Peeking Behind The Curtain
What I learned about Twitter when I stopped consuming it and started using it.
Using Social Media
I've been using Twitter for the last few months. I've been on Twitter before strictly as a consumer. This time, I'm using it. I'm working on building an audience. I plan on launching a business as a side hustle. Maybe it will grow into more.
I've been mindful of who I follow. My focus has been on following people who have had success writing online. I've been studying how they tweet, what they tweet. This approach has been revealing.
Consuming social media feels amorphous. Mysterious algorithms work invisibly in the background. They present easily digestible mental junk food. Virtually all of it is empty calories. Every once in a while something clicks with us. It's funny, eye-opening, maybe even useful.
It's just enough of a dopamine hit to keep us scrolling. We don't mind passing by all the junk because it's so easily digestible. We don't need to think about it.
The problem with this is that it conditions us not to think. So much of what passes for insight is simply a parade of platitudes. Ideas that are obvious were we to spend any time thinking about it ourselves.
It's the promise of passive improvement.
A lot of people who are successful on Twitter, or any social media, aren't necessarily the smartest or most talented. They're the ones who see this pattern clearly. They're good at capitalizing on it. They're good at feeding us the junk food we crave. They're good at making us feel good for "learning" something in a few seconds rather than figuring it our for ourselves.
One of the people I follow, Nat Eliason, posted this tweet recently:
I think he's mostly correct but you could make a case that books and videos could be listed in the second group.
Many books, videos and even TED talks are no more insightful than social media. That's a bold statement. To be fair, there are some excellent examples of all of these but I'm convinced that the insatiable need for content in our modern society brings much flotsam and jetsam along with the treasure.
Most books could be ½ to ¼ as long as they are. Many TED talks are merely charismatic speakers assigning new terms to concepts we already know and assuring us that we are now better people for having listened to them. The best books and talks are thought-provoking and get us to act, but many are just larger portions of the same mental junk food.
Maintaining Perspective
I realize I'm painting with a broad brush here. There's nothing wrong with trying to make a buck. I'm trying to build a business, too. There are plenty of people on social media who are actually trying to help people. It took some doing but I've found people interested in building genuine relationships and community.
As a creator, it's no small task to build an audience, convey your authority, market your product or service and improve your craft all while remaining genuine and centered.
It's even tougher for the consumer to separate who is trying to build a business from who is trying to get rich quick. The fact is, this isn't limited to social media. It pervades the entire creator economy.
This may come across as a cautionary tale but it's hopeful. When I started studying Twitter and social media to learn how to use it more effectively, the mindless, formless, endless feed took shape. I started to see the signal through the noise. I still have much to learn but seeing both sides will help me avoid becoming the type of online business that leverages formulaic clickbait1 for a quick buck.
If you’ve never heard it, I recommend the song, Hook, by Blues Traveler. The song pre-dates the use of the term clickbait but the lyrics make the connection. Plus, it’s just a great song.
I scrolled away but the Hook brought me back (love BT). Whether it's doom scrolling through TikTok, watching Bravo TV or eating potato chips, sometimes the empty calories are comforting and easy to digest when life feels too difficult. As a creator, I imagine it's a tough line to walk between pandering to the masses and getting enough attention for something important you want to say, especially as you build an audience. Keep doing what you're doing...love your writing!