I deleted Twitter (I refuse to call it X) from my phone. I found myself spending too much time going down rabbit holes. Now, I'm blissfully in the dark about most stuff. I am no longer the first to know that there is a rare bird flu outbreak in some remote jungle. I just hear about it when I hear about it. I have found that it's a good way to filter the noise – if it matters, I'll hear about it. Until then, whoooooo cares? It's like my approach with email. I don't check it. If someone needs to get ahold of me, they'll find a way (typically WhatsApp or text). It's been about a month, and I don't see myself ever reinstalling it. I think the constant connectivity to bad news takes it toll. There is something really nice about unplugging – I watched the entire Super Bowl without seeing all the Kendrick Lamar dorks rave about his boring ass performance – "NO BRO, YOU DON'T GET IT... IT WAS ALL SYMBOLISM!"

🌎 Links

How do consumers really feel about the metaverse?
Plot twist... most people, including marketing dorks even know what it is, let alone how it could impact the future. More importantly, everything associated with the metaverse is seriously corny. Putting goggles on your face will NEVER be cool. Ever. We haven't even mentioned NFTs – according to the survey 69 percent of respondents stated they hated NFTs and only 12 percent said they fully knew what NFTs were.

What’s the real argument in favor of Musk buying Twitter?
Twitter and I go way back. I have fond memories of texting my tweets to #40404 to let the world know what I was doing. Twitter was the first stock I ever purchased and it's the only stock I've consistently purchased since 2013. I believe in Twitter. I tweet about Twitter often. All that to say... I would be in full support of an Elon takeover. He's an avid user and understands the product potential. He would drive innovation. He has an incredible platform and is able to build communities around his products. Maybe I'm way off here, but as someone who has watched Twitter stagnate over the last 10 years, I think Elon could be the best thing to happen to Twitter.  

Speaking of Elon! Here's a 70-minute interview he did yesterday with TED in which he sets out his vision for the future 

"The thing that does make sleeping difficult; I really try to work as much as possible, to the edge of sanity basically. Tesla is getting to the point where every high quality minute of thinking is a $1 million dollar impact on Tesla, which is insane."

The "Pity Me!" Personal Essay – a recent trend in writing brings us a whole lot of dramatics and zero perspective

"These essays aren’t about traumatic experiences but in a culture “infatuated with victimhood,” as Seghal put it, we seem to have created a climate where even stories which aren’t particularly sad or serious are spun as if they are. The only stories worth telling are the serious and sad ones, this culture suggests, and so everyone is encouraged to tell their story in as serious and sad a way as possible. The infatuation with being put upon also has a way of neatly dividing the world up into victims and abusers. In such a world the appeal of self-identifying as a victim is obvious..."

What 'Severance' Gets Right About Infantilizing Office Perks
"The eggbar is coveted as fuck" is one of the best lines ever delivered. But seriously, commuting 2-hours a day to be in an office is difficult sell at this point.