The truth is of course: it can be used in a variety of ways including "wasting time" [vague expression] & building a valuable network of scientific contacts & collaborators. The outcome is very much up to you [not 100% of course] & if you want to cultivate such a network. 
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Some of the greatest and most helpful feedback, help, and support I have __ever__ received has been from Twitter.
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Each to their own, I guess. My PhD has been an entirely different experience (for the better) because of people I mutually follow on twitter.
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It can be hard to get a good signal/noise ratio on Twitter, but for me Twitter is also a net positive. Survivor bias? :)
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I dunno, but these people haven't even really used it so I can't really excuse their BS.

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Trying to do anything useful on Twitter if you don't have an account can be daunting. But of course if you have no experience using it, how would you know it's a waste of time?
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Just to clarify, the people I have in mind in the OP have accounts.

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They just refuse to tweet. Because — you guessed it — it's not shown to be anything but a waste of time.
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Also depends on when they started. For some reason my carefully curated list of scientists all started tweeting about politics in 2016. ;)
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I don't mind, because I decided to follow humans instead of PR accounts.
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I find it a bit like saying parties where you don't know many people/ conference-socials are a waste of time. In the long run they often turn out not to be, but for people not suited to that kind of socialising they really can be. But yea, you don't know till you've tried it.
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Yeah, I feel that viscerally since I'm an introvert.

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Have you found (having a basic acquaintance w/ people) Twitter to be helpful also for those situations then? I've often heard this claim being made sort of 'on behalf of' introverts. -
Yeah, often people come up and talk to me because of Twitter. I have to say though that that can also be intimidating as well as really fun and nice. As with all social interactions, context matters!
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I used to be one of those people and, as a recent convert, I must say that I wish I had people in my academic environment who could tell me earlier about how useful twitter can be. I have a lot to thank
@danieltomasz for, since joining twitter made my academic life much easier!Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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I actually has a really positive reception from non tweeting academics at a workshop I ran which included a bit on social media which was a relief!
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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