Twitter is the type of social media I would usually avoid – shallow, unmoderated and chaotic.
And yet, I am a techie and early adopter of most everything – examples:
I was debating Politics online on Compuserve in 1986 (by this time I had done Ham Radio, CB, Newsletters and actual real community).
I was on the actual internet – and understood it – since 1994.
I started and published massive web sites since 1995.
My eBay account was started in 1999, my Amazon in 1998 and my gmail account is from the end of 2006.
Even my Twitter account is from 2007 – but I must have just signed up and never used it! I was, and still am, accustomed to longer form discussion, writing, etc – not quick gossip, rumors, stories, etc.
The ONLY reason I started using twitter a little more was due to my entering the field of tech journalism (camera drones) in the time period approx 2015. Even then I often used a 2nd account which was just for the Drone business. Example of 2016 Drone Posting:
DJI Phantom 3 – Guide to 2016 Product Line- all 4 models explained https://t.co/zJsWwvhxhu pic.twitter.com/IgZBmA7M3R
— CraigsFire – I'm an "excitable boy" (@craigsfire) January 9, 2016
Despite having another large Web site (Hearth.com – millions of page views each month), I never used Twitter for that more “timeless and serious” property. Many of my articles and pictures had millions of “reads” – frankly, the “here today and gone tomorrow” Twitter popularity held (and still holds) very little appeal to me.
I sold the Drone site in 2018 and once again largely ignored Twitter.
UNTIL COVID. I was living in both Florida and New England and the differences, as well as the nightmare which unfolded (the US Largely failed) held my attention for over a year. Also, as with many of you, there was less to do during the Pandemic so time on Twitter was not as much “wasted”.
So, what now? At this point I’m just a user with many interests. It’s almost back to 1986 and debating Politics again!
One of my specialties is Energy – renewables and efficiency and so on. I am considering starting another web site with a more broadly focused mission – of helping people to understand the issues relating to this. This is somewhat of a family affair as one of my “kids” is an engineer and attorney for the Sierra Club and works on massive Energy issues (car MPG, power plant pollution, etc.).
At heart I am a writer and a teacher…and I feel somewhat that my experience is currently not be used to the max. Another option would be for me to join an existing energy focused web property – but I’d have high standards as to what I’d need in terms of whatever relationship I might explore.
