Why I left Twitter, and why I’m kind of going back.

Last week, I decided to try  an “experiment”, or at least that was the official name. The truth was that I needed to get away from everything.  Recently, I have been living without things in my life that I have deemed as distracting, such as Video Gaming & Television. I had found that it had helped, I was feeling more productive, I started digging into my library of books (reading through Neuromancer, on my great friend Debbie Millman’s suggestion).

However, I still had one big distraction, and that was Twitter. The super amazing instantaneous “look at MEEEE” web application. As of this point, I have an almost 1:1 ratio with followers/followed,  and I have around 4773 tweets.

And most of those are probably funny, interesting, or just bizarre posts. However, in the past 3 months, all that I can remember is tired rants about how I’m unemployed/depressed/problems. And Phoenix Design Week, but that week was absolutely magical, but that is for another post.

Back on track, I find that Twitter is very accessible & thus, very easy to write on. However, it’s too accessible. It’s way too easy to post your emotions quickly, without thought.

One of my amazing friends, a designer named Sean Rice made a good point to me that I was being even more negative than normal, and that I shouldn’t be spreading those feelings around.

And he was right.

So, I took a break. No writing for a week, and I barely lurked, mainly to see if any of the firms I watch in Phoenix had posted any job information. And it felt great. Like a breath of fresh air, I instantly felt re-energized. I had time again, and I even pumped out some changes on my website (added a lovely font by the way), and even scored some Freelance work.

But most importantly, I felt much better about myself, and I realized that we attach ourselves to these web applications like Facebook & Twitter in the same way that a Drug Addict LOVES their poison of choice.  It’s a terrible addiction, just like Television, World of Warcraft,  Starbucks.

But I can’t put my dislike of Twitter entirely on the premise of that I needed to get away for my own health. A little over a month ago, I secured a small contract job working with a company performing social media work, and while I cannot disclose their clients nor will I disclose them, I will say that the job put a vile taste in my mouth in terms of what Twitter is and represents.

A while ago, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails said in an interview that

“Twitter doesn’t give a shit, they just want numbers.”

which is exactly true, and my experiences in doing Social Media Advertising have solidified that. If you look back at my previous post, I make the mention that

Over the past few months, I have truly seen what social media can do. Twitter is faster than the news, everyone and my mother is connected on Facebook, Myspace has morphed from a pedo-playground into a free hosting service for music, Youtube, Vimeo & Hulu all provide entertainment/news/opinions.
And to me, a brand can reach out and “touch” their audience.

and the job that I performed was basically for “the numbers”, which was a big letdown for me. I used to have faith in Twitter, I was there with my green avatar for Iran, I supported Phoenix Design Week to a point where my friends and family were pissed off at me for being so into it, and I have made numerous connections to people over the service.

But now I look at Twitter, and all I see is a version of spam that I cannot turn off. A ton of people on twitter are either selling something, posting garbage, or wanting attention for their blogs.

Please do not think I’m being a negative nancy here. Twitter has done some great things, for example, Phoenix Design Week would not have happened if it was not for James Archer tweeting Mark Dudlik’s amazing letter about Phoenix and how there is no design scene (read it here). Also,  I have met some incredible people that I now consider to be friends.

And it’s because of the possibility of great things that I have decided to remain on Twitter, however, from this point on, I won’t be writing too much. Like I said earlier, it is a huge time-waster, and I could be wasting my time re-working designs and working on one of my three different design projects. Of course, I’ll reply to questions & observations, but for the most part, I am done.