Three Months without Twitter

I still don't miss it

In late January I (mostly) quit Twitter. For the past three months, I have used Twitter in three limited fashions. First, I still use the messenger. I find it a fairly and effective way to communicate with people I want to hear from. It is less formal than text messaging, and facilitates group chats with ease. Second, I post my new material to Twitter. This forum helps me reach a lot of readers, very quickly. Third, if there is some breaking news story, I will search for specific information. For example, I used Twitter to quickly find President Trump's comments about the adjournment power.

But I do not check my notifications. Ever. Not once. If you mentioned me, I have no clue. Please email me. My sanity is much better for it. Twitter exchanges are inevitably Wobegonian. Everyone thinks they are smarter and wittier than everyone else. They're not. (Similar rules apply to law professor list serves).

Second, I do not check my timeline. Ever. I think I've saved about an hour or two a day by avoiding the aimless scroll. I imagine that timesuck would be greater during our nationwide quarantine.

I encourage others to break the habit, and stop chasing the bluebird. You will be much better for it.