Visible invisibility on Twitter

French filmmaker Jean Renoir is credited as saying something like, "If you want to portray a man suffering loneliness, shoot a scene of him in a crowd." . . .

Recalling this quote made me think about Twitter and how using it can make a person feel very lonely at times. See, one never can be or have "enough" on Twitter, right? It's endless. And endless things are ... well, lonely.

She has more followers.
He is more clever.
That one is attractive.
His job sounds like a dream.
Those guys RT each other constantly.
She's vague.
He never RTs anyone.
Yay! She noticed what I said.
Why are they asking me to RT?
I would like to Tweet this, but I shouldn't
Everyone is Here or There but me
This is all bull
And more like that . . .

Anyone who has spent time on Twitter can relate to feeling a bit emptied out at times.

Visible Invisible
Contributing to that emptiness is the growing number of "visible invisible" tweets that don't add a thing to the conversation. They aren't quite spam, but come very close. They don't make you laugh, but neither do these Tweets touch your heart. The Twitters that I feel play the "visible invisible" game actually evoke in me the image of a noisy toddler coming into my house. The toddler who pulls out all the toys and settles into playing with none of them. It's an energy drain having a "visible invisible" type around... sucking the wind out of the room.

Build a feed that makes room for change
Tastes, opinions, desires, and opportunities change. There is a lot of room for fresh ideas and honest inquiry in the world. Building a stream that shows your personality is good practice. You will spot your weaknesses, celebrate your strengths. Your feed will be alive.

So, take a look. Does your feed allow you room to evolve your ideas? Or does that visible invisibility you pass on as expertise ultimately hold you back? Think about it.

Put yourself, not some idea of who you are supposed to be, into your tweets. You may build your character as much as your follower list.

. . .

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