Why I Am Now on Twitter

"... in an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes.  What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients.  Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it." ~ Herbert Simon

I am now on Twitter.  Why?  Please allow me to share my thought process that led to the decision...  

The path to getting to a decision to use Twitter as a tool is not different than many paths I have taken to make other decisions:  I first identified why Twitter was wrong for me.  As Sir Francis Bacon said, "If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties." This logical path, beginning with doubts, was understandably defined by my preconceived notions of Twitter:

• It will be an enormous distraction:  I viewed Twitter from the lens of a "follower" -- as an invasive stream of senseless messages.  I feared relentless "tweets" typified by brief, meaningless announcements:  "It's now 7:57 AM and I'm eating a sandwich." Moments later, I receive another tweet:  "It's now 8:03 AM and I'm in the bathroom reading a magazine article about butterflies!"  This initial stage of my Twitter rejection was expressed more completely in my blog post, "What Would Thoreau Think of Twitter?"

• It will not add value to my life:  The previous point regarding distraction was enough for me to be repulsed by Twitter for several months.  Given Twitter a second thought, and especially after noticing several people I respect using it, my mind remained slightly more open to it (I never completely close my mind to anything); but I still rejected the idea of joining Twitter because I could not find a way for it to add value to my life, even as a form of entertainment (I prefer family, music & books).  For similar reasons of my rejecting cable TV and news periodicals, I perceived Twitter as a subtraction from quality of life -- certainly not an addition to it.

• It will not add value to the lives of others:  How can one small voice, among the deafening noise of tweets about eating food and bathroom visits, create any measure of utility for the end user?  This is where my perception of Twitter began to turn:  I'm already writing in The Financial Philosopher about something that is extremely misused and perhaps the greatest distraction from meaning and purpose in life -- money -- amidst a much larger presence of media noise that suggests life is about making money... but life is not about making money; money is about making a life!

Life is not a tool, but money is... and so must be Twitter...

Once I placed Twitter in the same category as money, in terms of a tool that can be used or misused (or abused) -- one that often can be a source of distraction from meaning and purpose in peoples lives -- I began thinking that I must absolutely have a presence on Twitter... to be an antidote to its most abusive potentialities.

So here is what you can expect from me on Twitter:

• My purpose on Twitter will be similar to that of my purpose on The Financial Philosopher -- to provide philosophical reflection and introspection on life and how social conventions, money and media noise (including Twitter) often have the unintended results of taking you further away from your authentic self.
• The nature of Twitter can be distracting; therefore, daily posts (I don't like to use the word "tweet") will be brief ideas or thoughts that may be part of a well-balanced diet of information -- an aid in the allocation of attention -- the antithesis of the conventional, popular usage of Twitter.
• I will attempt to post at least once per day and respond to readers' comments as time allows.
• I will also post notification of (and links to) my blog posts here at TFP, as well as comments I make on other blogs.  Note:  I plan the creation of another blog with similar themes in the near future.
• I will fill any empty spaces with philosophical quotes, either timely or timeless (or both), that will hopefully keep you mindful of who you are, where you are, and where you are going -- to complete a healthy "diet" of information for your overall well-being which, of course, is the source of healthy finances and all of life's pursuits.

Here is my first Twitter post:

"Wonder is the feeling of the philosopher and philosophy begins in wonder." ~ Plato

When you inquire into the meaning of your existence, your wondering turns into a meaningful wandering.  You place meaning before money and purpose before planning. 

My user name on Twitter is ThinkersQuill.  Follow me on Twitter by clicking on the Twitter Bird icon online or by entering the URL address, http://twitter.com/ThinkersQuill, in your web browser.

I look forward to wondering and wandering with you...

Comments

[s_kannikk]

Wishing you the very best but mixed feelings about tfp being on Twitter (similar to the way one feels about philosophers sermonizing on cable TV i guess). Dont let the babel drag your value-guard down :-)

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

s_kannikk:

I appreciate your sentiment. I felt the same way at first. My mission for TFP is to help people find meaning and purpose in life, which can be aided by philosophic introspection and reflection.

It's interesting you mention "sermonizing on cable TV." The people who need guidance are not reading philosophy books -- they are being consumed by media noise -- and the place to help the misguided is where the misguided spend their time.

Many of my messages on Twitter will be implicit and explicit reminders to "turn down the noise," which includes minimizing exposure to social media, especially Twitter!

With that said, however, I do believe I will soon shrink the size of the "Twitter Bird" in the margin of this blog because it is represents a contradiction to my message here at TFP.

Thanks for your thoughts...

Kent

[Account Deleted]

I am sure there will be more signals less noise in your tweets.

[Kent @ The Financial Philosopher]

Yogeshmalik:

Yes, I will try my best not to distract or subtract but to attract and add... with less noise and more value...

Thanks for the comment!

Kent

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I agree, Twitter is a double edged sword. It can be a huge distraction as well as an invaluable source of real-time information.

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