Why I’m Heading Back to the Birdsite
I joined Twitter back in 2008. From the onset, it's been the only social media channel I've ever really bought into (apart from a misguided period when I thought Google+ was the next big thing).
From tweeting about new bands and artists back in my music journalist days, to growing an audience of more than 20k followers for my product management musings, Twitter has been a constant throughout my personal and professional life for almost a decade and half.
But Elon Musk's takeover made me think long and hard about my relationship with the birdsite.
The chaos and layoffs, the batshit product decisions, the cull of third-party apps, the death of Revue—all of these have had me reaching for the delete button on my account.
But I haven't pressed it.
Like a football fan watching their team slide towards relegation but unable to turn away (I'm a Newcastle United fan so I've been there a few times), I still love Twitter—nothing Elon does is going to change that.
My time on the birdsite has never been about growth-hacking or audience-building (although watching the numbers has been nice). For me, Twitter has always been about conversation and community.
When I first became a product manager there was no one at my company I could learn from. Twitter was where I found the peers and mentors who helped me figure out what the hell I was meant to be doing.
Without those people, I don't think my career would have taken the trajectory it has.
One thing I've learned over the last couple of months is Twitter isn't about ownership or algorithms, follower counts or features; it's about the people.
And while the people I love are still there, I will be.