It was just a short while ago when I would wake up in the morning and have coffee- very shortly after I would light my first cigarette, sit down at my computer and scroll through Twitter. This was my ritual, but it is also practically everyone else’s- perhaps, minus the cigarette. There was somebody who said “Nowadays, you have two choices when you get up in the morning- You either check your phone before you pee, or you check your phone after you pee”.
👍🙂 Thanks, made my day -- and even before I've peed too ... 😉🙂
But Twitter really is something of a wasteland -- think I've been booted off there several times now, most recently when Musk's minions objected to my frequent links to my Substack posts.
Though I've also found it a useful resource, but its Ministry of Truth nature seriously impairs its cost-benefit ratio.
Grateful to have you as a reader. I was so overwhelmed in a sense, I was more of a voyeur. I did get some use out of it when following links and such from authors, etc. Those benefits ultimately did not outweigh the stink, obviously.
"links and such" are/were definitely a key benefit. But now more noise than signal -- there used to be a computer magazine called "Sipping from the firehose": no shortage of volume but the pressure is likely to blow one's teeth out if one isn't careful. Nature of the beast.
But you might have some interest in my oldish Open Letter to Twitter some five years ago:
You no doubt know of Matt Taibbi's Twitter files saga which described the same problem though in more detail. Not sure that Twitter 2.0 A.M. -- After Musk -- is all that much of an improvement.
Thank you, Judson. Well thought out and written. I've tried on multiple occasions to manage my Twitter/X accounts. But I just don't have the patience or temperament for social media. None. Also, I couldn't care less. So all of my social media accounts are consigned to languish from neglect the moment I create them.
Re your morning cup of coffee: A decade or so ago I sat down with the original CEO of the digital NYTimes. Among other things we discussed the demise of the great metro dailies. He cited all of the usual suspects: the costs of labor, paper, ink, distribution, etc. All true enough, I told him. But I suspected a different, more fundamental culprit: that fewer and fewer of us were sitting down for half an hour in the morning with a quiet cup of coffee.
In other words, sitting down with a cup of coffee and a morning newspaper (or Twitter, in your case) is a lifestyle decision. The newspaper was less about the news and more about offsetting the caffeine rush of the coffee -- the same reason we unconsciously mix coffee and carbohydrates in the morning: one picks us up while the other calms us down.
The morning and evening newspapers (once upon a time) were less about the news and more about succor and comfort, a serene and leisurely connection with those people and things outside the immediate circles of our family dinner tables and the sabbath day of rest (by far the more authentic sources of actionable local news). Now, however, the family dinner table and the sabbath day of rest are all but gone, replaced some decades ago by a pernicious default addiction to all things media and all things digital.
Of course, mixing coffee and Twitter first thing in the morning is a pretty high-octane/high-anxiety lifestyle choice. My suggestion is to stick with the coffee and -- in lieu of an actual morning newspaper -- seek out alternative meaningful rituals that satisfy one or more of your spiritual, social, emotional, and/or physical needs. Needless to say, electronic media (with the possible exceptions of music appreciation, yoga, or exercise) fail in all regards.
For what it's worth, here's my morning schedule: Feed the cat, make the coffee (I hand-grind it to enhance the ritual effect), sit down with the cat in my lap, pray, read scripture, and sip my coffee, then go for a walk or bike ride -- almost all before the sun (or my wife) rises. I never check my email or go online for any reason (except the occasional hurricane watch) until the above meaningful rituals are satisfied.
But that's me, and largely because I was raised in the 1950s and 60s and remember how much freer and more carefree life was before cable TV and the Internet wrecked the joint.
Social media are pure addiction madness. I applaud your decision to protect your sanity against the hordes. Thanks again for sharing your epiphany.
I really enjoyed reading your comment. I am on a Twitter break but your observation about how coffee plus Twitter equals anxiety is spot on. I find myself looking forward lately to a website that has a daily roundup of a links to an essay or two, a recipe, and sometimes art https://theologyofhome.com/blogs/news (it’s a site for Catholic women). There are probably similar roundup collections for different interests on Substack. But you’re right that something has been lost as local dailies have fallen out of favor.
Thank you for the kind words, Muliebrity. Glad you enjoyed it.
The fact that local dailies have disappeared in recent years is no more coincidental than the disappearance of the family dinner table or the disappearance of the sabbath day of rest -- both during my lifetime. The destruction of the nuclear family, organized religion, and local communities is very much the top-down plan -- just like too big to fail and state-sponsored default addiction. None of these things are the unintended consequences of poor plans or a failure to plan. These things are the plan...
Interesting what you said about coffee. Never thought of it that way, but it makes total sense. I like that. There are certainly things one ought to get done before screen time. I need that reminder. I think I like the sound of a morning walk best.
My father would have told me that a morning constitutional is "...good for your coat." Took me the better part of five decades to realize that he always thought he was talking to the dog. Usually, he was...
You don't have to, of course. I got off facebook years ago, then deleted instagram, then left medium for substack. Never regretted or missed any of that. Substack, to me, is still social media. But it is the best, so far.
This conveys my feelings on Twitter in a much better way than I could have said.
The traffic analogy especially.
This, too:
“Something about the whole experience did not feel right- something about it made me feel pathetic. I came up with clever, humorous or even insightful things to write- but I would often get half way through a thought, with an attempt to post, and think- “what the fuck am I doing?“”
I was thinking the same thing but since I don't really use Twitter, I was thinking of YT. I was wondering what interesting news I was missing. I thought of channels that no longer popped up like the news outlet from India that covered a few years ago the true cost of EVs. It is like walking into a store made specifically for you. At first, it seems perfect and then you realize how dull it all is.
Is there a site with a 👎🏼Down vote option? Every site, including Substack, should have it. Take the responsibility away from the publisher and give it to the readers. If a post reaches fifty or 66% down votes, which ever is larger, the post is deleted and the writer gets a notice. Too many notices too close together (how many is too many?) and they get suspended. We don’t need to be censored by anyone but ourselves.
I agree with your assessment of Twitter/X (and other social media) as being exhausting. I know in a perfect world I'd be better off not spending much time on it.
However, it truly is an "alternative" news source in this age of corporate media, and what I've learned from it has been invaluable. A few of those things include Canada's anti-free speech push, the truth about migrant crime in Europe, the facts about the efficiency of the Covid vaccine, and the pervasive anti-White hatred in many of our institutions.
Is Twitter imperfect and biased? Yes. Have any of those issues been covered in our "mainstream" media? Hell no!
X is like alcohol. Some people can use it wisely, some can't.
Some truth to the rumour that "news junkie" was coined not long after Gutenberg created his printing press ... 😉🙂
https://www.amazon.ca/News-Junkie-Jason-Leopold/dp/1940207231
Ha, nice....
👍🙂 Thanks, made my day -- and even before I've peed too ... 😉🙂
But Twitter really is something of a wasteland -- think I've been booted off there several times now, most recently when Musk's minions objected to my frequent links to my Substack posts.
Though I've also found it a useful resource, but its Ministry of Truth nature seriously impairs its cost-benefit ratio.
Grateful to have you as a reader. I was so overwhelmed in a sense, I was more of a voyeur. I did get some use out of it when following links and such from authors, etc. Those benefits ultimately did not outweigh the stink, obviously.
"links and such" are/were definitely a key benefit. But now more noise than signal -- there used to be a computer magazine called "Sipping from the firehose": no shortage of volume but the pressure is likely to blow one's teeth out if one isn't careful. Nature of the beast.
But you might have some interest in my oldish Open Letter to Twitter some five years ago:
https://medium.com/@steersmann/open-letter-to-twitters-board-of-directors-d1c87603a832
You no doubt know of Matt Taibbi's Twitter files saga which described the same problem though in more detail. Not sure that Twitter 2.0 A.M. -- After Musk -- is all that much of an improvement.
Thank you, Judson. Well thought out and written. I've tried on multiple occasions to manage my Twitter/X accounts. But I just don't have the patience or temperament for social media. None. Also, I couldn't care less. So all of my social media accounts are consigned to languish from neglect the moment I create them.
Re your morning cup of coffee: A decade or so ago I sat down with the original CEO of the digital NYTimes. Among other things we discussed the demise of the great metro dailies. He cited all of the usual suspects: the costs of labor, paper, ink, distribution, etc. All true enough, I told him. But I suspected a different, more fundamental culprit: that fewer and fewer of us were sitting down for half an hour in the morning with a quiet cup of coffee.
In other words, sitting down with a cup of coffee and a morning newspaper (or Twitter, in your case) is a lifestyle decision. The newspaper was less about the news and more about offsetting the caffeine rush of the coffee -- the same reason we unconsciously mix coffee and carbohydrates in the morning: one picks us up while the other calms us down.
The morning and evening newspapers (once upon a time) were less about the news and more about succor and comfort, a serene and leisurely connection with those people and things outside the immediate circles of our family dinner tables and the sabbath day of rest (by far the more authentic sources of actionable local news). Now, however, the family dinner table and the sabbath day of rest are all but gone, replaced some decades ago by a pernicious default addiction to all things media and all things digital.
Of course, mixing coffee and Twitter first thing in the morning is a pretty high-octane/high-anxiety lifestyle choice. My suggestion is to stick with the coffee and -- in lieu of an actual morning newspaper -- seek out alternative meaningful rituals that satisfy one or more of your spiritual, social, emotional, and/or physical needs. Needless to say, electronic media (with the possible exceptions of music appreciation, yoga, or exercise) fail in all regards.
For what it's worth, here's my morning schedule: Feed the cat, make the coffee (I hand-grind it to enhance the ritual effect), sit down with the cat in my lap, pray, read scripture, and sip my coffee, then go for a walk or bike ride -- almost all before the sun (or my wife) rises. I never check my email or go online for any reason (except the occasional hurricane watch) until the above meaningful rituals are satisfied.
But that's me, and largely because I was raised in the 1950s and 60s and remember how much freer and more carefree life was before cable TV and the Internet wrecked the joint.
Social media are pure addiction madness. I applaud your decision to protect your sanity against the hordes. Thanks again for sharing your epiphany.
I really enjoyed reading your comment. I am on a Twitter break but your observation about how coffee plus Twitter equals anxiety is spot on. I find myself looking forward lately to a website that has a daily roundup of a links to an essay or two, a recipe, and sometimes art https://theologyofhome.com/blogs/news (it’s a site for Catholic women). There are probably similar roundup collections for different interests on Substack. But you’re right that something has been lost as local dailies have fallen out of favor.
Thank you for the kind words, Muliebrity. Glad you enjoyed it.
The fact that local dailies have disappeared in recent years is no more coincidental than the disappearance of the family dinner table or the disappearance of the sabbath day of rest -- both during my lifetime. The destruction of the nuclear family, organized religion, and local communities is very much the top-down plan -- just like too big to fail and state-sponsored default addiction. None of these things are the unintended consequences of poor plans or a failure to plan. These things are the plan...
You speak the truth.
Interesting what you said about coffee. Never thought of it that way, but it makes total sense. I like that. There are certainly things one ought to get done before screen time. I need that reminder. I think I like the sound of a morning walk best.
Thanks for reading and sharing, Jeff.
My father would have told me that a morning constitutional is "...good for your coat." Took me the better part of five decades to realize that he always thought he was talking to the dog. Usually, he was...
HA!
Timely piece. You’re right. X is exhausting.
You’re free! Good choice.
Thank you. It does feel better.
Tired of all social media. I went off for Lent and now I think I’m never going back.
You don't have to, of course. I got off facebook years ago, then deleted instagram, then left medium for substack. Never regretted or missed any of that. Substack, to me, is still social media. But it is the best, so far.
Agreed.
This conveys my feelings on Twitter in a much better way than I could have said.
The traffic analogy especially.
This, too:
“Something about the whole experience did not feel right- something about it made me feel pathetic. I came up with clever, humorous or even insightful things to write- but I would often get half way through a thought, with an attempt to post, and think- “what the fuck am I doing?“”
Ha! Thanks so much, Muliebrity!
I was thinking the same thing but since I don't really use Twitter, I was thinking of YT. I was wondering what interesting news I was missing. I thought of channels that no longer popped up like the news outlet from India that covered a few years ago the true cost of EVs. It is like walking into a store made specifically for you. At first, it seems perfect and then you realize how dull it all is.
Yes! Thanks for your continued support, K.E.
Best to ya.
Is there a site with a 👎🏼Down vote option? Every site, including Substack, should have it. Take the responsibility away from the publisher and give it to the readers. If a post reaches fifty or 66% down votes, which ever is larger, the post is deleted and the writer gets a notice. Too many notices too close together (how many is too many?) and they get suspended. We don’t need to be censored by anyone but ourselves.
I agree with your assessment of Twitter/X (and other social media) as being exhausting. I know in a perfect world I'd be better off not spending much time on it.
However, it truly is an "alternative" news source in this age of corporate media, and what I've learned from it has been invaluable. A few of those things include Canada's anti-free speech push, the truth about migrant crime in Europe, the facts about the efficiency of the Covid vaccine, and the pervasive anti-White hatred in many of our institutions.
Is Twitter imperfect and biased? Yes. Have any of those issues been covered in our "mainstream" media? Hell no!