I’ve been active on Twitter and other forms of social media in a “serious capacity” for over two years now. I have a love/hate relationship when it comes to Twitter. On one hand, it’s where I’ve met some seriously incredible people. Smart, funny, knowledgeable, you name it. It also happens to be my best medium for putting my “message” out there. This blog, at least at the time of this writing, has only about 120 or so followers. I’ve been writing on here since October of 2016. I’ve got over 2000 followers on Twitter. Nothing to brag about and I’m honestly not trying to cultivate followers, I just want my message to be heard. Twitter is where it is at for me, at least for the time being.

That being said, the “hate” part of Twitter for me is the buffoonery and absolute stupidity that I see on a day to day basis. Guys LARPing about “saving the west,” “semen retention,” “whamen bad,” “orange man bad,” “degeneracy (whatever that means) bad.”

I came on to Twitter originally to learn, and learn I have. My more immediate goals with that platform is to connect with people and develop real life relationships with those people. I’ve succeeded so far. The part that I worry about occasionally is that I may in fact be creating an echo chamber for myself.

I’m all for intelligent conversations and discourse. I’m all for being able to agree to disagree. There are plenty of people that I follow that I don’t agree with them on everything. At least when we have a disagreement, it is civil and we still respect one another. No name calling and flipping out needed.

When I go to learn something, I start with what I don’t know and I “chunk down” until I can get to the most basic components of whatever it is that I’m trying to learn. Once I’ve figured out those basic components I tend to “chunk up” to a more broad picture that involves a lot more context and nuance. For me, that’s where I get to apply whatever it is that I have learned and put it to use.

At the highest and most useless “level,” there are people on Twitter.

The next level down, for me, is Time Wasters and Everybody Else. You can continue to “chunk down” if you want, I know I did, at least awhile ago, but now I’m good with this particular category.

I don’t care what your political bent is. I don’t care what religion you follow. I don’t care what you identify as. I don’t care about your sex or your gender, or anything else of that nature.

What I care about is: Are you a Time Waster? Are you going to waste my time with stupid shit? Are you saying stupid shit on the internet? Are you inviting me to join your circle jerk or are you saying something of substance that I might find useful, even if I disagree with it or you?

Can you teach me something about making YouTube videos? Can you show me something on a musical instrument? Can you paint or draw? Do you know how to write? Are you good with women? Or are you going to tell me that I shouldn’t be getting laid because I’m short? Are you going to give me worthless information like, “Just take her to the dance, man. And wear shoes! Not sneakers!”

Are you going to talk to me about giving yourself an enema and how you’re betting serious money on an election? Are you going to talk about “spirit cooking” and the illuminati? Are you going to spout off about how the Mormon’s and Islam is going to save the west?

Are you going to start off your theory, argument, thesis, diatribe, or rant with “As a Real Man” and hope that your weak statement can be bolstered by guilt and shame?

If so, that’s okay. You are a Time Waster. You are wasting my time. My time is my most precious commodity. I have less going forward than I do behind me. It’s the one commodity that I can’t get more of and I can’t get back any that I have spent or lost. In many ways, it’s actually finite because at some point in the future I’m going to stop breathing and I’ll be dead.

I don’t mind shit posting. Hell, I do that the most on Twitter. Twitter is where I go to relax if I can. Twitter is where I can “let my hair down” and just “hang out.” Twitter is my bar at the moment. It’s where I go to have a few drinks and talk shit with my friends. It’s not where I go to have my time wasted. It’s not where I go to get lectures from 24 year old’s on “How To Be An Alpha Male.” Dude, shut the fuck up and sit down, you’re giving me a headache.

It’s not where I go to learn about honor and virtue. Those things mean different things to everybody who encounters them. It’s not where I go to learn about religion and which one is supposedly the best. I don’t give a fuck.

I go to learn new skills not how to be a better LARPer.

When I get on Twitter my day consists of reading my DM’s, scrolling my time line, automatically muting “promoted tweets” aka ads (because fuck those) replying to people that I feel like replying to, writing an occasional tweet, and then muting time wasters. Why mute instead of block? Because fuck them, that’s why. I don’t need them knowing I blocked them so that they can parade it around to their fellow idiots. The only people I block is my ex-wife and those that are a real special kind of stupid. So if I have blocked you on Twitter, odds are pretty good you are not my ex-wife. Unless you are.

Now this isn’t hard science backed up by sources and facts, but in my experience I will say that at least 70% of people on Twitter are time wasters. The other 30% is everybody else and so I’m very careful about who and what I follow. If that builds me an echo chamber, then so be it I guess. At least it won’t waste my time.

Whatever you choose to do with your time is on you. Spend it on whatever you want. Waste it however you want if that’s what you want to do. Or realize that your time is finite and you can’t get more of it and you can’t get it back and so maybe put it to better use instead of guilt and shaming people into your point of view. If your assertion is really that strong it should be able to stand on its own without guilt or shame tactics. It should be able to speak for itself. Think before you tweet. Don’t be a time waster.

Or go ahead and be a time waster. I’ll figure out for myself really fast if you are and you’ll be screaming into the void from there on out.

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