I logged off Twitter 45 days ago & forgot to log back

Some thoughts after forgetting to log back on a platform I've used daily for 6 years

Almost 2 months ago, I logged off my main Twitter account and haven’t looked back. After 6 years of daily use, I surprised myself with how easy it was.

The main reason behind this decision was that I’m going through life-defining moments (happy ones), and I didn’t want to be distracted. I wanted to take it all in and live in the moment.

In those almost two months, I’ve noticed a few things that didn’t expect. Or at least wasn’t searching for when I logged off:

• I replaced most of my Twitter scrolling with Reddit scrolling

• I replaced my Twitter content creation with LinkedIn content creation

• I don’t endlessly scroll while in the sofa anymore and I’m more present

• I’m reading physical books for the first time in years

• I’m more focused at work

• the amount of angry content I read daily has been reduced substantially

I want to expand on some of these, in case you find yourself at a similar place that I found myself in.

Replacing Twitter with Reddit… and LinkedIn?

So, I won’t pretend that I logged off Twitter and now found 5 free hours a day that I’ve devoted to gardening or woodworking. No. I notice that I frequent Reddit more often now.

I’ve never created content on Reddit. I only have an account so I can have a tailored feed with subreddits I’m interested in. I’ve been doing so for the last 10 years.

One thing that has surprised me about Reddit, or, has surprised me about Twitter, is that the general mood is less angry. Even in the main subreddits, which I only pop in from time to time.

For example, any news about LLMs, AI, new tools, new models, etc. is either optimistic or pessimistic. But with some explained reason for it. It’s not as reactionary as on Twitter.

You don’t get bombarded with messages about how you’re going to lose your job, or how “it’s over” for you. You get more level-headed comments. And having moderation keeps the signal-to-noise ratio higher.

Regarding politics, which is another topic that usually includes anger, Reddit is less political and partisan than Twitter is.

This could be that my feed on Reddit is better curated than on Twitter. But this is also about how Twitter’s feed has lost the quality it once had. Or at least, it has lost quality for me.

For all the bad rap Reddit moderators get (sometimes, justified), having some level of moderation keeps reactionary bots down. The average quality is higher. If anything, because you don’t have to deal with 69 comments from bots promoting nudes, politics or crypto scams.

Content creation-wise, I still need an outlet. Even if a small one.

Lately, my outlet has been LinkedIn and I have been creating content there. Sure, most of it is work-related. It’s not as creative as sharing my every thought on Twitter is.

But… don’t most of us trick ourselves into being on Twitter due to the professional possibilities? Don’t we tell ourselves we can make money by tweeting, grow our network, gain new leads/clients, etc.?

Well, I am embracing “the grift” and making video content about the software I sell.

Everyone has been saying for years that ‘video is the future’, so I’m trying it out. In a world where everyone has access to ChatGPT, everything has been flooded with low-quality content. Video, for now, seems like a good way to differentiate yourself and show that you’re human.

You know, what a personal brand is about.

As a side note on LinkedIn: I’ve noticed that the meta is changing again and that there is a lot of Twitter-style comments and reposts. More and more people seem to share their edgy opinions there.

And… it’s made me reflect on how cringe it can be sometimes. Especially, how cringe I can be too. And have been.

Maybe I’m getting older, but social media doesn’t need more edgy takes on everything posted. So I’m comfortable and happy with exploring video creation for work purposes at the moment.

Endless scrolling

Throughout the years, I have had many ways of using Twitter. Sometimes I only used it on the PC. Other times only on the phone. Sometimes I would schedule tweets. Other times I would write and publish without thinking.

After 2 months, I’ve noticed I don’t endlessly scroll through Twitter on my phone while on the sofa anymore. Even if I’m browsing Reddit. Twitter had become very effective at keeping me numb and just looking for the next hit of dopamine.

With Reddit, after reading through less than 10 posts, it’s enough. Rarely do I ever go above that number. After that, it’s very easy to put the phone down.

And I really like that.

In the past, I went through phases where I used Twitter more, or less. Recently, I noticed I had slipped and was spending too long on it. Which, after retiring my personal brand 2 years ago, was harder to justify to myself.

Again, this goes back to what you (or me) want to use Twitter for. Many of us started because we saw the benefits of building a personal brand. And due to the sunk costs fallacy, we overstay after we passed the point of diminishing returns years ago.

Due to this, the time I have ‘won back’ is now spent on other things. I have been reading physical books lately. First time in years that I’ve done so.

I also spend more time with ‘nothing to do’ and reflecting on things, rather than being constantly stimulated.

Heck, I’m now also truly engaged in the activities I used to pretend to do while scrolling. As silly as it may sound, if I’m watching TV or watching a YouTube video, I’m paying full attention now.

Which ties into focus.

Focus

I know all the theory about focus, not multitasking, attention residue, etc. But I’m not going to claim that using Twitter was causing me to be less focused.

The breakthrough for me is realising that I used Twitter as an outlet when I was unfocused.

The first few weeks I found myself unlocking my phone and clicking on the Twitter app out of memory. Same with opening a new tab on the browser and writing tee, double u, and hitting enter.

All done automatically and without thought. To then see the screen asking to log in.

Luckily, past that point it was easy to ignore and go back to what I was originally doing. Or take it as a sign to get off from the desk and take a small break.

This all came from the automatic-ness of the habit of logging in.

I know I’m not exactly discovering the wheel here. But it’s still good to notice that one can fall for it too, even after knowing about it for years.

Another aspect where my focus has improved is in my thinking. Both in the quality of thought processes, and in the scope of thinking.

Not only is there danger in logging on Twitter and derailing what you’re currently doing. But there’s also the danger of limiting your thoughts to whatever topics ‘people’ are talking about that day.

I cheekily put ‘people’ in quotes, because I do think the bot experience on Twitter has become worse. I currently work in an industry where most players benefit from artificially inflated traffic. Twitter does too. It’s a necessary evil.

It’s the end users like us who lose.

Again, this might be partly blamed by the degradation of my Twitter feed, and that’s on me. But I’ve come to realise just how much noise there is there.

Even if we assume that content on LinkedIn, Twitter and Reddit is equally ‘cringe’ or ‘useless’, the volume on Twitter is just higher.

Reading one Reddit post + comments will take you a couple minutes. On LinkedIn, reading one post + comments will take you slightly less, in my opinion. But on Twitter? You can read a tweet + comments quicker. So it’s very easy to read a higher volume of it.

Your brain (my brain) just gets full of nonsense and operates at a lower level now. It’s frustrating only when you realise it. And you realise it only after putting a stop to it.

Which brings me to what’s next.

The future

I always joked that the people who tweet that they “are leaving Twitter to never come back” always end up coming back. In my opinion, it’s those who slowly drift away the ones that truly end up leaving to never come back.

First it starts with posting less. Then it goes with replying and engaging less. Then the final last step is ignoring group chats and DMs. Until one day you log off and forget to log in again.

I won’t claim I will leave Twitter forever. I’ll probably be back one day. I did think about deleting the account and moving on.

But I have nice memories from it. I also have access to nice people who, even if we talk less now, I don’t think I want to lose forever. Most of my friends from Twitter I have access to on other platforms, but there’s a subset of people who might not be true friends, who are still nice to have access to.

But, I can say that I’ve noticed I don’t participate in group chats anymore. Or that I just ‘like’ whatever replies I get to a tweet, without engaging in conversation like I did before.

In the same way I started this break without any goals. I just wanted to be more present. I can continue the break without having to have an idea of what I want from it.

I’m just going to make the most of the Twitter break and see where it leads me. If I return, it will be for a good reason. If I don’t return, it will also be for a good reason.

All this to say, if you’re reading this and think you could be more present in your life, give logging off from Twitter a go. You might experience good things like I have!

Dolce vita.