Need to Deal with Twitter Again Edition
Over the last few weeks I have found myself spending more and more time on Twitter. And not in a good way.
This seems to happen to me every six months or so. I slowly end up spending more and more time on social media, finding myself posting more and logging in to check for replies/reactions.
Then I find myself in the classic XKCD comic, and it’s time to take a step back again.
This time I think I glimpsed the mechanism behind it.
And this isn’t just Twitter, Facebook works the same, or even Reddit. Basically anywhere you spend time online interacting with others.
Your timeline feels like it is yours. Your place. So most of the time it’s people you know or agree with. But sometimes the algorithm throws something new into the mix and shows you something different, or someone who is friends with someone you know comments on a post. Their contribution appears on your timeline, so you feel like they are talking to you.
This is especially powerful if it is about a subject you have an opinion on but are not an expert on. For me recently climate change, the pandemic, or aspects of living in Japan are particularly triggering.
So some random person barges into your timeline -your personal space- and they’re wrong. So wrong. So you get stressed. And try to put them straight. And the algorithm loves it, because engagement increases time on the platform, and that means the platform can make more money.
But from their point of view YOU are on THEIR timeline, spouting nonsense. To say nothing of the bots/political cyberwarfare elements, or the trolls.
I never have this problem with personal finance because I know what I know and I know what I don’t know. Emotion rarely comes into it.
So I need to take some time off again. Try to get my habits back in alignment.
Social media can be great, but it can also be a stressful time-suck. Using it correctly is such a delicate line to walk. Still working on that one.
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This week’s books
I’m still reading Shadow of the Torturer. It’s getting deeper, and I’m still enjoying it.
Also started What Rich People Know and Desperately Want to Keep Secret, which seems a bit scammy but was recommended by the guy who wrote Millionaire Fastlane (another book that sounds scammy but is really good). Figure I might learn something, or at least get a laugh out of it 😉
This week’s links
I use this website (12ft ladder) that lets you see paywalled articles. So far it seems to work really well, although it doesn’t work on all websites. If you have trouble reading any of the links give it a try!
- Buying stuff is not the same as investing, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it: Investing in Home Renovations vs. Investing in Stocks
- I need to care this much about more things: The psychology of Apple packaging
- Balance is the key: Anticipated Joy vs. Anticipated Regret
- I quite fancy doing this: Professionals-turned-pilgrims embrace Shikoku’s divine boredom
- His book sounds interesting, although it’s basically summarised here (YouTube): Michael Easter on The Comfort Crisis
- We need to think about this a lot more going forward: Shadows and light
- Found this really well-written. Food for though: Choose Your Table Wisely
- The travails of the truck driver in Japan. Have read similar things in the UK. Seems like a sector ripe for reform and automation: The Erasure of the Truck Driver
- Found this interesting and sensible: Richard Katz: Inflation, Startups, and Japan’s Economic Future
- I try not to pay attention, to be honest: A Giant Distraction to the Business of Investing
- I hope so: Is Yen’s Decline Over?
- THAT LINEUP: Fuji Rock 1999
- Rewilding parts of Japan would make it more efficient (cities are ‘greener’ per capita due to reduced transmission costs) and likely lower carbon emissions. It’s all about how to manage the transition though: Crumbling infrastructure rapidly rendering rural communities unlivable
What do you think? Anything interesting in there?
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#13 Re-introducing the Wolf and Lynx would help to reduce Wild Boar, Deer and Monkey numbers. But as C W Nicol highlighted years ago, only 2% of Japan’s original forest still exists. That’s a lot of rewilding, to replace industrial plantations.
Your Social Media introduction is very on point. Appreciated your thoughtful input. I started Twitter this spring and, wow, interesting introduction to social media. The illusion that i had that I am in control of who I read! Basics seem to be,: proceed with caution, don’t say things you wouldn’t say face to face, and the Mute/Unfollows buttons are our friend.
I believe it relates to #5 – comforting or numbing myself against the daily onslaught. Seeking comfort because of outside pressure is a trap I am finding hard to stay out of in these trying times. Good listen.
#11 – appreciated this simple explaination of why the Yen pluging so much. Time to travel domestically, and just keep investing my yen monthly into IDECO and balanced all world funds. Hopefully that is enough to ride it out.
I always read through your links, always interesting. Seldom comment. But, thanks for the work you put in here, it is appreciated.
#13 is interesting. I recall Japan has one of the highest percentages of forest in the G7. I think the World Bank said something like almost 70% is forest. Stuff just grows here so I can imagine the costs to maintain infra could be daunting but not overwhelming.
Personally, do recall considering buying an older house at the base of a wooded hill and thinking how will we not overrun with vegetation. That and how was I going to cope with all those huge spiders.
The twitter feed is something I stay off, the reason I try to stay off is because we are not their timeline, we are their MONEY LINE, its just that we can loose LIFETIME on the things to an algorithm. Remember the days on a train, or coffee shop where we could enjoy people walking by, relaxing,(being bored),but that time is given freely to social media now.
I like the truck drivers article after I did it for years.i dont see automation really taking over.After all whose going to take responsibility for an accident? The company? or the computer programmer? or the driver? my guess is the gov will legislate that a driver must be present. For the reason they still earn money, pay tax, and someone to blame instead of something, if there is an accident.And you still need someone to knock on the door and say, Oi, your delivery is here.
#13 – so much for my dream of early retirement on the shores of the Inland Sea, lol. These rural communities might still be very livable as long as you are healthy and don’t have to commute, but without basic infrastructure life will become more difficult the older you get.
If you’re interested in rural living in the forests or mountains, 田舎暮らし毒本 by Akio Higuchi is a fun read.