Austin Scholar #43: Why Your Teen Should Write On Twitter
(& How To Get Started)
Hey, y'all!
I spent months feeling terrified about writing on Twitter.
I did everything I could to avoid it. I didn't know why, but I thought it was going to make my life terrible.
Just a few months later, Twitter has become one of my favorite parts of my day. In this issue, I'm going to tell you all about what changed.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
This week from Austin Scholar...
Austin’s Anecdote: How I Become A Twitter Person
Why Your Teen Should Write On Twitter (& How To Get Started)
Scholar’s Sources: My Favorite Resources For Writing Online
I posted a Twitter thread last Sunday and cold DM’d it to a bunch of super cool people. You might remember me saying last week that I was nervous about sending DMs, and I’m super proud that I moved past my anxiety and sent them. (And I got a great response–Sahil Bloom, Cultural Tutor, David Perell, Ana Lorena Fabrega, and Nick Huber all commented on my tweet!)
One more important update: ChatGPT is pretty much the coolest thing in the entire world. I’ve spent the week asking ChatGPT to rewrite a Taylor Swift song in the style of a Shakespearean sonnet and to write a satirical essay on coffee. (And don’t judge me–I definitely used it for this newsletter :) )
Austin’s Anecdote: How I Become A Twitter Person
I am not a people person.
I don't think I've ever really understood how to answer questions or how to keep conversation flowing.
And in almost every area of my life, that's okay.
My sister talks enough for both of us, my friends are used to my awkwardness, and I don't have to talk back to people for my newsletter–only to them.
It's all manageable–except for Twitter.
I've been informed by what seems like hundreds of people that getting Twitter followers is the best way to get newsletter subscribers.
But Twitter is just... really hard for me.
For months after I published my first newsletter, I had all these excuses for why I shouldn't start my Twitter account for Austin Scholar yet.
AP exams are coming up, so I won't have any time for Twitter.
I don't know how Twitter works.
I haven't posted enough newsletter editions for people to want to subscribe.
But the truth is: I was scared. I was terrified that I would say the wrong thing to the wrong person. Or that I would never get any followers. Or that I wouldn't know how to respond to a comment. So, I just... didn't try. And my newsletter didn't grow.
I spent weeks writing and publishing to no one. I knew something had to change.
The next week, I spent hours perfecting my first Twitter thread, swapping commas for dashes and searching for the right words. (Next week's newsletter is going to be on perfectionism, so watch out for that.)
After the thousandth lecture from my dad on why I needed to start posting on Twitter, I gave in and published my first thread.
And you know what? Nothing really happened. I got some likes and retweets and followers–and I even got my first hate comment within the first 24 hours of posting on Twitter. But after posting the first thread, nothing in my life really changed. I didn't get an award for the followers. The hate comment wasn't broadcast on every billboard in Austin.
I was pleasantly surprised.
So, I posted another thread the next week. A tweet here and there. Another thread. Occasionally a few comments. (These are still the hardest for me. I had to use templates of other people’s comments in order to even start commenting on other threads.)
And then, I started to notice that Twitter was actually making my life better.
I got a DM from someone who asked me to be on a podcast. Another from someone who wanted to have a conversation with me about Alpha’s curriculum. I received multiple emails from parents asking me about adaptive learning. Sahil Bloom and Ana Lorena Fabrega commented on one of my threads after I cold DM'd them. (Still the most insane moment of my life.)
Now, I can send people (and college admissions officers!) over to my Twitter account and feel pretty cool because I have over 1,000 followers.
All of these things were possible because I took the leap and published on Twitter. And who knows? After a few years, I might become better at talking to people in real life, too.
Why Your Teen Should Write On Twitter (& How To Get Started)
These are two commonly accepted truths:
Social media is bad for teenagers
Teenagers can't be experts in anything
If your kid tries to build an audience on Twitter, you'll realize that both of these are incorrect.