More and more people are calling it X these days. This irritates me. The name "Twitter" fitted the product so well - like a snug glove. Sending out a "tweet" had just the right ring to it. Calling it X just doesn't sit well with me and never has.

Regardless of its name though I have found a constant love hate relationship with X since its inception. I've gone through periods of using it extensively and then other periods where I wouldn't touch it for literally years.

Ultimately I want to know if I should be using X as a Software Developer with "Should" being the crux of this inquiry. Will it make a significant enough impact on my somewhat successful professional life 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 (and now I can even see awkward personal details from the creator Adam Wathan if I really wanted to) - which have definitely had an impact on my development career.

The Downsides Of Using X

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

Steering away swiftly from the obvious political rabbithole I could go down, I will 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 points.

They are ultimately designed to generate engagement and help that dollar counter tick over for X. However for me it can leave me in a negative mood for quite some time afterwards. This can have a nasty effect in my real life long after I have closed X as I mull over the post in my mind.

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 comfort thing. A quick escape to distract myself from whatever uncomfortable task I was faced with.

3. FOMO

I think there is a scientific proportional relationship for this - the longer you spend on X the higher your FOMO. It's an exact correlation I believe. 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 software.

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 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 attention.

tbd

Conclusion

I have decided to ultimately stop using X. I have realised over the past couple of months, since starting to use it regularly, that more and more of my time away from the computer is spent imagining replies or 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 the best pieces of software I can with the help of AI and solve real problems for real people. Make software that people are willing to buy so I can have a second form of income. - 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.

I stopped watching the news around 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 noise that I don't need in my life.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?