Do you ever think of unplugging from twitter.

I am convinced it is impossible to have a civil disagreement on twitter not even worth it

I stopped using twitter over a year ago. Too much stress to try to keep up with everything. If it is important it will be in the news.

I don't use twitter. I tend to hear of these "controversies" in the forums after they trickle down. Most of the "controversies" are rather dumb. No thanks.

Easy way to go about it: don't follow people that keeps tweeting/retweeting really dumb shit.

It is absurdly easy to filter out any information you don't want to be exposed to on twitter, making it all the more terrifying that its the chief way by which many people learn about current events.

No, I don't use twitter. Never have. Sorted.

No, Twitter is the shit. I see a lot of interesting news pieces I'd most likely never notice without it. Plus it's kinda my go-to for when I want to send links to shit to my friends.

Facebook, on the other hand, I could do without, as I just use the messenger companion app for when my friends hit me up. Never even need to see my feed.

Well, when I feel like not going to Twitter, I don't go there. It isn't terribly hard to do that. As for permanently leaving it, no chance. I have more meaningful social interaction there than in any other social media. The fact that it's occasionally depressing certainly doesn't drive me away from it; events around the world tend to be super-depressing most of the time. Twitter is a fantastic tool to use to get out of your comfort zone, follow people you don't agree with, argument with them, expand your horizons, learn new things. Challenging yourself. It's so damn worthwhile.

Only when Alex retweets over 30 tweets during an awards show or something like that.

@branthog: I only check John Carmack's twitter and it is great. Although I usually end up researching and learning something that I will never use.

I only ever used it to follow Giant Bomb staff, which is no longer necessary because they have their tweets on the front page now. I always heard about negativity on twitter but have never seen any of it myself. Doesn't strike me as a good platform for discussion about anything really.

Works for me, too. I don't get it. Is anything said ever that important?

Yeah I think you've got it. I love finding new articles stuff... like I don't check the New Yorker or Wired's website ever, but Twitter is a great source of world news for me. And when things like Ferguson happen it's a unfiltered way to see what's happening.

People get too invested in social media. When shit like the Zoe Quinn stuff happens why not just take a step back and observe. I mean who gets all worked up about some arsehole writing shit you know is just plain wrong? Life's too short. Sometimes I say what's on my mind, but some internet warrior with an axe to grind isn't going to ruin my day. Most of the time Twitter is a fun time filler lets me read about the latest shitty Android watch or whatever.

Quit following only celebrities and treating Twitter like it's giving you some insight into how these people are thinking.

Also, you can mute people.

TANGENT: On a side note, video game websites have done a fucking awful job of clearing up all this recent shit. Game journos go off on Twitter like rabid kids and then write shit on NeoGAF, then refuse to report what's happening and instead say how "we won't bring it up here". God forbid they deliver the news that affects the industry objectively and not feel they have to ignore shit. /rant

Do it man, it shall set you free

I simply use it for following the Giant Bomb dudes and various other entertainment figures. I experience far more negativity in my real life than on fucking Twitter, or the internet for that matter. If I was concerned about shielding myself from negativity, I'd have to go and live under a rock somewhere far, far away.

I don't even know when I last logged into my twitter account, so yes, I unplugged from twitter lol.

Well I've never been on Twitter, and I kinda find some of the things people get real tried and afraid of to be overblown. I always feel like the Twitter Hivemind likes to create boogymans

I use Twitter for a lot more than following people in gaming, so I wouldn't disconnect from it.

It's fine. If you choose not to interact with any of the negative stuff out there then you'll experience it. It's also the easiest way to reach a lot of industry folk that you'd normally never have a chance to talk to, while on Twitter oftentimes they'll actually respond.

Like any other service, there is the good and the bad, and it's largely up to you to filter one for the other.

No because a lot of people I want to talk to on a daily basis use it. And its still a better news source than actual news most times. Its very easy to be all grumble grumble social media is the downfall of society but here is the thing all technology has its good and bad sides. If you're going to quit twitter over stuff like that you might as well unplug from the internet entirely.

140 characters isn't enough to have a civil debate with someone, and most people there are unwilling to separate opinions from the people who have them.

I've never considered unplugging, but this past week has been trying my patience. I've started muting the negative people for a day or so at a time to try and clean it up and see the people I want to talk to.

Use the unfollow button. I used to follow over a hundred people, now I'm down to less than 30. I used to follow anybody I even remotely liked and it turned my feed into a shit show. There are people I really like, Patrick and Alex for example since you brought them up, who I unfollowed because I didn't want them in my feed any longer. The fact that they latch onto negativity is probably part of the reason. There's nothing wrong with them engaging with that stuff, I just don't want to see it when I check twitter.

Twitter has never been useful enough for me to sift through everything that sucks. Unless you use it for something important, you might be better off without it.

I use twitter just to tell me when people I like are streaming. Works pretty well for that.

I just ignore the parts I don't like, it's an uncanny ability of mine.

Even if you ignore all the relationship drama, there's the whole other accusation from The Fine Young Capitalists about Zoe essentially ruining their competing Game Jam, and accusing them of being a scam. Apparently she used twitter to ruin their Game Jam and got them kicked off indie go go. Meanwhile, they claim that they couldn't get an answer out of her what they are doing wrong or why she considers them to be a scam.

They also claim to have reached out to the gaming press many times, and every time they're turned away because the press instantly sides with Zoe, or says that they refuse to cover the topic. Total Biscuit re-tweeted to raise awareness for them, so either he's using incredibly poor judgement, or Zoe is.

This could be Zoe protecting people from a scam, or it could be her trying to eliminate the competition, or it could all be a big misunderstanding, but no one in the press will touch it, and it has absolutely nothing to do with a relationship.

For a quick recap instead of a somewhat lengthy video, see this image.

To answer the question the topic asks, twitter is awesome, and I look at it every day. The secret is to only use it for news rather than opinion. I follow the new Neo GAF thread twitter, and it's fantastic for keeping up with gaming news. I also follow people who work in the actual gaming industry, but are high enough on corporate ladders not to weigh in with their opinions on any heated topics. You get a lot of PR crap, but no negativity, and it still helps to learn about news.

I use Twitter to get updates when new scientific research is released primairily. It works really well for that. I barely ever post anything myself and I couldn't care less about the medium as a social platform. It seems to be a bunch of people being either idiots or assholes. I was thinking about using it as sort of a Facebook wall though. I like my life and the things I do and there is something appealing about sharing what I'm doing. In short, I like it to get notified when new research comes out or when someone posts a photo of themselves standing in front of the fountain in Barcelona for example. Fun or interesting stuff. Not the discussion stuff. That's awful.

I don't use the twitter. The only time I've found myself there is following tweets from the GB guys off of the front page. I went years (however many it was around before the GB twitter feed went up) without even thinking about the site. Sometimes one of them says something funny or interesting, but that's it. I don't use it because I don't have anything I want to say that's worthwhile, and 99% of humanity doesn't either.

So no, I don't consider unplugging.

I use Twitter because my brother uses that instead of Facebook. I check it every few days and tweet guinea pig pictures at him. Now Facebook, that I'm on constantly. My feed is full of my funny friends and cute animals. It's pretty great. If I'm feeling spicy and wanting to get into a debate, I'd rather do it on a forum than social media.

I got rid of my account some months ago. Haven't looked back yet.

I just don't check twitter all that often. I just check once every other week or so. I have no need to close my account, and feel no need to check more often than I do.

@spaceinsomniac: Not to derail this, but I just listened to this guy and read some of that stuff and man, that stuff is craaaazy with a capital c.

Twitter is awesome, and I didn't realize this until this scandal. I've been following this whole thing through a somethingawful thread where the only agenda seems to be "everyone is an idiot, including us." I got to see phil fish go crazy, I had no idea he was actually like that but it was super entertaining. I got to see reddit meltdown, it was like watching a train-wreck over and over. This entire thing has been a wonderful distraction from the real world because I understand it's just a big tabloid story. In the global scope of current events it matters about as much as what Kim Kardashian is wearing.

Twitter is great because you can only really post your emotion without any explanation. It's kind of like how the bombcast crew fawns for the insider story of game development where shit just gets really fucked up. With twitter you get to see a lot of those dirty moments.

You shouldn't be depressed about it though dude. Just enjoy the ride and realize none of this matters in the long run.

I'm on there just infrequently enough to not know what everybody is screaming about when I check in. I just had to read up on the Quinn stuff. It just sounds like a dramatic mess that I don't need in my life. I'm considering abandoning the account altogether, but it is helpful to check in on what the GB staff is up to/planning, and I do follow a few people who're generally entertaining and insightful.

It also sucks because there have been plenty of occasions where I've seen people who I really liked say shit that's made me want to slap them.

Twitter fucking rocks. If you don't like it, then you are probably using it wrong. Any negativity is small potatoes compared to the constant stream in interesting articles, art, science, videos, news, etc. Follow better people! Don't like what they are tweeting? Mute or unfollow.

I don't even understand how this twitter shit is used. It's so clunky, I can't even read some conversation I that I might've been interested in reading.

I don't have an account and I never understood how this thing got popular anyway.

I can understand where you're coming from. Back when I was in a state of depression, I didn't want to hear any sort of drama in any fashion whatsoever. All I wanted was to be happy for once, and Twitter was not helping me with that. Maybe you should take a break from it for a little while and get yourself back in check, before diving into the drama of someone else's. I really like Twitter, more than most other social websites. I think it's a nice place to interact and engage with other dudes, ladies, and anything in between. Although, you are right, this mess is getting pretty heavy now to give a good enough excuse to tap out for a week or two, especially if this type of stuff stresses you out. Good luck on any sort of depression you have. I think we've all been there in some capacity or another, it's not fun and no one should have to go through it. Have a good day.

I just ignore the stupid shit on twitter. It's how I get by in my life also. Ignore the stupid shit.

@raven_sword: No offense to Alex, but if you are not a fan of his tweets do not follow him. I follow the GB guy and enjoy reading their stuff, teasers about what is upcoming. But if you are not happy with the things that people post, don't follow them, then your feed will be filled with things that bring you up, not put you down.

If it's getting to you then yeah, maybe take a step back for a while.

I've never really seen the point in twitter or facebook, I don't need more ways for people to get in touch with me.

It does matter to the people being affected by it. That's the problem. People go off and other people are entertained and then the vast majority forget about it leaving the few at the center of it harmed. Its practically a modern day public stoning. My question is why is this more entertaining than real life? Sitting and reading vitriol spewed on twitter and forums is actually more appealing than what is going on around your area? Need some hobbies or something to care about. ;)

I don't mean to target you specifically and I don't mean it in a bad way. I'm generally curious why this is appealing to people.

I have considered this, and still consider it on a regular basis. Maybe one day.

Said what I was going to say. Twitter, like Face Book and other net media groupings, has gained a life and social presence I have so far avoided. I see the advantages, especially if you become 'somebody.' But like forums they seem to follow the internet rule of lowest common denominator while invoking knowledge that while prolific, often is to some degree tainted or false. Pat Klepek in a tweet still present on-site points this out, asking ironically about another net (you tube) post if 'this is real life?'.

I unplugged twitter about 2 days after I plugged into it, its all a load of shit.

Just don't follow people that negatively impact your feed. For example, following Alton Brown adds joy to my day with his post it note doodles.

I created a Twitter account so I could get notifications for NBA news. The video games and wrestling personalities are a nice bonus, though.

I just follow the folks that I have an interest in. 99% of them are pretty cool.

I have an active twitter account I occasionally use for promotional stuff ... I tried to use a twitter app on my phone for a while to follow some of the GB guys but tbh, all that did was leave me mad confused every morning I woke up. So while I actually have an account I might as well not since I don't use it for any personal stuff.

Why would you ever plug in?

I'm being serious here, I'm not trying to be an asshole. I am still, to this day, baffled by Twitter.

Nope, your question is perfectly fair. For the past couple of weeks my life has been Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, whatever the hell chaos went down in Ferguson, and then to top it off an American reporter got his head chopped off and we might end up going back to Iraq now. So when shit hit the fan on this entire indie-scene I decided to take a break from real life for a bit. Sure, people are getting hurt by this, but it's really nothing serious. In a couple months this will all have blown ever, people will go about their lives, and we'll all have a good story to tell. I really do think this is just going to be something everyone laughs about later on. Zoe Quin can laugh all the way to the bank, her patreon income has doubled since this began. She's got plenty of friends that are watching out for her, so it's not like it's the entire world against her.

I guess I just don't think less of any of the people involved after all of this. Not that I thought much of anything to begin with, but they're just names and text. I don't know any of them in real life so I don't really empathize with them.

I don't use it. I have tons of friends who use it, but really its just a drama tool. Inciting petty squabbles between people. It's also a way for people to get out there true feelings even when they really really should not. I mean, I can't really do much with twitter information when people just post a vague under or within 140 word message. It just pisses me off lol.

Facebook is more the culprit for making me crazy.