Using Twitter? Why? | Hacker News Reader

Using Twitter? Why?

Lately, I've been confused as to whether I should have a Twitter profile or not? In my name or a fake anon account?

I like to delete any unnecessary accounts & creating one (in my real name) & forgetting is not an option.

It's the place where the public conversation happens & I'd at least like to be a spectator. Maybe things are changing after Elon but it's still the place everyone is.

I'm not a fan of Zuck-y's products. So Threads is a no-no even if many might have signed up for it. They're quite keen on account-walling everything.

Do you use Twitter? What for?

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I do. I'm quite fond of it.

I think one thing I would recommend is actively muting accounts and words that you don't enjoy and creating lists.

Over time, you'll be able to fine-tune you feed so you get a really great "newsletter" and takes around current topics.

The lists are important because sometimes you don't necessarily want to hear about experts daily. Maybe once a week. Or when something breaks out in a part of the world you're interested in.

Muting words is a very powerful feature that's under utilized, because humans are mimetic and something in the zeitgeist may resonate for quite a long time. Especially if it's cruel or chaotic.

I mute any words or accounts that make me frustrated in a powerless way.

Anger is an important emotion, especially for overcoming fear. And expressing disdain for something you don't like is a healthy response. Most importantly, it can be fun. I'm not so naïve as to not acknowledge that.

But I do think if you live in a garden, it should be a place you enjoy. Whatever that may be.

For now, Twitter and many social media platforms lack the ability to fine-tune the "algorithm" to your specific needs. A feed that's only positive might take some time to get there, but as your interests expand, you'll find your niche.

They're quite keen on account-walling everything.

X is now account-walled.

I think Musk has become unhinged and I don't want to support his business, and deleted my account a few months ago and never looked back. The people I care about have also moved to Bluesky, which I don't really like much, but I don't have any major issues with. My heart is with Mastodon but after looking into running my own instance, I've come to the conclusion there are major architectural issues.

Stopped using Twitter a few weeks back. No intention to go back, I think it's dying a slow death and I don't want an everything app from the new overlord

Giving Threads a try since the ActivityPub integration is starting to roll out. Probably going to end up with my own server so I can control my feed in detail.

I think the Fediverse is the right way to organize social media and that ActivityPub is the best looking protocol right now.

This showed up on HN early today, really good piece on the topic: https://www.theverge.com/23990974/social-media-2023-fedivers...

> They're quite keen on account-walling everything.

They appear to have undone this, or at least they have in Europe (Go to threads.net, select “Use without profile”). It’s possible that it’s only in Europe, though, for DMA compliance.

Twitter also, for practical purposes, does this these days, by the way. If you go to a twitter profile, you’ll get either four random old tweets, or it will redirect you to a login page, apparently at random; if you go to a tweet it will show you the tweet, but no context or replies.

> It's the place where the public conversation happens

Is it? It is a place where a public conversation happens. But I'm not sure that is the only public conversation, and I think fewer and fewer people are paying attention to it over time.

I don't use twitter, don't read twitter, rarely even follow links to a tweet that is called out on HN. So life certainly goes on if you ignore the site.

I liked the idea that you can Tweet from SMS without even having the Internets. Now this feature is not supported and I have no need to use it.

Ohh yesss! Those days.

I had forgotten about the feature & yeah! It was pretty awesome.

Yes. Threads hasn’t won yet. When it does I will switch.

Twitter is the greatest free resource of career and social advantage that you have at your disposal. It would be stupid not to use it.

I have made or enhanced several key professional connections on Twitter.

LinkedIn wishes it had this much power.

Make a profile and follow people you’re interested in.

Twitter is like a custom huge group chat comprised of every super specific niche you’re interested in.

You don’t have to post anything, most users are spectators. But when you do post, you can build your own niche community.

> a fake anon account

Good luck with that. I was immediately prompted for my phone number upon registering. And I know there's ways to source an anonymous phone number, I just couldn't be bothered. They shouldn't ask for it in the first place.

Most websites do that now. And until now, I've been using an account.

Only when I initiate a DM with someone does it get locked & simply asks to complete an arkose challenge. Nothing else until now.

I follow for ML news/updates. Still the number one place for researchers to share their work/ideas.

I make a point of being strict about not engaging with political content, so my feed is mostly relevant to my interests.

The people and things I'm most interested in happen on Twitter first/entirely.

If you're not going to post pick a nitter instance and use that to browse the pages of the people you want to "follow".

I use Twitter, anon account with very loose opsec.

I mostly follow individuals on personal accounts, meaning few to no managed accounts (corporations, politicians, professionals with any kind of product or course to sell) or accounts with a heavy emphasis on narrative making (journalists, activists, politicians, tech marketers, crypto enthusiasts, VCs/startup people).

Twitter is how I ended up joining a group chat interested in psychology and discussing e.g. practices for better communication, emotional maturity; a group chat around cooking and sharing tips; and otherwise having nice interactions within a loosely-stable group of people with shared interests. Most were accounts <300 followers and/or <300 following.

I'm not too concerned with anything big enough to be considered news (which is how I interpret what you mean by "public conversation"), as it usually filters into my timeline 2-3 days (or even weeks) in advance of print/broadcast media anyway.

I guess my point is, the key for making Twitter a positive experience for me is forgoing big accounts, like video game streamers, TikTok/Instagram influencers, and news-/politics-/special-interest-focused brands, and mainly seeking real individuals with shared interests. One big indicator is a high ratio of their own tweets vs retweets -- if an account is mostly retweeting things (often will be tweets on polarizing topics from polarizing accounts) and not really tweeting stuff like "I've been reading X programming book" or "I've been getting into Y hobby, and like Z about it", I either ignore the account or turn off retweets from them.

edit: removed some content relating to politics/news, trying to keep this message focused on twitter itself/how I use it/tips I hope are useful.

using twitter via bird.makeup.

consuming that and more via mastodon.gamedev.place.

follow interesting people, wherever they might publish.

I cross post my tiktoks.

I use twitter for shit posting when bored.

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