter.

[Edit: Oh yes. One more. Access to smart people. For example a couple of weeks
back I couldn't remember the term "Reification". Took my twitter followers
about ten minutes to go from my dumb "What's that word for things that aren't
things (e.g. the Economy)" to "Reification Fallacy"
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reification_(fallacy)> which was what I was
trying to remember]

~~~
acqq
Sorry, I still don't understand. I checked your profile, visited your twitter
profile, found out that you're following around 2100 people. How many "tweets"
is that per day? Do you really read them all? I feel I'd go insane doing so
much "context switches of mind" to read 140-char messages of 2100 different
people.

I also tried to see some random samples of the tweets from the people you
follow. My impression: most of them have the form:

"@somebody: yeah right" "@somebodyelse: no, I don't" "mumble mumble
sil.ly/asdasdew" etc.

I know, such "substantial" messages are not only twitter-specific. I believe
you that you enjoy the whole experience. I just don't understand what's in
there for me, from the people like you who like it I get the impression that
I'm missing something and it frustrates me still that I can't "get" what that
is. Thanks.

~~~
adrianhoward
_Do you really read them all?_

Ha! No. Not even remotely. Neither do I read every HN comment or every HN
post.

I don't drink the river. I dip in a cup occasionally.

I do read anything that's directed at me as an individual.

I have a couple of twitter lists that friends are on that I pay a little bit
more attention to (twitter lists are ways of grouping people in twitter -
think Google Circles with an even worse UX ;-).

I have a computationally generated twitter list of folk I've 'talked' to
recently (via <http://conversationlist.com/>).

I have a couple of topic-specific lists I glance a weather eye over every day
or so to see if anything interesting pops up.

Otherwise it's just serendipitous access when I feel the need for brain
popcorn.

For example earlier this evening I came across
[http://www.linuxpromagazine.com/Online/Blogs/Off-the-Beat-
Br...](http://www.linuxpromagazine.com/Online/Blogs/Off-the-Beat-Bruce-
Byfield-s-Blog/Reactions-to-women-speakers/) via a retweet from somebody I
follow. Which interested me.

If I go look now at 23:42..... and by 23:43 I'm reading about Papa Mau - robot
that holds the world record for distance traveled by an autonomous vehicle on
land or in the sea [http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681003/this-surfboard-sized-
robo...](http://www.fastcoexist.com/1681003/this-surfboard-sized-robot-just-
propelled-itself-across-the-ocean) via this tweet
<https://twitter.com/DanAsadorian/status/276360715865038849> retweeted by
somebody I follow.

I do not sit on twitter 24/7 reading every tweet that rolls past. That way
lies madness (for the way I use twitter anyway ;-)

------
jgrahamc
It sounds like it was a good idea for this person to disconnect from Twitter
if reading and processing tweets was taking up that much space in his head. It
sounds like it was pretty unhealthy for him and that he was somewhat obsessed
with being involved in some way with what people were tweeting.

That's not been my experience of Twitter, but then I only follow 32 accounts
(most of which are companies) and I've never felt like I missed out by not
reading their tweets.

------
spodek
I was nervous to leave Facebook but when I did I found leaving Facebook easy
and fun -- <http://joshuaspodek.com/leaving-facebook-easy-and-fun>. I had read
others say the biggest surprise about leaving was that you don't miss it.
Using it is addictive but not using it doesn't leave any holes in your life.

Leaving Twitter sounds easy and fun too.

When I first started with Friendster I thought it was fun. Facebook seemed fun
too. Until the company got creepy and I realized centralized social media
companies are locked in an arms race to get as much of your personal data as
they could with as little accountability as they can get away with.

So I left to avoid doing business with creepy companies.

But I found life was better without them. Mine anyway.

I hold out hope for Diaspora as non-centralized so you own your data, but I'm
not sure how much social media helps my life.

~~~
bluetshirt
Everyone I know who's left facebook - EVERYONE I know who's left facebook -
has come crawling back. In most cases it's because they're tired of being left
in the dark about events. So as to whether or not it leaves "holes in your
life", I guess that depends how you feel about sitting alone at home while
your friends are out skiing, watching movies, or catching a show.

~~~
SyneRyder
Yep, I've left Facebook several times and Event listings (and the list of who
is attending) are always what drags me back.

But that's just a network effect - if those listings were elsewhere, I
wouldn't need to return. Someone really needs to make an events app where
identity is tied to Twitter / AppDotNet / Email instead. And while you're at
it, connect to my Last.FM & Rdio so you can suggest/predict events for me
based on my musical taste as well as my interests & friends network.

~~~
andrewflnr
Well, in your new event app, you'll want to allow people to log in with their
Facebook as well, to take advantage of the existing network effect. If you
came up with a compelling feature or two, and could get Facebook people to
prefer it for their event, it seems you would have a decent chance of
traction. Monetization is left as an exercise for the reader.

------
pclark
I quit tweeting for a few weeks and I noticed zero difference.

I was actually kind of disappointed given how much everyone talks about how
we're "addicted" to social media.

~~~
debacle
So you're saying it didn't change your thinking about mostly everything?

How odd. It must be difficult for you to write catchy blog headlines.

~~~
pclark
I was born catchy

------
stephengillie
Social experiences lend us to distribute the computing of our problems to
those other humans around us. We naturally store problems we can't solve, then
reach out for additional processing power when others are near. It's an
expression of love, in that we can probably leave with positive net calories
after the problem is solved.

In a sense, you're renting out your head for distributed computing without
charging anything. You're like Folding@Home for your friends' lives.

~~~
qu4z-2
I guess the trick is to be careful about what you compute.

Helping your friend compute that infinite loop doesn't help anyone.

~~~
maxerickson
It's kind of scary how many stupid self perpetuating behaviors there are.
Stuff like angry driving (where aggressive maneuvers make other drivers angry,
and so on).

------
aprescott
The best part of this is of course the piece of generic template at the
bottom. :)

 _If you want to read about what I've learned about the software business,
leadership, and team-building, follow me on Twitter._

------
calinet6
I never started Twitter, so I guess I'm already good.

Seriously, this is good general advice. We should all try to take breaks from
our digital addictions (you know you have them). I highly recommend camping.
Total disconnection and reconnection to nature all at once!

------
danso
I don't know if quitting twitter would change me much, as I usually just use
it for tweeting and not following news. But quitting FB for a couple of weeks
almost had a profound change. Wen you are forced to just stand and think while
you're waiting for takeout, instead of making the quick check of the newsfeed,
or sending time thinking about how to wittily caption a photo...you end up
thinking about different things...I started to just sketch and draw more with
all the spare uninterrupted minutes I had.

------
meej
I've never quit Twitter for more than a week, but I don't hesitate to unfollow
people when I decide I am tired of their tweets, and I don't engage in silly
behaviors like following back indiscriminately. I do similar pruning of the
RSS feeds I read.

For example, I decided to go on a "politics detox" the week before the
Republican primary and unfollowed all but one political reporter and unsubbed
from all but one political blog. I didn't miss the content at all, and I
daresay I was a happier person for it.

Anyway, my point is, you don't necessarily have to quit the whole platform,
sometimes all you need to do is manage your use of it. Know yourself and know
your limits, then adjust accordingly. It seems to me like a lot of people just
accept the firehose of input into their lives without considering the impact
it will have on them. I always wonder how people who follow hundreds of other
accounts keep up with it (well, I guess they're using something like TweetDeck
to focus on the accounts they care about most). Interestingly, the number of
accounts I follow on Twitter tends to hover around Dunbar's Number.

~~~
ericclemmons
This. During the primaries I unfollowed several obnoxious tweeters (all left,
since I can't find anyone on the right in the tech sector), and did the same
for Facebook.

My rule of thumb is, if we interact or you're in my phone book, we stay
connected. If not, or you simply generate noise that doesn't help me utilize
the platform for my specific needs, then you're removed/filtered.

When Facebook isn't used as a public ledger of who you're friends with,
there's freedom to use it for productive purposes rather than e-stalking.

------
bpatrianakos
Really? This is really that much of a problem for people? I'm a
developer/techie person/nerd same as everyone else here and I just could never
understand the whole Facebook/Twitter thing. If I do use it it's basically to
talk to myself and just as a tool for self-expression (which is why I created
<http://writeapp.me> for myself). I never much did or enjoyed talking with
others on Facebook and could never quite make any connections with Twitter
folks (Twitter just moves way too fast for me). Why is it that once you're
done communicating with whoever you can't just leave it? I'm honestly asking.
To me, this sort of thing is as mysterious and foreign as video game
addiction. I just don't get it and I feel kind of odd that I don't which is
weird. It's almost like you're not normal _unless_ you can't stop using social
media.

------
xk_id
There is a quote in this clip <http://youtu.be/gQ3HEVelBFY?t=4m7s> which goes:
"we have to shift from long sequential thinking, to short parallel thinking".
I think that because computers have permeated our lifes so much, they are
enabling a new pattern of dynamic adjustment to the world around us. The
article didn't persuade me this new pattern is unworkable – I believe focus is
still attainable, it just requires a more complex kind of management.

Edit: nevermind, I think my comment is almost completely offtopic.

------
cupcake-unicorn
Wow, this article really hit home.

Earlier this year, I remember myself commenting to someone (partially because
of his age, I guess) that I was pretty surprised that he didn't have Facebook.

A few months later, I found that I was slowly blocking everyone's (read:
"friends") posts from showing up on the home page, and only using Facebook as
basically a feed to keep up with products and businesses. I made the profile
as private as I could (unfortunately the bulk Greasemonkey scrips I found for
this were buggy, so i did most of it by hand...).

It was a pain, because of Facebook's stupid phone authentication thing, but I
managed to set up basically a fake account for linkage and following
companies. In this way, I haven't stopped using Facebook. But I don't use it
how it's "intended" to be used, and I can sign up for whatever bogus app I
want without worrying about my privacy being leaked. It has been fantastic,
and I haven't looked back, nor do I want to.

What stood out in the article is what he said about being oversensitive. I
think social networking is a deathtrap for those who have problems like that -
myself being one of them. There are some webcomic artists that I follow who
I've seen go down a pretty dangerous path getting overly involved in Twitter -
petty comments and stuff made against them, things like that. I see a lot of
people spiraling in self destructive behavior using social networks as a
medium, and it is so healthy and wonderful for people with those tendencies to
stop using them.

Another side effect is that it really showed me who my true friends were. I
figured that if people "couldn't" communicate with me if I left Facebook
(apparently texting or emailing is too "old school"), they weren't worth
having as friends. It's really funny that most people I talk to say, "Oh well,
you know, I wouldn't be on it, but there are these people that I, like, can't
contact any other way." Because apparently these people just have one big
Facebook app, with no phone or email attached. Right.

My web presence now is basically nothing, and it's a huge sigh of relief. My
only complaint is that Facebook has its claws stuck into everything, and
making a new account was a real pain. I just marked my old Twitter account
private, but will probably have to migrate to a new account at some point in
order to use @ replies to clarify things (businesses etc. that I'm following,
no personal things). There really needs to be a better way to do this.

------
LurkingStrnager
I'm in a state not far off from this myself. I spent several years as a
regular , daily member of a few odd chatrooms, before I one day came to the
conclusion "That's enough of this" and in effect committed infocide within
that network. I found them through idle curiousity, I stayed while I felt
connected, times changed the people and push came to shove; I left.
Unfortunately, this left a hole that I used to fill with some of that (rather
disconnected) social interaction, in spite of the continually degraded quality
of such. Some time later I now find myself ignoring a prickly itch to hop back
on the networks "just to see what's up", instead vacantly seeking through
newsfeeds and abandoning the odd attempt to comment partway through. Not sure
why I'm submitting this one, I suppose it to be mildly cathartic, but reading
this article has granted an interesting perspective on my own situation, so I
suppose sharing that is reason enough. Either way, this is quite enough
socializing on the internet for this lurker tonight.

------
kh_hk
Maybe off topic, but also "life changing": RSS

If I am not planning on using one or two hours, I read most social sites
(subreddits, HN, blogs, ...) using an RSS (it's not dead!) reader. Web sites
are built with some features that make the reader spend more time on a site. I
think this is a fact people will get sooner or later.

Being on a program that let's you skim efficiently through articles makes you
an efficient news consumer. Moreover, I can save articles for later, without
using my already too-much packed bookmark section on my browser.

As for twitter, I have never used it too much for social purposes. It helps me
reach more people that might be interested in my product (so, yes, another one
of these shouting voices there).

Not that my story would be relevant, or had the number of followers the author
has, but going back to using an RSS reader has improved how I use my free time
reading news.

------
chipsy
I don't feel this at all, but do I think it's easy to cultivate your way into
a corner with opt-in social media, especially if you come at it from an
"industry" angle where you're following a lot of people stuck in the same echo
chamber with little diversity in their messaging.

In fact I deliberately counter that by diluting my stream with lots of people
of minor interest, or people writing in languages I don't know, so that the
timeline is big and noisy and nobody's voice comes off as being particularly
loud(if they are outrageously spammy I do tend to drop them though). Over 1000
followed now.

Yes, there's a subset that I care more about, but I don't try to lock it down.
The point is that it goes both ways; I will use Twitter to say relatively less
interesting/valuable things if I perceive it as a smaller thing than it is.

------
at-fates-hands
I learned a few years ago social media can be like any addiction and
moderation is always the best philosophy.

I had every social media property you could imagine. Then, I realized a large
portion of my day was spent following, commenting and chasing the latest fad.
I decided to completely unplug for about six months.

I still have facebook and twitter. Facebook for my high school buddies and
Twitter just for posting my random thoughts. I only check them once a day and
post maybe a few times a week. It helps to keep a low dosage approach so when
you need to step away, you can do it without thinking you're missing
something.

I've always liked the idea of having to post something worthwhile at HN. It
takes out a lot of the cruft you have to sift through and makes it easier to
actually enjoy the conversations and insights I get here.

------
S_A_P
I generally dont like the "persuasive essay" type of blog as is presented
here. However there are some valid points. I think the key takeaway from this
is not so much about quitting Twitter as it is taking a break from the
distractions that take away from your family/work/actual life. I remember
having an epiphany of sorts when thinking about how my kids would remember me
after they get older.

I dont want them to remember a man who was more interested in the rectangle in
my hand than I was in them. I want them to remember me being fully engaged
with them, and being there for them. Twitter/FB/HN arent a problem unless you
let them interfere with your life. If you need to take a month off to get that
sort of perspective, great. If not then everything in moderation.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Easy to say moderation. But may as well counsel an alcoholic or junkie
'moderation!'

As an older guy who's seen it all happen, I see zombies walking down the hall,
street, mall with their electronic sedatives/stimulants and I see no
difference from any stoner.

I counsel - drop electronic instant-communications devices entirely from your
life - not for a month - for life. What you get is your humanity back.

------
ripperdoc
In every social network or social area online I follow, I see people saying
these things regularly, along the lines of: "I can't take it here anymore".
While I understand and respect it, I think it comes from what importance you
put on these services in your life. You control your own mental filter - use
it. No point getting upset by what random people on the internet said, and to
completely stop using a service seems like an exaggerated response, as these
services DO provide value.

------
rjempson
I've quit Twitter 'forever':

It dawned on me one day that my real friends are far more interesting and
polite.

I was tired of reading people's complaints and general drivel.

I was tired of taking time to respond to people and getting no interaction.

I was tired of making jokes that fell flat. Sometimes with responses like "I
don't even know what that means". I think the key being that people don't know
you, or your personality, and can't see your face, so they don't get your
humour. They simply aren't your friends.

In summary, it is a frustrating tedious time sink.

------
monochromatic
> It’s important to note that, for me, there wasn’t some trigger event. In a
> snap decision, I just had this feeling that came to me the second I walked
> in the door one evening—it was kind of a voice saying, “yep, done for now.”

I did this exact thing with reddit recently. I'd been on reddit almost since
the first day it existed, and I was kind of addicted. Woke up one morning and
went "you know, I could just delete my account." Before I gave myself time to
think about it, it was done.

------
mxxx
Brilliant, another blog post where somebody tells us how amazing the world is
once you stop using social networks and start interacting with people "real
world" in "real ways". Here's a news flash for you, dude, people have been
doing that since the dawn of time. The idea that you should just talk with
people face to face is nothing new and you're not doing anything remarkable.

Generally I'd just ignore a post like this, but they seem to be increasing in
frequency.

~~~
xk_id
Thanks for writing such a valuable contribution. I've learned a lot.

------
recursive
I've had a twitter account for many years, but I never check it more than once
in a given week. I'm sure there have been 6 month spans where I didn't use it
at all.

------
mixmastamyk
This post has a lot in common with the previous one about focusing on one
thing. There is a lot of noise in the world, and I'm happiest when I can turn
it all off.

------
enobrev
His conclusion is the reason I generally work evenings and weekends. When I
need to work during the day, I can shut off the email, the IM, the social
apps, the HN, the Reddit, but they're still buzzing away. When I take a break
and open any of them, I suddenly have 1000 new things to become distracted
with.

At night, all these things simmer down. I couldn't distract myself with the
outside world even if I wanted to.

------
jlees
One of the issues I find with Twitter is the increasing amount to which it
(like all channels) is used for commercial messages and notifications; when
spammy @-replies and stream tweets started outweighing those from genuine
people I wanted to interact with, my usage coincidentally dropped. Email's
just as bad, no matter how much I unsubscribe my inbox still feels far more
full of robots than humans.

------
dasmith
What's the consequence of quitting twitter for a month? Making a blog post
that's 88.5 tweets long (12,387ch/140).

~~~
shizzy0
LOL. Good one.

------
cpeterso
Is this overload feeling a side-effect or a design feature? Companies like
Twitter and Facebook want you to spend more time on their websites, but is
there a way to design a system that supports more healthful or effective
social interaction and media consumption?

------
vy8vWJlco
"I felt completely at peace about it as I deleted all my social media apps off
my phone, laptop, and iPad."

I had that same feeling when I stopped watching TV and then later, when I
switched to GNU/Linux. Both felt like very much like stepping off a treadmill
for me.

------
timc3
Over the last two or three months I have forgotten to read who I am following
in Twitter, and its great. I sometimes post because it triggers other services
for me but I recommend giving up twitter for a month to see how it feels.

------
ChrisArchitect
twitter is just another venue for information consumption that previously was
more generally the web/blogs etc for me. So cutting it off is not about
cutting off access to tweets etc but cutting off the flow of information and
access to global goings-on that I am verrry accustomed to now. Sure it might
free you up to do other things, but for many of us now it's just part of life
- the constant flow of information and being in it. And I'm of the part of the
Millennial generation that only got internet in later years -- just think
where the youth of today would stand on this

------
mrtunes
here's a tip for you: because twitter will delete your account if you
deactivate it for more than a month, you can use a strong password generator
to lock yourself out of the account to try taking a break.

------
psycho
Well, it's so interesting that Twitter is so mind changing - maybe I should
start using it after all?

But in fact, no, thanks, Facebook is quite enough for now, I guess.

------
xyzzyb
Just about any change can have this effect as long as you perceive the change
to be significant.

------
thanithani
Everything in moderation.

~~~
mrtunes
the problem is some things are very hard to moderate, so they are better off
being cut entirely.

------
thefsb
isn't this basically what Jaron Lanier was getting at in You Are Not a Gadget?

------
Buzaga
I've left twitter a long time ago, even following ONLY 14 PEOPLE, I can't keep
with it, it's a torture to try to keep up with the stream.. Even given that it
has always been 14-30 people and it being a 'saner' stream, a simple "skim" on
it leads to at least 1h-2h of reading/lurking(tons of links, articles, sorting
stuff to read later)

main offender: Steve Klabnik, he posts interesting stuff that I'd like to
check on, and that's the reason I didn't unfollow him, but it's way too much
still

Twitter just feels like really, really noisy room...

------
mmhd
I closed my Twitter account a few months ago and my thinking and doing has
never been clearer. Not to mention, the complete disappearance of anxiety
often brought on by social media websites.

