One Way Tweet
Feb 6, 2018 - 07 p.m.

A couple weeks ago (wow, actually more like a month) I tweeted about my latest project, One Way Tweet, a twitter client with very limited functionality, and I promised I would write a follow up blog post with the motivation and possible plans for the future of it. This is that post.

I love twitter, I really do, but it has become increasingly clear to me (and many others) that it and social media in general are a source of a lot of stress in our lives. Bouncing our attention around constantly leaves us unsatisfied, endlessly bored, and feeling unfulfilled. Not to mention the level of discussion online can be so toxic. It's also hard to get anything done when you're constantly refreshing your feed.

One Way Tweet is software in the service of a more mindful approach to social media. Sort of a middle road between canceling your internet service and living online. It allows you to send tweets but purposefully provides no way to surface tweet content. Throughout the day I come up with tweet ideas, and in the past I would go to twitter, fire off the tweet and then find myself sucked into my feed. Time melted away, and whatever I was working on got left in the dust. Now instead I can send the tweet without the risk of losing my afternoon. I can even block the url in my hosts file and still tweet (after the initial auth.) Technology shouldn't just be a source of stress, but also a tool to aid us in relieving stress. I'm hoping this small piece of software is helpful to me and others in some way. Also it was way more fun to write than most things I write day to day!

Depending on how successful it is, I'd like to add an android app version (although it's currently pretty ok looking on mobile) and additional features like twitter handle autocomplete and image uploading, depending on what users might find useful.

Let me know what you think and have a good one.