#oneaday Day 844: Sharing is caring

I often think about leaving social media (specifically Twitter) behind completely, but end up not doing so on the grounds that I "need" it to promote my work. However, as the days go on, I find myself increasingly questioning that side of things. How much does it really help?

I say this because I make a point of highlighting and sharing all the interesting stuff I've been up to each and every day, and yet despite having a few thousand followers, I get maybe a few likes and retweets at most — and a very occasional reply.

Then you look at some vapid bullshit someone has shared and see it has thousands of likes and retweets, or see people arguing in endless quote-tweet back-and-forths, and it just doesn't really seem worth the effort.

People, it seems, are much more willing to share negative things than positive things. And I make a point of not writing or publishing things about how much something sucks or why everyone who likes a thing is a bad person because [slacktivism cause of the week].

On top of that, you're much more likely to get "engagement" (ugh) from people who are reacting negatively to something. Remember the piece I wrote a little while ago about the end of the PlayStation 3, Vita and PSP eras? I got an angry quote tweet in response to that article from someone demanding to know why he should buy a PS5. (I said absolutely nothing whatsoever about the PS5 in the article, aptly demonstrating that he most certainly had not read even the headline, let alone the actual text itself.)

It just doesn't feel worth it sometimes. And I find myself increasingly wondering if what little benefit there is from keeping Twitter around is worth the stress it causes. Unfortunately, that seems to be something that is a little hard to quantify.

Oh well!

In the meantime, you (yes, you) can help. Give me a hand by giving the stuff I write and share a like and a retweet; I post 'em on the hour throughout most of the day and evening, UK time. Quote tweet with your own thoughts. Share of your own volition. It would be massively helpful.

Another suggestion that I've found quite effective for myself: next time you feel yourself getting tempted to quote tweet some 12 year old whining about some bullshit in a gacha game that doesn't matter, force yourself to find a writer, video producer, artist, musician or some other creative type that you actually like, then make a point of sharing one of their things instead of the negative thing.

If everyone did that, social media would be a much nicer place. I can dream.