Six months ago, after lurking for a while, I decided to join twitter. But I did so on a trial basis - I gave it six months, after which I would evaluate. And coming to the end of that trial period, I've reached a pretty easy decision: I'm going to get the hell back off twitter./1

It's been a mix of good and bad. The good:

- Talking with people I wouldn't otherwise get to interact with, especially junior people and grad students, and people in other fields

- Getting to read insightful/funny/interesting takes from people outside my immediate orbit /2

The bad:

- I keep getting distracted with stuff that isn't actually significant to me. (E.g., the Harpers letter would have barely been a blip on my radar if I wasn't on twitter, and I vaguely resent the amount of my mental space it's ended up occupying.)

- The outrage. . ./3

. . .cycle is wearying, and it can sometimes make it hard to differentiate between stuff that genuinely deserves my outrage and stuff that doesn't

- I've found that my own participation encourages an uncomfortable strand of narcissism in myself that I don't like /4

- But finally, the biggest reason: I don't think being on twitter has helped make me a better or more informed person, and when I check twitter regularly I am, on balance, less happy than when I don't.

So there you have it. Easy call. /5

But if we've met through this format, most especially if you're a grad student or early career person, keep in touch! I'm easy to find and I'd love to hear from you. I won't miss twitter, but I will miss the connections it facilitates. /6