Read on Twitter
This will likely be very boring but I am a man of my word so...
I once promised to write a thread about what it’s like to have/manage an account that is “large” by Twitter standards.
So, boring though this may be, here goes...
1/ https://twitter.com/abbott_anne_/status/1272603047307378691
I once promised to write a thread about what it’s like to have/manage an account that is “large” by Twitter standards.
So, boring though this may be, here goes...
1/ https://twitter.com/abbott_anne_/status/1272603047307378691
First, short setup:
I had no interest in joining Twitter. I joined after the election at the prompting of my friend @Justitia2018.
Thought I’d send some tweets, support my friend’s anti-Trump effort and that would be that.
2/
I had no interest in joining Twitter. I joined after the election at the prompting of my friend @Justitia2018.
Thought I’d send some tweets, support my friend’s anti-Trump effort and that would be that.
2/
I’m a dude on a sofa. I had no prior connection to media or politics.
Just a person tweeting like everyone else. Still am.
Obviously, this has become a bit of a runaway train and has now taken on a life of its own.
That has been... oooh, boy... an experience.
3/
Just a person tweeting like everyone else. Still am.
Obviously, this has become a bit of a runaway train and has now taken on a life of its own.
That has been... oooh, boy... an experience.
3/
In terms of the pure mechanics of it... Managing it... I have no tools, no assets, no systems different than what you have.
I tweet from my phone 99.9% of the time.
I have no account tools different than what you have.
4/
I tweet from my phone 99.9% of the time.
I have no account tools different than what you have.
4/
Allegedly blue checkmarks have access to some other capabilities. I don’t. I have no idea what those are.
To try to at least manage it somewhat, I use the “notification filters” in the settings to strip out notifications from accounts likely to be trolls.
5/
To try to at least manage it somewhat, I use the “notification filters” in the settings to strip out notifications from accounts likely to be trolls.
5/
That cuts my reply notifications down to about 3-4,000 a day.
I love interacting. I love the social part of social media. My phone is a bit less delighted with the data volume.
So, I have to do a lot of force-quitting and restarting the app just to keep it running.
6/
I love interacting. I love the social part of social media. My phone is a bit less delighted with the data volume.
So, I have to do a lot of force-quitting and restarting the app just to keep it running.
6/
To make it possible to efficiently read content I think it would be beneficial to share, I set up private reading lists.
Basically, subsets of accounts organized by category.
By doing that, I can login, very quickly scan a list of abt 100 news sources and catch up on news.
7/
Basically, subsets of accounts organized by category.
By doing that, I can login, very quickly scan a list of abt 100 news sources and catch up on news.
7/
I tend that list regularly because the media - and Twitter’s algorithm - both heavily favor white men. Absent active management, a list would be nearly all white guys.
I put effort into curating a source list that is 60+% populated by women and rich with diverse voices.
8/
I put effort into curating a source list that is 60+% populated by women and rich with diverse voices.
8/
Those lists and a bit of a process makes it easier to quickly find information I think would be useful to share widely.
When I have time, I get to interact in the comments. When I’m pressed, I really only get to post.
9/
When I have time, I get to interact in the comments. When I’m pressed, I really only get to post.
9/
That kind of sucks to be honest. The fun of Twitter is engagement. Interacting with people.
The more the management side grows, the more you’re relegated to being a publisher of sorts...
That feels like hosting a cocktail party and never getting out of the kitchen.
10/
The more the management side grows, the more you’re relegated to being a publisher of sorts...
That feels like hosting a cocktail party and never getting out of the kitchen.
10/
I often miss the days when I was just a person in the conversation.
With what passes for “popularity” on here comes a lot of weird effects.
People expect greater perfection. They assume the info you share will be correct so you are backed into being responsible for vetting.
11
With what passes for “popularity” on here comes a lot of weird effects.
People expect greater perfection. They assume the info you share will be correct so you are backed into being responsible for vetting.
11
Your posts and comments and replies drag tons of people in behind you, so you become responsible for those downstream effects.
When I once would have LOVED to quote-tweet some random ridiculous thing and say “Can you believe this?” the mass response would be swarming.
12/
When I once would have LOVED to quote-tweet some random ridiculous thing and say “Can you believe this?” the mass response would be swarming.
12/
So, your comments and interactions become further burdened by a responsibility for not just what you say but what that might produce as an effect.
13/
13/
With “popularity” on here also comes outsized feelings towards you - both good and bad.
Some people like you more than they should. Some hate you more than is rational.
14/
Some people like you more than they should. Some hate you more than is rational.
14/
Some of the haters are just off-the-fucking-charts unhinged.
I’ve been doxed, stalked, harassed, gotten death threats.
I’ve had people accuse me of being the reason for their divorce. I’ve had people post pictures of where I go just to let me know they know.
15/
I’ve been doxed, stalked, harassed, gotten death threats.
I’ve had people accuse me of being the reason for their divorce. I’ve had people post pictures of where I go just to let me know they know.
15/
It is not for the meek.
It is a furnace. It tests how comfortable you are in an environment where some people will abjectly despise you for the same reason others like you.
That’s a weird distillery.
16/
It is a furnace. It tests how comfortable you are in an environment where some people will abjectly despise you for the same reason others like you.
That’s a weird distillery.
16/
In real life, we don’t hang out with people who hate us.
We don’t even hang out in groups where 30% of the people hate us.
On here, if you are an account of a certain size and offering strong opinions, thousands of people will hate you with an animus that at first shocks you.
We don’t even hang out in groups where 30% of the people hate us.
On here, if you are an account of a certain size and offering strong opinions, thousands of people will hate you with an animus that at first shocks you.
It can sometimes be personally threatening. It can make you worry about the safety of people close to you.
But mostly it just tests how comfortable you are with yourself regardless of whether people approve.
18/
But mostly it just tests how comfortable you are with yourself regardless of whether people approve.
18/
In that regard I’m lucky. I’ve been through a lot of shit and while I am woefully flawed in many ways (which I know well) I happen to like who I am at this stage in my life.
Ain’t nothing a stranger could say to me that would weigh on me more than my own self-criticism.
19/
Ain’t nothing a stranger could say to me that would weigh on me more than my own self-criticism.
19/
And armed with that, there are upsides.
I like all of you good people. I feel a sense of community among people with shared values.
Hard to imagine these last 4 years without that.
20/
I like all of you good people. I feel a sense of community among people with shared values.
Hard to imagine these last 4 years without that.
20/
I now feel a sense of responsibility as well.
My account’s reach has become insane. Last month, my posts were seen 180 million times.
That is effing insane. INSANE.
We have an election to win and a country to take back. Using that platform is a duty.
21/
My account’s reach has become insane. Last month, my posts were seen 180 million times.
That is effing insane. INSANE.
We have an election to win and a country to take back. Using that platform is a duty.
21/
It is time-consuming and has an opportunity cost. People who have very kindly supported my Patreon and Ko-Fi have helped immensely.
That has kept gas in my car - but not fixed its air conditioning.
There are no Soros checks.
22/
That has kept gas in my car - but not fixed its air conditioning.
There are no Soros checks.
22/
There are probably some accounts who “monetize” all of this well. I am not one of them. I am still a guy on a sofa.
We have all been summoned to join together and contribute as we can.
Whatever it is I do here, in whatever small value that provides, it is “my part”.
23/
We have all been summoned to join together and contribute as we can.
Whatever it is I do here, in whatever small value that provides, it is “my part”.
23/
So, this has become a ramble but the gist is that for me at least, having a “large account” is a platform to contribute that comes at a cost.
Someday, we will have come through this and I won’t remember the psycho stalker who DMed me a pic of my son’s teacher...
24/
Someday, we will have come through this and I won’t remember the psycho stalker who DMed me a pic of my son’s teacher...
24/
I’ll remember that we - me and all of you who choose to read me - banded together when it mattered and pulled us through a dark chapter.
And it will all have been worth it.
//
And it will all have been worth it.
//
p.s if you have any questions about any of this, what it’s like, how you manage it, etc., fire away... I’ll do my best to answer.
