If you want to keep up with this blog, you will have to read it or subscribe to it. I will no longer echo the posts to Twitter–assuming that I understand correctly the procedure for stopping the echo.
There are no incidents that cause me to do this. I will keep my account, but I won’t do anything with it. As it is, I never wrote a tweet. I never replied to any tweets. The only thing I ever did on Twitter was echo my blog posts to it.
This is something I have thought about doing for a long time, but I was lazy about it. For me personally, I perceive a trade-off between getting whatever additional following Twitter allows me vs. participating in a project that goes against everything I stand for in intellectual life. Twitter is about rapid reactions to fleeting stories, and I instead believe in trying to “think slow” in Daniel Kahneman’s terminology. Shutting off the echo to Twitter is a small statement of principle.
While I’m at it, let me update my personal “terms of service” on Facebook. I will never react to a political post there. I will not comment on, like, or share such a post. I ignore friend requests from people I do not know personally. I make liberal use of the “unfollow” option. If your posts don’t “spark joy” (a Marie Kondo phrase about de-cluttering), then expect to be unfollowed. Pretty much anything sparks more joy than political posts. I have more tolerance for cat videos.
Boooo, Twitter is is how I read your well thought out post and others with at least 5 queued long form articles to read. For the quiet majority I t’s a news feed link, not a reactionary busy body arena.
Use a RSS reader to follow news feeds (with the added advantage of not having to hand over your reading preferences to an advertising network)
An RSS reader is the main way I keep track of things I want to read. I wish the whole online world was RSS’able. Unfortunately, its adoption has been fading for some time. For whatever reason, this very blog doesn’t update the feed for my RSS reader, and that’s becoming increasingly common.
Time was when most publications would have hundreds of customized, granular RSS feed options for every author and subject, but now most of them are increasingly dropping support for it.
Yes, there are some software tools that try to port some of these outlets into a synthetic RSS feed, but those tend to be very unstable and buggy.
And also, many publications, especially anything with a Big Beautiful paywall, simply won’t let you access the full article via RSS anymore. #Sad!
Still, Twitter is a vice: pleasurable but harmful. Once upon a time the vice of smoking was incredibly common and people did it everywhere, and enjoyed it and stayed thinner. Imagine being one of the early avoiders of cigarettes, not just abstaining from smoking, but staying away from second-hand smoke, or anywhere smokers might congregate and light up. You knew you were going to miss a lot of great conversation and socialization opportunities. But, you know, lung cancer.
That’s what staying away from Twitter is like today.
If you’re up for changing, Feedly handles (pun intended) askblog well. I’ve been using it ever since Google Reader went away.
Second that though hate the new Feedly interface TBH and would drop it in second if a competitor came along after years of paid use.
Gratz on joining us Luddites Mr. Kling, Facebook next. I left SM with G+ dying.
Kling has framed his choice of what set of software tools to use/support into a personal statement about This seems richly ironic given Kling’s concern with polarization and social media.
The core set of software tools Kling uses/supports in this context comes down to 1. text editor, 2. publishing platform, 3. user subscriptions/notifications, and 4. commenting system. Twitter and Facebook are non-exclusive alternatives to WordPress/plugin based 3. RSS/e-mail subscriptions and 4. commenting.
Most of these choices are path dependent so Kling’s set of WordPress centric tools are reflections of his milieu during his original set of choices rather than an expression of his worldview.
To make it clear, I personally don’t have a stake in interest in Kling’s technology choices (though I find it interesting) but I’m fascinated with the psychology that transforms a choice of whether to enable/disable a minor software plugin into a matter of self identity.
The world has been transformed by web/mobile/cloud technology. Perhaps we have an innate cognitive bias to conflate technical revolutions with social ones. For me, this post feels like an impassioned “Coke vs. Pepsi” or “Ford vs. Chevy” consumer argument.
BTW, I got notified of your Rauch post on Twitter.
Dear Prof,
Nearly every week I find myself thinking that “Glad I’m not on twittter and never got sucked in.” But my feelings about television watching are similar though less extreme. You might consider twitter to be an informational tool that lets some people be aware of things they otherwise would not even have heard of.
No sense in belaboring the point. Regarding TV, I could provide some examples on request.
Twitter is combat. It is not contemplative.
Many years ago I thought about engaging on that platform, but there were already players that are so good at it, like Iowahawk, that they (rightfully) suck up all the oxygen. Plus, exposing your political beliefs (especially if they are conservative) is likely to cost you an employment opportunity at some point. Plus, all these platforms eventually become lefty, so why provide free content/ad revenue for something you disagree with?
I get what you’re saying, but what do you think about this? Basically arguing that — while the default twitter is basically what you’re describing — with a little work it can provide a lot of benefits.
https://guzey.com/twitter/
Completely agree with the sentiment and your decision. I hate political posts on Facebook as well, and swiftly unfollow those who post too many of them I also avoid commenting unless there is a particularly egregious example of someone presuming that everyone else agrees with him’/her. And I like the parallel to Marie Kondo in terms of “decluttering” your Facebook feed.
I don’t get it. The decision should not be about Kling’s personal use of Twitter, it is about his reader’s subscription preference. RSS vs e-mail vs. Twitter vs. Facebook.
Am I missing something? If the post came from someone other than Kling I’d suggest that this move was either social signalling or social activism and the positive support from commenters as in-group signalling. I must be missing something.
I am pessimistic about the prospect of sufficiently swift cultural adaptation and a critical mass of people adopting a new set of pro-social norms appropriate to the use of social media. Consider: even after 25 years, you still can’t get people to turn off the ringers on their cell phones in public events.
Kling sounds disgruntled and dyspeptic.
How many of the commenters here have actually read even one of Kling’s books? I read his health care book in full and later read half of his three languages book. I do enjoy Kling’s perspective on the news of the day, which probably is suited to blogs and twitter.
Maybe, but I think the more charitable view is that he has conflated his personal preferences with facilitating the preferences of his readership. Maybe a technical misunderstanding? I think it is likely an implicit rationale that I have trouble fathoming.
I’ve read four of his books fully (if you include the unpublished/free “Memoirs of a Would-be Macroeconomist”). I’ve wanted to read “Unchecked and Unbalanced” but it wasn’t available as an eBook from my library and it is/was unreasonably priced for purchase. I’m glad you mentioned Kling’s books because my public library does have paper book copies so I will read it shortly. The curious question is why it took your mental nudge to remind me to check for the availability of the paper book; some kind of brain cramp/defect I think.
But other than some kind of personal signalling, why does it matter? Are the key takeaways too complex for the condensed version you would get from say an EconTalk podcast with Kling, his blog posts, or even the book abstracts?
My suspicion is that the audience of people reading Kling’s bite sized blog commentary is much larger than the audience reading his full length books.
Of course, Kling should do what he wants, and write where he wants to write.
I’m definitely not trying to boast or “signal” about reading his books… If I really thought reading Kling’s books was signal-worthy, I’d read more of them.