Using Twitter for Content Without Getting Sucked Into the Nastiness

I signed back up for Twitter for content generation purposes. Here’s what I found.

Twitter | Photo by Pixabay via Pexels

I have had a love-hate relationship with Twitter over the years. Mostly hate though. I deleted my original personal account in 2010, because I got nothing of value out of it. It was a narcissistic hellscape.

I created another account in 2017 as I was attempting to do more writing. It started as a promotional tool, but as my writing faltered, it warped into a vain personal account. I got sucked back into the algorithmic echo chamber. I became one of the people I loathed, with reactionary replies and aggressive and passive aggressive Tweets and retweets. By 2020, as the pandemic turned into a full blown crisis, as protests broke out and politics turned increasingly nasty, I deleted that account for good. It had to happen, for my own mental health and sanity.

Fast-forward to last week, I created yet another account. Third time is the charm, right?

There is some uncertainty as to what will happen in the Elon Musk era of Twitter, but for now, here is my guide on making Twitter work for you as a content generator, without getting sucked into the nastier parts of the service.

I Started Supporting a Third Tier US Soccer Team

Keep personal stuff away from your account

I deliberately created the account to not be personal at all. It is the official handle for a news and information site I founded and maintain, League One Updater. The topic is very niche, USL League One, a third-tier United States soccer league.

The problem with trying to generate and promote niche content is that so much source content comes from Twitter. When it comes down to it, Twitter is nothing more than a centralized PR hub. When I am generating content on a niche topic, much of the source material starts with Twitter. It’s far easier to follow and monitor Twitter accounts than to visit each individual source website multiple times throughout a day.