I had intended to let the Twitter "issue" rest for now. I've taken a bit of criticism for my position that Twitter is, for the most part, a waste of time for artists.
(In fact, in the interest of fairness, I've invited artist Lisa Call to write an article for the
FineArtViews newsletter explaining how Twitter can be used successfully by an artist - hopefully that will be ready for publication in a week or so).
However, today I read a blog post by
Kris Jordan who was reporting on the content of a speech given by Jason Fried, co-founder of 37 Signals.
And one of Jason's main points got me to thinking again about artists and Twitter. And that point is that
interruption is the biggest enemy of productivity.
Jason and his company,
37 Signals, have created some of the web's most popular applications like
Basecamp and
Highrise. Their website claims that they now serve over 1,000,000 Basecamp accounts. Not too shabby for a company that has 12 people!
You may know my position that software developers and artists have a lot in common . . . especially regarding the creative side of our craft and the struggle to get into "the zone."
I'm not the only one who has this opinion.
The guys at 37 Signals are creative souls who have thought a lot about "getting into the zone", which, for a creative pursuit is another way of saying "being productive." Remember, these guys have a company of 12 people that runs an application with over 1 million users - they know a thing or two about productivity.
Now
consider what Jason Fried of 37 Signals wrote about productivity and interruptions:
The way I see it, interruption is being mistaken for collaboration. The are drastically different things. Interruption is productivity’s biggest enemy. It sounds counterintuitive to many, but we should be working harder on staying apart and less on getting in touch too much. A healthy dose of physical and virtual distance is a good thing. If we want to be highly productive we need more alone time.
Being productive isn’t something that just happens. You don’t just sit down and be productive. Real productivity takes time. It’s a process. You make your way into it. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes or a half hour or an hour or more to really get in that zone. And when you’re in that zone you are actually getting real work done. But once you get knocked out of that zone it takes a real toll on you. You go from highly productive to annoyed. And all these new methods of interruption, and the ability of anyone to find you any time, well, I think they’re just making it easier to indirectly annoy people. I don’t have research to back this up, it’s just a gut feeling.
Notice the part where he says, "
we should be working harder on staying apart and less on getting in touch too much."
Now, lets return to the concept of Twitter.
Twitter asks you to update your profile answering the question, "What are you doing?" Typical Twitter streams are updated with things like, "just fed the cat", "thinking about a turkey sandwich for lunch", "nice weather here today", etc, etc, etc.
I outlined my current position on Twitter recently as being a "spectacular way to avoid doing what really matters." I mean, talk about interruptions being "mistaken for collaboration"!
Remember . . . Interruptions are the enemy of productivity. And to be active on Twitter, you either have to stop and "be interrupted" to post your "Tweets", or, depending on how you use the service, other people's "Tweets" will interrupt you.
In fact,
Bill Weaver wrote . . . in a piece
defending Twitter the following:
. . .Coupled with my Facebook toolbar for Firefox I now get regular little blurbs that pop up on the bottom of my screen whenever one of the people I am connected with has something to say. That very action has allowed me to get to know what used to be pretty close to complete strangers. (emphasis added)
Having "regular little blurbs" pop up whenever "someone" I know has "something" to say? No thanks.
I will concede that, for some types of work, for certain goals and in certain instances that level of "connectedness" may be appropriate . . . and indeed perhaps helpful.
But,
for people engaged in primarily creative work (such as artists) it looks to me to be a huge drain on productivity and a great way to knock yourself out of "the zone."
But what about using Twitter as a way to reach art buyers? Do art buyers care what you are doing right now in this exact moment? No. They care about the quality of your artwork. They care about your reputation as an artist. Many of them even care about you as a person and want to see your career do well . . . . many will even want to help support your career, perhaps by referring their friends to you. Perhaps by purchasing more art.
None of that means that they care that you're thinking about having a turkey sandwich for lunch.
Remember, Interruption is productivity's biggest enemy.
Sincerely,
Clint Watson
Software Craftsman and Art Fanatic
PS: All this social media stuff is new and we're all still trying to figure out what's valuable and what's not. This blog is a place for me to give my opinions but I respect those who disagree with me and I sincerely appreciate that we can all engage in an honest conversation . . . . that's what social media is all about, after all!
via web
For artists that need concentrated periods to create i.e. most artists, especially visual artists, the lack of interruption is more essential than the need to hear what other artists are up to, or to network with said artist.
Keep up the good posts.