My Farewell to Twitter Tweet

I really like a lot of things about Twitter (immediacy, for ex.) but it's a war zone. I'm a politician, for heaven's sakes, but I'm not political enough for Twitter. It's also a time suck. Since I'm actively working on 7 bills right now and helping several constituents w/impt #utpol#utleg

issues related to st govt (and for other reasons I'll try to explain), I'm deactivating my acct. I may come back later, possibly w/in the time frame that allows you to keep your handle. Normally, when I'm on Twitter, I have to be concise, but I want to expound in this last series of 2/

Tweets by expressing my thoughts on the format itself. It reminds me of living next door to a large family in a run-down part of Kansas City when I was in Kindergarten - yes, Kindergarten. My brother and I used to engage in "fence fights" w/the older kids next door, shouting 3/

back and forth while dodging incoming bricks and the occasional broken liquor bottle. Sometimes there was blood and the police were called. (I wasn't closely supervised as a child. I'm still not closely supervised.) Anyway, I had the same feeling engaging in these fence fights 4/

that I have when going on Twitter. There's a certain adrenaline rush, alertness, and situational awareness required in order to engage. (That's what takes so much time.) I suppose you could watch from the window or porch, but what's the fun in that? There's the occasional 5/

thrill of landing a well placed water balloon. You hope that it will splash, dousing the target and others in close proximity. (On Twitter, it's a dry splash. You hope that your words will make someone think - someone who may be on the fence, to continue the neighbor 6/

analogy. You hope that at least your words and the thoughts behind them will be understood and not misinterpreted. That is often not the case. It's difficult to convey much content in 280 Unicode glyphs. Then there is always the possibility that someone will draw blood, 7/

and the Twitter police will be called.) I liked these war-like experiences as a child. Remembering them helps me appreciate what makes people militant - what they get out of it. There is undeniably a certain "je ne sais quois" to it. 8/

But in the process of growing up, I learned communication skills (especially useful on Twitter with its succinct format) and the value of civility. I learned that civility is not only a nicer way to live, it is also, to my surprise, a much more effective way to live 9/

and to persuade. Civility contributes to the social fabric, while hostility rends it, sometimes irreparably, at least in one person's lifetime. So rather than studying the art of war, I suppose you could say I beat my sword into a plowshare and my spear into 10/

a pruning hook. I'm not weaker for this transformation. Practicing civility builds strength and wisdom, while hurling water balloons, bricks, and the occasional broken liquor bottle along with epithets and insults requires almost nothing. Searching one's soul and articulating 11/

a resulting thought - that is much more difficult. I can hear my critics now cheering that they have warn me down. They have "scared me away" from their favorite social media network. I will admit that to a certain extent I am warn down. I can't tell you how 12/

discouraging it is to me that I could spend all day, every day explaining over and over again to a jeering crowd why the life of an unborn child is valuable, for example, or the many ways abortion harms women and society, or how federal energy policy harms middle income 13/

families (really, all Americans.) With these and many, many other topics, Twitter could be my full-time job! Fortunately, I have a web site/blog. I have other, less hostile media outlets. I have a voice and I know how to use it. Twitter is not my only avenue. It isn't even 14/

my favorite avenue. As I said earlier in this stream-of- consciousness Tweet, Twitter is a time suck, and, from what I can tell, it is intended to be demoralizing. I mean that in every sense of the word. 15/

In case anyone wonders (and I know I do not have THAT many "followers" and may be missed by only a few), I am "deactivating" from Twitter by choice. Prediction: over time, Twitter will probably become even more of an echo chamber. 16/

Disclaimer: my withdrawal from Twitter should not be interpreted to mean that the causes I believe in (summarized as freedom, civility, and the worth and dignity of every individual and family) are unimportant or not worth fighting for. They are! Freeing myself from Twitter 17/

will enable me to allocate more time and energy to those issues, and to the 7 bills I'm currently working on, and to my constituents. 🙂 18/18