A Love Letter to Twitter
Dear Twitter,
It’s so sad to see you go. Despite having your flaws (don’t worry we all have them) and issues (ok, some of that was poor leadership), you were always my favorite. I joined you right before I moved to Paris. I figured if I was studying Global Communications, I should at least be somewhat aware of what this communication did.
Little did I know that I’d meet many of my closest friends. It connected me to people in Paris (expats at first, but then the net went wider). And allowed me to stay in touch with people around the world. It makes me smile to think that one of my French friends (who I also see as a mentor) came into my life thanks to a tweet I wrote about Paris café chair patterns which she replied to. Twitter was my connective tissue.
Twitter made me a better, sharper, more succinct writer with the original 140-character count. I’m not sure if others found me funny, but I enjoyed writing an amusing tweet from time to time.
Since I’ve moved to Paris I’ve never looked for a job. My two longest jobs here came to me with the aid of Twitter. Tweeting an event is how I got recruited one time. Another time someone slid into my DMs. I even got recruited by Twitter at one point, and wrote one of my proudest cover letters, all in tweets.
Another time I decided not only to follow the official company account for a platform I loved, but I decided to follow a bunch of people who worked there too. One day one of those people reached out to me asking me if I wanted to teach for them. That gig was the start of a snowball of the greater work I do now, and I still earn money from my classes, even 12 years later!
Twitter was my way of following my curiosity and it paid off. It was the platform for me that helped me learn so much about the world and consider things I never had learned in school (and could bring the lessons of accessibility, representation and more into my teaching before it was the norm). I didn’t feel like I was constantly trying to be influenced to buy more, I just got to learn about the world and had access to incredible people without traditional hierarchical constraints. I’d often learn about world events before the world did.
On another occasion I was tweeting an event I was attending, when I got a DM from a handle I didn’t recognize. It was a childhood friend I hadn’t seen in nearly 20 years. She lives in Colorado. I live in Paris. The event was in NYC. We never would have known the other was there had it not been for Twitter.
When you’re someone who is carving your own path in life where work doesn’t always look like work, and how you move through the world doesn’t look like everyone else’s journey, Twitter helped me find “my people” and showed me there are other ways to experience this thing called life. I also discovered awesome events and conferences that helped me venture to different cities in the world. It widened my horizons and perspectives.
Twitter was also a way I could stay connected to friends. My parents became my most avid followers, getting a unique peek into my life in a way that never would have come up on phone calls.
Yes, Twitter also shared a lot of heartbreak and devastating news. It became my heartbeat and safety net in Paris during attacks and protests. (Unfortunately, it also showed me one of my cousins is far more extremist than I realized.) Twitter is also responsible for so many smiles and laughs. It’s where I discovered that even a head of lettuce could be hilarious.
On Twitter I felt like I was on the pulse. I knew what was happening in the world. It became the most well rounded newsfeed I could have asked for. Reading replies taught me a lot about the world and made me consider different perspectives (while also discovering some people just are angry and there is a whole lot of unprocessed trauma out there).
I could sense the toxicity, but never felt it on Twitter myself. Instead, I could see—or read—the hope between the lines as Twitter gave a voice to so many who would never have been accepted by the mainstream media. One of the most exciting developments has seen the voices of young people emerging. In many ways I find them far more inspirational than so many in “leadership.” Twitter helped share the paradigm.
Twitter helped me see the cracks in our broken world, but also the power of the people. Perhaps the downfall can remind us that the model of looking to one person to lead us is no longer effective, but the true power resides in the collective.
I will miss you Twitter and the spirit of your potential.
Sincerely yours,
Anne