This is an opinion editorial by Mark Maraia, professional development author and Bitcoin researcher.
I have been studying Bitcoin since 2020 and have noticed that there is a strong and vibrant community on Twitter. In fact, “Bitcoin Twitter” is practically its own “country” that exists online.
I have a Twitter account since 2009, but I never use it to tweet. There are several reasons for this (perhaps the subject of another article) but, suffice it to say, I’ve never found it to be a great use of my time. Like many Boomers, I see social media as a huge waste of time and productivity. I also see it as perhaps the worst addiction of our era.
On a recent episode of the “TFTC” podcasthost Marty Bent and guest Ryan Breslow, the CEO of BOLT, delved into the topic of our addiction to technology and specifically Twitter.
Both admitted to having addictions to Twitter. It emerges from the conversation that while Bent admitted to his addiction, he hadn’t done much to break his addiction, whereas Breslow had. In fact, Breslow described that “his most difficult personal challenge of his is managing his time on Twitter.” Breslow used to check it randomly and frequently every day, which brought him the dopamine hit that keeps us all hooked on technology.
How many can say the same? Probably many of you who are reading this.
no silver bullet
Since I’m not on Twitter, it’s easy for me to feel left out. I may have great ideas to contribute, but they won’t be heard unless I’m more active on Twitter. My engagement approach has been joining Telegram, which has been the right middle ground for me.
But, as Breslow pointed out, there is no silver bullet approach. Day by day, how are you managing your addiction? It turns out that few of us can resist the lure of something that is “always available, just a button away.” Breslow adopted this rule of thumb for his posts: He checks his Twitter feed once to see how a post fared. It’s easy to say and hard to do.
I have been writing about this growing addiction to our devices before the age of smartphones and before Bitcoin. In fact, I wrote about this with the advent of PDAs (which stands for personal digital assistant), particularly Blackberries, which, during their heyday, were sometimes called “crackberries.” I even wrote a chapter in my second book that was ironically titled “Fire Your PDA!”
I joked back then, that most people didn’t know there was an on/off switch on their devices. And for those of you who are too young to remember, Blackberry was highly addictive in the age of email and before social networks or text messages.
Well, as anyone reading this article today can attest, the problem has only gotten worse with Twitter and other social media platforms, but it’s at least 10, and maybe even 100 times worse.
quit an addiction
Before I share specific experiments you could implement in the new year to increase your awareness of this addiction, let me ask you these questions:
- Do you admit you have a Twitter addiction?
- Have you hindered or interfered in your relationships with a co-worker, family member or friend?
- Have you ever tried to go a day without it?
- Do you check Twitter (or another social media app) first thing when you wake up?
- Do you keep your phone in your room?
- Do you keep your phone on your nightstand?
- After posting something, do you compulsively review it?
It’s a safe bet that if a family member or friend has ever asked you to stop reading your Twitter feed when you’re with them, you’re probably addicted to or misusing technology. In fact, I bet it’s harder for some of us to kick our addiction to social media than it is to kick our addiction to certain foods, like sugar. In fact, I would argue that our addiction to gadgets is just as bad for our health as our addiction to sugar.
What follows are several practical “experiments” (from easiest to most challenging) that you can implement today that will be worth trying in 2023:
- Disable Twitter notifications for a week
- Turn off Twitter notifications for a week and check your usage data for the last week. Set a benchmark for the number of minutes you spend on the platform each week. Check this on the same day each week.
- Set a defined number of times per day that you will check the app on your device. Or set a time block for when you check it out.
- Turn off your device for one hour a day. (Actually, this is a very good way to gauge how compulsively you review it.)
- Turn off your device for a whole day. Keep track of the number of times you are going to check it and/or turn it back on.
- Turn off your device when meditating or reading spiritual literature. Keep track of the number of times you are going to check it and/or turn it back on.
- Turn off your device when you are eating. Keep track of the number of times you are going to check it and/or turn it back on.
- Turn off your device when you are writing an article. Keep track of the number of times you are going to check it and/or turn it back on.
- Turn off your device when you are working, if possible.
- Turn off your device for a whole weekend.
- Delete Twitter from your phone for a day.
- Remove Twitter from your phone for a week.
Some of these experiments may be totally impractical due to life situations, but the general purpose of them is to test how addicted you are to the device. The point of the exercise is for you to gain more control over Twitter or the social media app that has it under control. Ideally, if you spend less time on Twitter and more time with friends and family, you’ll improve your quality of life and productivity. Remember: we want the technology to serve us and not be addicted to the app or the technology.
Consider setting one or more of the above as a possible 2023 New Years resolution. Best wishes for an amazing 2023!
This is a guest post by Mark Maraia. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
