I've been reflecting on the trend of white men saying "my feed isn't diverse enough, who should I follow?" I guess acknowledging a problem is good, but this is like saying "I've been eating terribly for years, what's a healthy meal I can cook right now in less than 10 minutes?"
It isn't bad, but it certainly doesn't result in a lasting change. Most of the men who follow me in those threads end up unfollowing. That's fine, not everyone needs to like me on Twitter.
But every man following and unfollowing the same few women who get recommended is pointless. Instead, focus on authentically meeting women, POC, and other underrepresented groups that you do connect with.
I get recommended today because people like @joshelman @kennethn and @hunterwalk read and elevated my writing 5+ years ago. Way before I was on a "list of women to follow."
We have shared interests. The support from discipline leaders encouraged me to keep writing. That writing has helped me get jobs, funding, make hires etc. They had a huge impact for which I am deeply grateful. Power and privilege can help others who don't have it (yet).
Don't follow people to make yourself feel good, or assume that people want your help. It must be genuine. You should want to promote, and want to learn from them.
So here's my recommendation for having a diverse feed: do the work, and expect it to be an ongoing process change, not something that happens in one moment, or as "my Monday afternoon task."
1) Take an honest look at new followers. Read their tweets. See if you are interested in the content. It's a low bar to follow a new voice who you might find interesting. Same for people who regularly reply and discuss things with you.
2) If that's too low volume and you do want make a bigger investment, go through everyone who follows you. It's sort of tedious, but you'll find interesting people, who are already interested in what you have to say.
3) If there aren't underrepresented groups following you, take a long hard look at yourself. Figure out why your writing isn't appealing. It's you, not them.
4) Once you follow them, don't just reply. If you're getting value, like their posts and RT their posts.
On that note, willing to do this? Commit publicly, retweet this tweet.
I'll try to check in via at-messages in a week and remind you, no promises.
I'll try to check in via at-messages in a week and remind you, no promises.
<3 heartened by how much people responded to this. Now to go through and find some new voices to follow!
