Ask HN: How will I stay informed when I delete my Twitter account? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How will I stay informed when I delete my Twitter account?

5 pointsGyozaa6 comments

I want to say goodbye to Twitter and Elon. The negativity, chaos, spam, ads, business model, and anonymous accounts aren’t making be a happier or better person.

That said, it’s my primary way to stay informed about what is happening in the industry (Software, ML, tech, the region I live in), and I haven’t found a good alternative that offers the same value in a twitter-like snipper format.

How do people leave Twitter? Am I addicted?

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Addiction is a difficult thing to conquer in any form.

Not quite the same, but this is what I wrote when I decided to stop drinking:

[1] https://taylor.town/1000-weekends

For quitting apps, don't use willpower.

Delete the app and ask somebody you trust to set parental controls on your phone (to prevent you from reopening another account, etc.).

[2] https://taylor.town/parental-self-controls

Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism is a great book on developing a healthy relationship with social media.

IIRC, he recommends doing a 30-day "fast" and then slowly reintroducing technologies that have a clear benefit to your life.

For you, it sounds like quitting Twitter now and then finding sources of news later might be a good move for you.

[3] https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Minimalism-Choosing-Focused-N...

Consider setting up an RSS feed!

You can use Kill the Newsletter to convert emails into RSS feeds too.

[4] https://kill-the-newsletter.com

I was just listening to a podcast episode making the claim against "staying informed". Some great points in there.

[5] https://overcast.fm/+B1qzliB6U/1:45:43

> The negativity, chaos, spam, ads, business model, and anonymous accounts aren’t making be a happier or better person.

Twitter always had this before Elon took it over, so I'm not quite sure how you tolerated all of that for years and now decide that it is time to leave.

There really isn't a viable and serious alternative to Twitter. Henceforth, might as well leave all together.

> How do people leave Twitter? Am I addicted?

The first step to truly leave Twitter or any other social network or media is to delete your account. Techies use called RSS to keep up. That's it.

The solution is not to jump from one social network to another. That just transfers the addiction to a different social network, just like drinking a different brand of alcohol is still not the solution to quit drinking.

Most of the Twitter accounts you follow probably have known sources that you can still connect to. Newsfeed readers like Feedly makes it fairly easy to set up a way of following news feeds, blogs etc.

Twitter still is a really good source of what's happening and i'm just lurking with no account.

How do you manage your feed and filters without an account?

I have a limited amount of accounts I check regularly and don't mind missing out on something. I guess bookmarks and browser history is my feed. Being logged in to the website or especially the app just triggers my addiction so i prefer this approach because I come for sources not the engagement.

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