Your post inspired me to do a clear out and check who I am following and if I want to follow them anymore. For a while I have been having a bad experience on Twitter for many reasons but lately I am seeing the same concepts again and again.Pointless questions just to get attention and likes, bad marketing tactics of people trying to sell a course that has no substance and an obsession with numbers. Accounts that I don't follow or match my values and personality keep popping up on my feed also.It's been quite the mess. So thanks for mentioning that feature in your first point, I had no idea you could filter what you see like that. Your post was really a breath of fresh air
Oh yes, it always bothers me so much when Twitter changes this particular setting back to what they call "seeing top tweets first" because it makes such a noticeable difference! Try it out and see if it does something for you :)
I've seen you and others discuss this particular topic of the follower hunters and empty motivators quite a bit lately and it was definitely part of what inspired me to have this write-up in the first place, because I noticed that those people would barely pop up in my own feed while others seem to be bombarded by their presence without even following any of them. Personally, I am more than fine with the fact that I will be confronted with these kinds of accounts so rarely that it's easy for me to just ignore them altogether. On the other hand though, it did make me think about how much I actually block out and if it's maybe sometimes even too much and I end up being oblivious to things that I should be more aware of. As Max pointed out in another comment, there is a danger of over-censoring your Twitter bubble too. I think we all just have to find a healthy balance that works for us individually. I guess as with so many other areas in life, the answer lies in bringing awareness and mindfulness to the whole topic - to know that there might be more going on "out there" than your personal feed is presenting to you, but that on the other hand a lot of what is going down on Twitter and the likes often is only half as dramatic as it may seem and might not even be worth all the attention. I think the main point of this article was to simply show that you don't have to be helplessly exposed to social media, but that there are possibilities to exert a bit more control over it. How you make use of that is completely up to you and what feels comfortable and right to you alone! So I do hope you'll be able to clear up your account in a way that feels more inspiring and healthy to you.
A big reason for my feed being such a mess is the fact that I follow some of the accounts that interact with the accounts I have talked about. In the beginning the people I followed seemed harmless and well intentioned. Or maybe I was just naive. Now though it seems like something has changed since they've grown a lot.Or are trying to grow like others. I feel bad unfollowing them because I have interacted with them . Not that they will notice but there is a bit of guilt there. I also find the mute button an amazing feature to help stop all the noise. I got to a point where I dreaded looking at my Home screen on Twitter and just used the search feature to look for the people I am interested in seeing what they've been up to. As you said, it is important to have the awareness of what goes on in the world but I think when it comes to social media it is vital to put our mental health first even if it means being strict. The whole point is to have a pleasant experience and meet and interact with people who have similar interests and ways with yourself. It's ok to come across people that are different and may challenge you but if it's a common occurrence and it affects you, then it's when it becomes an issue.
I completely agree with you! What's the point in even using platforms like Twitter in the first place if you find yourself in a place where you start dreading to look at it. Your mental health does come first, always.
I was actually thinking of mentioning the mute function, maybe I will still add it to the list, thank you for bringing it up again! I think I tended to find that if you have to mute someone, why even follow them in the first place, but I will admit that there are occasions where this functionality comes in handy because sometimes it is not even so much about the other person or what they are tweeting, but about ourselves and what we are able to tolerate or deal with at a particular moment. So you're right, this is a good option to cut down on the noise too! I also completely understand what you're saying in regards to the guilty feelings of unfollowing certain people, especially if you used to interact with them. There is actually a point to be made of simply structuring your account the other way around: instead of putting so much control and filtering on who you are following, you could just utilize lists for easy access to the people and parts of Twitter you feel most comfortable with. That way you can simply bypass your actual feed on days you're not up for it and jump right into your more curated lists.
I also wouldn't be too harsh on others and yourself though, people are complex creatures and there is a possibility that some of those who you experienced as being genuine at first and who now seem to change their ways still do so from a place of good intention and are just lagging a broader view of what the implications of their actions are. Engaging in constructive conversations with these people is important too, so maybe completely leaving all of them behind doesn't even have to be, but as you said it so perfectly, "if it's a common occurrence and it affects you, then it's when it becomes an issue", and that's when you should put your sanity first and do whatever you need to do for yourself!
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Your post inspired me to do a clear out and check who I am following and if I want to follow them anymore. For a while I have been having a bad experience on Twitter for many reasons but lately I am seeing the same concepts again and again.Pointless questions just to get attention and likes, bad marketing tactics of people trying to sell a course that has no substance and an obsession with numbers. Accounts that I don't follow or match my values and personality keep popping up on my feed also.It's been quite the mess. So thanks for mentioning that feature in your first point, I had no idea you could filter what you see like that. Your post was really a breath of fresh air
Oh yes, it always bothers me so much when Twitter changes this particular setting back to what they call "seeing top tweets first" because it makes such a noticeable difference! Try it out and see if it does something for you :)
I've seen you and others discuss this particular topic of the follower hunters and empty motivators quite a bit lately and it was definitely part of what inspired me to have this write-up in the first place, because I noticed that those people would barely pop up in my own feed while others seem to be bombarded by their presence without even following any of them. Personally, I am more than fine with the fact that I will be confronted with these kinds of accounts so rarely that it's easy for me to just ignore them altogether. On the other hand though, it did make me think about how much I actually block out and if it's maybe sometimes even too much and I end up being oblivious to things that I should be more aware of. As Max pointed out in another comment, there is a danger of over-censoring your Twitter bubble too. I think we all just have to find a healthy balance that works for us individually. I guess as with so many other areas in life, the answer lies in bringing awareness and mindfulness to the whole topic - to know that there might be more going on "out there" than your personal feed is presenting to you, but that on the other hand a lot of what is going down on Twitter and the likes often is only half as dramatic as it may seem and might not even be worth all the attention. I think the main point of this article was to simply show that you don't have to be helplessly exposed to social media, but that there are possibilities to exert a bit more control over it. How you make use of that is completely up to you and what feels comfortable and right to you alone! So I do hope you'll be able to clear up your account in a way that feels more inspiring and healthy to you.
A big reason for my feed being such a mess is the fact that I follow some of the accounts that interact with the accounts I have talked about. In the beginning the people I followed seemed harmless and well intentioned. Or maybe I was just naive. Now though it seems like something has changed since they've grown a lot.Or are trying to grow like others. I feel bad unfollowing them because I have interacted with them . Not that they will notice but there is a bit of guilt there. I also find the mute button an amazing feature to help stop all the noise. I got to a point where I dreaded looking at my Home screen on Twitter and just used the search feature to look for the people I am interested in seeing what they've been up to. As you said, it is important to have the awareness of what goes on in the world but I think when it comes to social media it is vital to put our mental health first even if it means being strict. The whole point is to have a pleasant experience and meet and interact with people who have similar interests and ways with yourself. It's ok to come across people that are different and may challenge you but if it's a common occurrence and it affects you, then it's when it becomes an issue.
I completely agree with you! What's the point in even using platforms like Twitter in the first place if you find yourself in a place where you start dreading to look at it. Your mental health does come first, always.
I was actually thinking of mentioning the mute function, maybe I will still add it to the list, thank you for bringing it up again! I think I tended to find that if you have to mute someone, why even follow them in the first place, but I will admit that there are occasions where this functionality comes in handy because sometimes it is not even so much about the other person or what they are tweeting, but about ourselves and what we are able to tolerate or deal with at a particular moment. So you're right, this is a good option to cut down on the noise too! I also completely understand what you're saying in regards to the guilty feelings of unfollowing certain people, especially if you used to interact with them. There is actually a point to be made of simply structuring your account the other way around: instead of putting so much control and filtering on who you are following, you could just utilize lists for easy access to the people and parts of Twitter you feel most comfortable with. That way you can simply bypass your actual feed on days you're not up for it and jump right into your more curated lists.
I also wouldn't be too harsh on others and yourself though, people are complex creatures and there is a possibility that some of those who you experienced as being genuine at first and who now seem to change their ways still do so from a place of good intention and are just lagging a broader view of what the implications of their actions are. Engaging in constructive conversations with these people is important too, so maybe completely leaving all of them behind doesn't even have to be, but as you said it so perfectly, "if it's a common occurrence and it affects you, then it's when it becomes an issue", and that's when you should put your sanity first and do whatever you need to do for yourself!