A psychological theory of social media. Premise 1: People are inherently plural, each variant adapted to a particular context. Different parts of yourself are expressed and suppressed in different contexts. You are literally different people at work, with friends, with family
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Premise 2: Computers hate that, and the nature of social media in particular is that of creating a single consistent identity. A terrifying Zuckerbergian ideal that you have a single consistent and whole "true self" that is equivalent to your public persona.
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Premise 3: This is then exacerbated by audience. A public figure is cocreated by their audience and their expectations - they learn what creates good responses, and what creates bad ones. The audience learns how they will behave, and stabilises them in that role.
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THEREFORE, a twitter account is necessarily a relatively stable context in which for you to be. It may take a while to grow into it, but over time you wear a groove. You create the Twitter account, and you become the Twitter account whether you like it or not.
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This is not intrinsically harmful, but particularly in 2020 or for anyone who is otherwise socially isolated, Twitter ends up fairly socially and psychologically load-bearing. It becomes a major mode of expression where the things you express there can flourish disproportionately
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But this creates a stuck state. You lose your natural fluidity. People were not meant to be consistent - it stifles parts of yourself that need expressing because you only express the bits your audience wants. The rest goes into your shadow, where it festers.
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As a result, tweeting without an alt is a form of psychological self-harm, and I cannot encourage it.
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