Thread by @SentinelVI

Some ruminations on self-improvement Twitter

This sphere is growing, and there are many players vying for attention of a clear audience of people. The way this audience is split up is evident by the content and style of a given account’s tweets.

There are a few challenges with this format though.

1. The content is geared towards getting people started (growth).

In my N=1 example, I’m somebody who has had long term work to do in pursuit of my goals.

The things I needed to hear (which comprises most of the advice given by big names here) had sunk in and been implemented within a few weeks of when I decided to start the work.

Following many of the same accounts for a year or so, it now feels like they are convincing me that I have problems that I no longer actually have. The real reason is that I’m no longer in the audience for that tweet - they’re talking to new folks who need to hear that stuff.

The advice is usually couched in direct statements of fact as a branding alignment as well, which compounds the sense of “convincing” mentioned earlier. Highly functional for newbies. Potentially toxic long term

Another issue: problems are universal and predictable. Despite some variance, it is easy to state a problem that someone might have and then offer some solutions. This content will resonate.

But discussing problems misses the positive component of any sustainable feedback loop

In a public, notice board format, it is possible to point out common problems and possible solutions. However, it is impossible to point out milestones of improvement and celebrate individuals’ victories. There’s simply no way to know.

This compounds with the first issue to rob individuals of the ability to clearly track how they’ve improved. A component of the self improvement process that doesn’t get talked about enough.

It is for the audience member to determine which pieces of advice are necessary and actionable for them, and which pieces of advice are for others who are at different stages of the journey, but that takes focus and narrative awareness. And everything is phrased as assertions

At times I can feel myself slipping back into thought patterns that I had before, purely by virtue of some piece of advice that would have been very useful to myself from a year ago, but has dissonance with where I am now. I think this hampers forward movement.

Counterintuitively (or maybe it’s just me?) There are times where my mental state deteriorates as a result of consuming content that reminds me of where I was rather than where I am or where I hope to go.

I must keep reminding myself that that content is not for me now