You may have noticed that my @jackofkent account is no longer on Twitter.
Twitter has been very kind to me.
@jackofkent had over 7000 followers by yesterday.
It was a wonderful but strange (and sometimes slightly intimidating) sensation to think that any more than a handful of people had the slightest care as to what I tweeted.
I have engaged with some witty and intelligent individuals. I have also been able to work with like-minded people around the world on a range of causes.
And I may have been able to make a marginal difference via Twitter to things which spilled over into the real world: the Simon Singh case, the Paul Chambers "Twitter Joke Trial", making fun of Scientology and getting a story on Newsnight, and this week even keeping the story alive about the Metropolitan Police's seeming failure to properly investigate the mainstream media ("#MetGate").
(The latter even got me a direct thank you from John Prescott!)
However, Twitter really is a time-eater of the highest order.
And helping make #MetGate as a mainstream story, and getting 6969 followers (which rather appealed to my sense of humour), was a good time to go. There was probably nothing left to achieve.
I was also beginning to not derive as much fun out of it as the time I put into it probably warranted.
After all, tweeting and blogging are hobbies; they are voluntary activities.
There is no public duty or contractual obligation to tweet or blog.
If you are not having fun then there is no point doing any hobby.
I have a day job; I am writing a book ("Bad Libel"); I have this blog, and I blog elsewhere; I organise Westminster Skeptics; and (believe it or not) I also have a life which does not involve being either an appendage to a keyboard or promoting worthy causes.
I have tried to give up on Twitter before, but I could always think of a reason to go back.
So this time, I thought I would act a little more decisively.
I deactivated my @jackofkent account.
I am full of praise for Twitter, and I will miss being @jackofkent.
I am proud of the good work I achieved with that account.
And I am incredibly grateful to each person who followed me.
But I only have so much spare time, and I want to spend it doing what I enjoy doing most.
So if you followed me on Twitter, please forgive me for bailing out when I thought what @jackofkent could do had peaked and to get out on a high.
And at least you will always know you were one of @jackofkent's 6969.
(ps, as I have been accused of melodrama over my exit, I may as well have the above as the title to my blogpost :-) )
(pps, if you are very observant, you will have noticed I have changed the name of my blog too...) [7 September - a number of readers have asked me to change the title back, so I have but with a new subtitle.]
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Edited for style and new content, 5 September.
As requested by a few people, I have now created a Twitter feed for blogposts from this site.
I also still have my long-standing personal account, and I remain responsible for the Westminster Skeptics account.
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Saturday, 4 September 2010
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19 comment(s):
I am not precisely sure how these things work (specifically, how long it will be before a deactivated account name may be released - a changed one becomes available pretty soon after being abandoned), but might it not be a good idea to keep @jackofkent in existence, even as a private account without followers or followings, to avoid the name's being squatted by somebody else?
That's a good point. The last thing you want is a squatter.
But on the more general point, this is why I've resisted joining Twitter. Blogging takes up enough of my time: I know that if I join Twitter it will become unsustainable.
Hello David Allen Green
Goodbye Jack of Kent
Looking forward to the next 'incarnation'
@T Lockyer
Good point, and indeed I tried to register the account yesterday evening and I was unsuccessful. It seems to have been locked, but I also suspect there's a time delay before twitter releases a closed account for re-use.
This has happened before. There have been two Richard Littljohns on twitter: @RichLittlejohn and @Twittlejohn. Littlejohn announced the change but seemingly didn't park/hold the old account, and it was nabbed pretty quickly.
I would suggest Jack/David does the same - at least to "preserve the brand". It will cost nothing (in time or money) and you never know when it may become useful again.
If you only change names of your Twitter account then the old name comes up for grabs.
But if you deactivate it then the name is not then available to others.
Thank you! As you're one of the main reasons I tune in to Twitter most days I might get some quality time back myself...! Have very much enjoyed your tweets, and will continue following the blog.
Well, goodbye for now. Appreciated your company and contributions. Good luck with book.
That's a genuine shame. I read your tweets with a lot of interest. Keep up the fight.
Thanks for some very valuable insights and pointers on Twitter; I will be continuing to follow your blog. Good luck!
Well, as one of the 6969 - goodbye. As a reader of the collected output of David Allen Green - brilliant.
I hope you keep the Jack of Kent name, even if you don't use it on Twitter. We have all become rather fond of your super-hero alter ego. Personally, I think the blog name should change back.
And I agree with the others who say you should make extra sure nobody else can register the Twitter name. I can think of quite a few unpleasant people who would love make a lot of mischief by grabbing it.
And we were just getting to know each other.. I will have to find someone else to spank now ; )
Sorry to see you leave the medium - you were one of the best at understanding how it could be used for good - when #Trafigura was first getting going, you were amongst the first to ensure it got traction.
It was through your Twittering that I found your blog, and became a regular reader, for which I'm especially grateful.
Looking forward to the book and to maybe one day meeting you at a Westminster Skeptics meeting. Enjoy your freedom!
I will miss Jack; I found the perspective very interesting and informative. I am also going to miss watching Jack roll up his sleeves and get into mischief.
Good luck with the book and the #twitterjoketrial. Enjoy all that extra free time!
Thanks JoK for being an interesting and key focal point on numerous debates that were fun to watch unfold.
I'd like to note an interesting parallel...
A Tweeter with
- a high and growing profile (made stories reach BBC Newsnight)
- many followers
felt the cost outweighed the benefit
Twitter itself has:
- high profile
- many followers (users)
and has not figured out how to make the income outweigh the costs (Twitter still not profitable)
Having a high profile does not necessarily result in reward, be it money or otherwise.
I applaud your decision to stop spending so much time on something with such a high cost. You quit while you're ahead just as John Cleese only wrote one series of Fawlty Towers, Raymond Blanc won 3 Michelin stars and gave them back....
But I'm sure we'll see you pop up somewhere else. I'll be looking out for those short paragraphs.
Best of luck.
(I hope Twitter don't read this though, for I don't wish them to shut down!)
Real shame to hear that. Thanks for all the interesting information and links I've enjoyed whilst you have been on Twitter.
Have added some new content to the above and some links, including to a twitter feed for blogposts from this site.
In my mind you were the highest of high fliers on Twitter David, you provoked and sustained some ridiculously good debates. No easy feat so well done there and good luck for offline/online activities going forward.
I have been asked to change the name of the blog back by an number of people. So I have done (at least for now), but changed the subtitle.
However, I now intend to write generally under my own name.
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