[F_J_H]

>>I simply don't inhabit it, and I don't feel that I'm missing out.

I've wondered about this - but how do you know what you are missing out on? For example, if you were active on twitter or LinkedIn and carefully cultivated those profiles, who knows what life changing connections you may have made? (I've seen several people comment on getting jobs, business partners, fellow hobbyists, etc. on twitter.)

*edit: missed a word

[thanhhaimai]

I've not asked the question "what I am missing out" for like almost a decade. It came from the realization that I constantly and always "miss out" on 99.99% of things that happened in the universe. Whatever more Twitter I read won't move the needle of the statistics.

Rarely it happens that my success depends on things I "miss out". On the other hand, usually that my success depends on how well I take advantage of the opportunities I currently have.

So respect the opportunity, and make sure you're ready when it comes.

[mkr-hn]

The more I reduced my Twitter use, the more I realized how certain states of mind get stuck in it easily. The less anxious I got, the less concerned I was with missing out on online stuff, and the less I wanted to use Twitter obsessively.

[pram]

This is quite literally FOMO and can be applied to anything really. Who knows what I missed out on by not becoming an astronaut.

[lugged]

Spending all that time on social also comes at a cost.

Personally, one I'm not comfortable paying.

What are you missing out on by focusing everything through the lens of the Twitterverse?

Better yet, what is it doing to your psychology?

[jbb_hn]

Agreed. It took me a couple of years to reach that same conclusion. When I did, I deleted Twitter and LinkedIn - the only two platforms I used.

When I realized my mental health was suffering from the “infinite scroll” and the toxicity of people saying things on Twitter that they’d never say face to face,I knew it was time.

That was almost 4 years ago. As the meme goes “No ragrets”.

[F_J_H]

I feel there are people who have found healthy balance between not using Twitter at all and "focus everything through the lens of the twitterverse".

[lugged]

So you only look at some topics through the hyper polarized lens of Twitter and Facebook?

Literally all of the conversations that get traction on those sites are the extreme and polarized views.

The fact you may have normalised those views to the point you think of them as healthy scares me a lot.

Both moderation and moderate views dont work on twitter. They're invisible.

Also, while maybe you can find a balance, that doesn't mean everyone can, your participation enables the unhealthy participants as well.

[oh_sigh]

Actually, if you weren't spending time on twitter, you would have developed a cure for cancer and be a globally known multi-billionaire hero. But you had to settle for getting a job with a 10% pay bump over your previous.

[OnACoffeeBreak]

That's a fair question, and, while writing the original comment I thought about mentioning it. The honest answer is that I don't know what I've missed out on without social media. I try very hard to cultivate "meat space" relationships that are authentic. Social media, while I tried it out, never felt authentic and after a while I realized that if a relationship is worth having, it will spill over and endure in "meat space".

I guess my point is that, unless you buy into the idea of having online persona, you may not feel homeless online without it.

[pennyintheslot]

The safest way to find out is to just give it a try. You will see quite soon whether you enjoy the ‘game’ of a specific platform or not.

It’s unlikely that you will get good at something you don’t enjoy so I think the moment you can answer that question you should take the consequences.

Not enjoying it -> unlikely to get good at it -> unlikely to reap the benefits -> better skip it or work around it (you don’t NEED those platforms after all)

[srean]

You could be missing out on appreciating what you already have now in the quest for that hypothetical thing that you could be missing out on.