I have had a constant love-hate relationship with X since its early inception. I've gone through periods of using it extensively and then other periods where I wouldn't touch it for years.

Ultimately I want to know if I should be using X as a Software Developer with "Should" being at the crux of this inquiry. Will it make a significant enough impact on my career which would deem it worthy of the non-significant time investment? In this article I want to face this crucial question head on.

The Benefits Of Using X

There are obvious benefits to using twitter - Learning about new tech, finding out about upcoming events or getting great tips about the latest hyped terminal setup (Ghostly and Herdr btw).

I've discovered many non-trivial things from scrolling around on X - I first learnt about Tailwindcss for example - which have definitely had an impact on my development career.

It makes you feel connected to a community. Being a developer means spending many hours by yourself so it's easy to become a little isolated. X makes it easy to find like minded individuals and feel a certain connection even if it is only a digital one.

The Downsides Of Using X

However, it's not all sunshine and butter biscuits.

Steering away swiftly from the obvious political rabbit-hole I could go down, I want to focus solely on the down sides which I personally experience.

1. Reactionary Posts

First up are the posts that are perversely designed to rile you up the wrong way. To cause a gut reaction. To get your ever rising blood pressure to shoot up a few more notches.

X deliberately shows you these posts to generate engagement and help that dollar counter tick over. However, the negative mood created can linger for a long time afterwards. This can have a nasty knock-on effect in my real life as I mull over the post in my mind.

I remember one particular tweet about creating an alias 'please' instead of using sudo as sudo is passive aggressive. I got riled up almost instantly with a gut reaction and responded. Almost always I regret responding in this manner later on. However, sometimes my emotions get the better of me.

2. It's Too Easy To Get Distracted

I often find myself unconsciously opening a new tab and typing in "x.com". It's a cognitive comfort blanket. A quick escape to distract myself from whatever uncomfortable task I faced me.

3. FOMO

I think there is a scientific proportional relationship for this - the longer you spend on X the higher your FOMO. It's probably not an exact correlation but in my case it leaves me feeling like a dinosaur who is living in the dark ages compared to all the cool kids working with all their modern jazzy new tools.

Benefits vs Disadvantages

Do the benefits outweigh the disadvantages? Honestly it's hard to say but the older I get the more I cherish a healthy headspace. This gives the disadvantages more weight in this comparison.

But it also does depends on how you use X. Doom scrolling vs having a clear plan of attack makes a huge difference. What is a good strategy on X though?

What's The Best Strategy On X?

This is something I have struggled with since day 1 and the conclusion I have come to (which isn't very helpful) is "it depends".

X is a very different experience if you are a well known developer versus being a relative unknown. For the likes of Wes Bos, Theo or The Primeagen, they can ask a question into the X ether and they will receive hundreds of responses. If I were to ask the same question then I would likely get zero responses.

My approach has to be different (which is interesting in itself because this whole strategy piece has the underlying philosophy that there is a goal in X and that goal is to acquire as much attention as possible), I usually find myself answering the questions these "big fish" ask. This has been the most successful approach if I want to get any kind of reaction or attention.

But is this the optimal way to use X? I think there is no right answer to this as it all depends on why you're there.

There are many people all over X promising a "guaranteed strategy" to grow your X followers and maybe some of them work. But I believe that ultimately you have to have an overall goal. Like selling a course or promoting a product. Then it makes more sense and you can use X as one more marketing channel.

Conclusion

After much consideration I have decided to ultimately stop using X. My clear headspace is too important to me these days. Since starting to use X regularly again, more of my time away from the computer is spent imagining replies or writing posts. I have found I too easily get involved in reactionary posts. I more often than not react negatively to someone else's opinion and this is clearly impacting my overall mental wellbeing.

I have a clear objective in my life right now. Build quality software (with the help of AI) and solve real problems for real people which generates a second income stream.

Therefore I have realised I should be dedicating what time I have to this end. X does not help with this objective.

The hardest part of this will be not casually opening a tab and typing in "x.com". It's a comfort blanket for me so I will have to find an alternative to this that doesn't give me the negative headspace.

Similarly, I stopped watching the news 5 years ago and it was one of the best decisions I have made. I think doing the same with X will also bring an overall benefit to my life. Maybe I will miss out on some cool news and trends but ultimately it is just unneeded noise.What's your opinion on this? Do you use X regularly? Do you think it's an overall net positive for you? If not, then how do you regulate the negativity?