I was laughing and loving this piece to begin with. Then as I read on I see that you recommend my book and my jaw dropped. So kind of you! I studied comedy writing for the specific goal of making mental health and sobriety feel relatable and approachable. Glad that finally paid off so we can all have a book called Dry Humping 😂
"I felt like tweeting was simply a drain of my creative resources that could be used for more permanent/challenging work that would belong to me. I truly do not like that idea that part of the accepted unpaid “work” of writing is making money for corporate platforms by providing them with content." --Hit the nail on the head for me here. It takes so much mental energy and space to tweet/post whatever as much as marketing wants. And for what? Even when you go viral it's fleeting. Maybe you sell a few extra books, but the amount of work it takes is best spent writing the next thing to get published, not to be forgotten in the 24 hour cycle. Great newsletter this week!
This is one of the best arguments I've read for getting rid of Twitter. I deactivated mine a few weeks ago and I haven't looked back since. Cold takes only from now on!
1000% agree with everything you said here. I realized that I had been using Twitter as a substitute for doing the work to build the writing life I actually wanted for myself. Quit Twitter, refocused, and am close to finishing a first draft of my book now. I miss the community I found on Twitter when I was first starting out as a writer, but I’m trying to focus more on quality of relationships vs quantity now too.
I’ve been on Twitter a lot less lately but haven’t managed to completely cut the cord although I am pretty tired of it and I feel like when I do get on I see a lot of the same things I’ve been seeing for years.
I did used to really like it though and met a lot of great humor writers though it. Now it mostly makes me tired and I think you touched on a lot of why in this.
I too have found that my mental space is freed up when I spend less time on social media. Also, because I'm comparatively less established in writing/comedy, I need to produce a viral post ASAP with any news story to gain clout, recognition, etc. Most of which I end up deleting because there's no traction.
Honestly, I would've deleted my Twitter account months ago if it wasn't my only means of staying in touch and up to date with what my friends and the industry at large were up to.
I too have noticed how internet speech has infected not only myself but my loved ones as well. It was scary when my mother practically parroted a post about mental health and how you can't shake off anxiety any easier than the common cold.
Your post also made me stop and think who are the 150 people I should be maintaining relationships with. Since I already have 200 or so mutuals on the newer sites like Threads and BlueSky, it'll be interesting to see who survives!
Hello! Excellent! I am assuming you are a youngish woman....(20' & 30's) (I can be wrong) But this personal essay is VERY IMPORTANT for your peers especially because you grew up looking through that lens. You could enlighten the world with your new found wisdom --and I see a lot of comedy coming out of this very subject. 👏🏼
I’ve been mostly off Twitter for several months now and this piece helped remind me: stay off! Interesting about how twitterspeak had entered your fiction. Thanks for writing long and inspiring those of us who feel a twinge of loss, post-social-media-peak. I get more out of a newsletter than from a tweet or IG post, any day.
I was laughing and loving this piece to begin with. Then as I read on I see that you recommend my book and my jaw dropped. So kind of you! I studied comedy writing for the specific goal of making mental health and sobriety feel relatable and approachable. Glad that finally paid off so we can all have a book called Dry Humping 😂
"I felt like tweeting was simply a drain of my creative resources that could be used for more permanent/challenging work that would belong to me. I truly do not like that idea that part of the accepted unpaid “work” of writing is making money for corporate platforms by providing them with content." --Hit the nail on the head for me here. It takes so much mental energy and space to tweet/post whatever as much as marketing wants. And for what? Even when you go viral it's fleeting. Maybe you sell a few extra books, but the amount of work it takes is best spent writing the next thing to get published, not to be forgotten in the 24 hour cycle. Great newsletter this week!
This is one of the best arguments I've read for getting rid of Twitter. I deactivated mine a few weeks ago and I haven't looked back since. Cold takes only from now on!
1000% agree with everything you said here. I realized that I had been using Twitter as a substitute for doing the work to build the writing life I actually wanted for myself. Quit Twitter, refocused, and am close to finishing a first draft of my book now. I miss the community I found on Twitter when I was first starting out as a writer, but I’m trying to focus more on quality of relationships vs quantity now too.
I’ve been on Twitter a lot less lately but haven’t managed to completely cut the cord although I am pretty tired of it and I feel like when I do get on I see a lot of the same things I’ve been seeing for years.
I did used to really like it though and met a lot of great humor writers though it. Now it mostly makes me tired and I think you touched on a lot of why in this.
Well put! Another nudge for me away from Twitter. Thanks, Caitlin!
I too have found that my mental space is freed up when I spend less time on social media. Also, because I'm comparatively less established in writing/comedy, I need to produce a viral post ASAP with any news story to gain clout, recognition, etc. Most of which I end up deleting because there's no traction.
Honestly, I would've deleted my Twitter account months ago if it wasn't my only means of staying in touch and up to date with what my friends and the industry at large were up to.
I too have noticed how internet speech has infected not only myself but my loved ones as well. It was scary when my mother practically parroted a post about mental health and how you can't shake off anxiety any easier than the common cold.
Your post also made me stop and think who are the 150 people I should be maintaining relationships with. Since I already have 200 or so mutuals on the newer sites like Threads and BlueSky, it'll be interesting to see who survives!
Hello! Excellent! I am assuming you are a youngish woman....(20' & 30's) (I can be wrong) But this personal essay is VERY IMPORTANT for your peers especially because you grew up looking through that lens. You could enlighten the world with your new found wisdom --and I see a lot of comedy coming out of this very subject. 👏🏼
I’ve been mostly off Twitter for several months now and this piece helped remind me: stay off! Interesting about how twitterspeak had entered your fiction. Thanks for writing long and inspiring those of us who feel a twinge of loss, post-social-media-peak. I get more out of a newsletter than from a tweet or IG post, any day.