The Problem With Twitter

I was scrolling through my Twitter timeline recently, as I do a lot, when I came across a very interesting quote from Yishan Wong, the former CEO of Reddit. Wong was discussing the problems with Twitter and why so many of its users go dormant. He offered a very interesting take, one which I had no thought of before. "Using Twitter for long periods of time is a fundamentally unpleasant experience," says Wong, explaining that Twitter's most popular's users are the one's that face the most harassment and abuse from other users. Wong describes Twitter as a "global mob" where people can project their anger at anything they may disagree with. The quote that really stuck with me from Wong was this: "The more successfully you use Twitter, the more likely and more frequently the worst possible thing that can happen to you on Twitter is going to happen to you." As someone who is checking my Twitter account at least ten times a day, I love it. I love being able to get news as soon as it comes out, see what my friends are up to, or see who Kanye West is making fun of. I love Twitter. However, these comments from Wong really got me thinking. In today's society, where everybody is offended by everything, and one slip up will have people online calling for you to get fired, why would someone in the public eye really subject themselves to Twitter? While using Twitter is great promotion and great for your brand, it also opens you up to a world of Internet trolls. Regardless of who it is, any politician, athlete, or celebrity is destined to receive hateful comments and threats after any post. So if having a Twitter is not an essential part of your brand, then who really would need to, or want to, use it? I'm not really sure what, of if there is anything, Twitter can do about this problem, but it certainly is an issue. As Wong said, "Twitter's most valuable users are also the one's that have the most unpleasantness in their experience." You can view all of Wong's comments here.