Twitter DM Friends

Published on July 9th, 2022

It’s easy to fall into traps on social media. Echo chambers. Fighting strangers. Following people that negative shitpost all day long can energetically zap you into the same negative space they are.

Or you can play by a different set of rules.

One of my favorite past-times is to find the people that do the opposite and DM them. But, it turns out that most people are not accustomed to a real human being reaching out to say thanks or that you respect their style. So when that positive DM comes through, they respond!

Combined with using a personal CRM like Contact Mapping (a shout-out to the last company I worked at) to nudge me not to forget them, I’ve made a dozen real friendships over the years.

No, these are not all people I agree with all the time. Many of them have conflicting values with me, but that’s ok because we see each other as real people. Because of that, I can have nuanced, sustained conversations over a variety of topics. This has been a much more fulfilling experience than responding to @johnny83747, who posted a snarky response to an otherwise benign post, and then we block each other only for the cycle to repeat with @tammy24837.

So try it out. You’ll have a different social media experience if you lean into it.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, can I ask you for a favor?

I would like the opportunity to connect with you on an ongoing basis with the intention that I continue to provide you with valuable information and insights to help transform your life personally and professionally. To that end, it would mean a lot to me if you performed one or more of the following.

  1. Sign up for my newsletter to get new articles sent right to your inbox.
  2. Follow me on Twitter or connect with me on LinkedIn. Don't forget to say hi!
  3. Contact me to setup a free, 15-minute consultation.
  4. Share this article with anyone that might benefit from it.

Thanks again for your time and attention! It means the world to me to know that you gave me this opportunity to connect with you.

About Rick Manelius

Quick Stats: CXO of Atomic Form. Graduated from MIT in '03 (BS) and '09 (PhD). Life hacker and peak performance enthusiast. This blog is my experiment in creative writing, self-expression, and sharing what I've learned along my journey. For more information, read my full bio here or contact me.