A while ago, after Twitter was acquired by a somebody with severely low emotional intelligence, and that somebody started attacking trans people, scientists, disabled folks etc, I decided to leave Twitter. Even though initially I wasn’t sure about leaving, it became an obvious choice, especially folks switching to Mastodon. This has been a very interesting experience that had some unexpected outcomes for me. In this blog post, I want to briefly talk about those outcomes, and then explain what I plan to do next about my social media presence.
1) In making the switch to Mastodon, I started spending a lot less time on social media.
Because there was not as much activity on Mastodon. This helped me realize that I was spending way more time on social media than I liked. It was difficult at first, but because I had left Twitter out of a principle that was so important to me, I could not flake and just get back on it. This helped a lot in limiting my social media use.
2) I used to tell myself I learn a lot via Twitter.
And that is not incorrect, but the type of learning that happens wasn’t as meaningful as I wanted it to be, especially for the time spent. For example, I learn more meaningful things by reading a journal article in 1 hour, compared to the 1 hour spent on Twitter. One could argue you learn many more smaller things, but really, do they ever stick as real knowledge? Maybe a small portion. Since leaving Twitter I have been reading so much more, and feel happier.
3) But it is not all black and white, there are good things about social media.
I don’t mean this to be a blog post about how bad social media is. It isn’t. I love #WormWednesday, I love reading other academics thoughts in a less formal space, I love the power of social media in raising awareness. So, I realized I do not want to be completely off social media, but I really want to limit the time spent (like really, 10 minutes/day for Twitter, 10 minutes for Mastodon, 10 minutes for Instagram).
4) Oh so, does this mean I am back on Twitter, after all that I have said, despite how much I despise the owner?
The revolution I hoped (a mass move out of Twitter to a de-centralized platform) unfortunately did not happen. In the meantime, multiple earthquakes devastated Türkiye. So much of the earthquake aid and communication was happening via Twitter inevitably. I realized it is not possible to isolate myself, and the reality is, the social media revolution hasn’t happened. Initially, I decided to be back on Twitter only for earthquake relief efforts. But the experience also made me accept the fact that I need the platform for spreading the word about my lab’s work.
5) So what’s next?
Basically, I will be on Twitter only for announcing my lab’s works, job posts, other professional announcements etc. Stuff that can be done via 10 minutes/day. If something like a disaster requires more time spent, then I will spend more time. I have already been feeling the good effects of the limited time on social media on my mental health. So, in some ways, I am grateful for the toddler man who forced me to explore this new way of existence on social media. <3
Here is where you can find me (but find me IRL and let’s have coffee or something):
Mastodon (the ideal, decentralized social media platform, despite room for improvement for its user interface)
Twitter (out of obligation because y’all haven’t left)
Instagram (for science-art, also I know Facebook is evil too)