I'm starting to find Twitter
exhausting.
I follow hundreds of intelligent,
switched-on, political, and passionate people, and sometimes that just gets a
bit too much.
It can feel like a constant tug
of war – ‘If you don’t speak up then you’re part of the problem!’ vs ‘Don’t
speak, just listen – this hasn’t anything to do with you.’ I often feel like
every time I log in I’ll have to war with myself and everyone else, even though
I've only ever had to deal with trolls a handful of times.
I want to be informed. I think it’s
important I'm part of these conversations. It’s important to me that I stay part
of the book world. But every time I scroll through my feed something else has
happened that everyone (rightfully) rallies against and it becomes exhausting.
I even feel nervous writing this
because of the potential for offence and retaliation. That’s not right, that’s
not a healthy way to approach my blog and the community I love.
The easy option is to stay away
from Twitter, but my job is about 30% tweeting so that’s not an option. Do I delete
the app from my phone? Cull the wonderful people on my feed?
What do I do?
Sophie
Hi Sophie, I don't think you're offending anyone at all but merely expressing what most of us twitter users feel daily. When I get to that point it usually is a good sign for me to switch off for a while. Just like you I joined in the Twitter community to talk about books, and very often a lot of other things come in the way. Luckily I tend to discuss them with bookbloggers so it remains a safe discussing environment. I must have dealt with 1 troll in 2 years...and by dealing I mean, just did not respond:). But when it is time to switch off, just do...we'll all be here when you get back. V xx
ReplyDeleteYou and me both. I'm barely on there at all now because of all of this.
ReplyDeleteTwitter has become so toxic. I'd say keep using it but at a minimun
ReplyDeleteHey Sophie - I totally understand where you are coming from, too. Whether Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram - when something you enjoy turns political, particularly with the current volatile political climate, those enjoyable things quickly turn not so enjoyable. I think it is important to keep open ears but practice self care- do what is important to you, do your job, but know that being silent or not on Twitter does not represent you or your understanding of a complex situation. I don't tend to discuss my views on social media because I don't think it is an appropriate venue for me- I don't think that silence should mean I don't care.
ReplyDelete