Month: March 2016

I’ve used Twitter for years. I’ve found interesting links and things to read. I’ve met great people, including other iOS developers. Twitter helped me find work when I shifted from full-time employment to independent contracting. It even helped me find good people to work with when I needed icon design.

Late last year, I was beginning to feel overwhelmed. We’d just moved to a new city, started new jobs, bought a new house, had a new baby. Then the baby needed open-heart surgery and we spent a month in the hospital. Oh, and we had to deal with a health insurance company that has fought us every step of the way. I won’t say which one of those last two was more stressfull.

During this time, I began to understand how much time and attention I gave to Twitter. Even if I just wanted to keep up with all the Apple developer news, it was exhausting. Not to mention all the simultaneous conversations, the “um actuallys”, the shouting and unkindness. Even though I was simply a bystander in 99% of it, it began to feel like a heavy weight around my shoulders. And I needed this energy to focus on my family’s situation.

So, I haven’t posted to Twitter since late last year. I stopped reading my timeline. Then I took Tweetbot off my phone. It feels like there were a thousand voices in my head, and now they’ve vanished. It feels… peaceful. I have regained a little focus and a little sanity.

I’m going to dust of my RSS reader and consume news that way. I still want to post microblog-style updates, but I think I’ll just do them on this website. It’s likely that no one will read them, and that’s okay.

If you @-mention me on Twitter, I’ll see it eventually and will reply. Take care and be well.