Fixing Content Consumption
Quick wins for managing podcasts and improving Twitter
The Teardown
Tuesday :: February 11th, 2019
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Jan 29 Follow Up
Last week’s newsletter generated more conversation among subscribers than any previous post. Half of my happiness from this newsletter is derived from writing and the other half from talking with folks about the content. One conversation focused on Twitter and improving one’s feed. I’ll address my ideas in the second half of today’s newsletter.
Also, hello to numerous new subscribers! I hope you enjoy my writing, sarcasm, and humor. Most importantly, I hope you learn something from today’s musings. Feedback is always welcome via email or the Slack group.
Today’s newsletter is shorter and tip-oriented. There are few embedded topics I want to analyze more deeply, but those analyses aren’t ready for consumption.
You Don’t Listen To All Those Podcasts
Another of my Slack groups sparked an interesting conversation topic: how do you manage all of you emails, newsletters, and podcasts? The author of the post described the last of those media as the thorniest. You can’t consume a podcast unless you deliberately listen to it, or play it in the background while you do something else. Some of you are like me and tackle this problem consciously: you listen to some podcasts during slots when your attention isn’t elsewhere, and others when you don’t really care if you miss half or three-quarters. The author presented their podcast management in this way:
The number of podcasts is not quite that high, but there is not a week that I don't add at least one new one to the list! Also, to those who create these...while I love to hear deep discussions, most of the time my "sweet spot" is 30-45 minutes at the most, then no matter how good the subject is you have lost me. When I get ready to start listening/viewing one, I always look to see how long it is and then make a decision on whether to hit the start button or not.
I’m not aware of any management system that properly tackles adding at least one new podcast every week. My wisdom later in this post will touch the point again, and I suggest this hack: infrequently add new podcasts to your rotation, and listen to only those you actually like.
My active-listening rotation covers just three podcasts. My semi-regular rotation covers a different set of hosts and styles, and my night-time rotation is an even split between technology and sports. What am I listening to when I walk to work? The Daily, by The New York Times.
Management with the right app is also important. There are lots of podcast sources and players and the leader among them is not apparent. My favorite is Castro. The player works better than others I’ve tried such as Apple Podcasts and Overcast, and the management interface is superb.
That said, I’m interested in future exclusive podcasts from Spotify after their purchase of Gimlet Media and Anchor. I periodically listen to Gimlet podcasts and like the content. I also subscribe to Spotify and enjoy leveraging that subscription as much as possible. Podcasts are already available on Spotify, but at the moment, I prefer the Castro interface. We’ll see how this space evolves.
Improving Your Twitter Feed
Numerous subscribers latched onto my last newsletter about Twitter. The theme of the feedback is this: lousy or downright offensive Twitter feeds keep many away. With that in mind, I’m opening this Twitter therapy session with some thoughts on improving your feed. These aren’t in order of importance; they all work.
Attach a heart to only content you like.
Don’t endorse a post unless you intend to read it. Don’t endorse it unless you want to read it again. Endorse a post because it is the exact 280-character present you want during the holidays. Resist telling Twitter you like something you don’t adore as much as cats and babies.
Don’t follow thousands of people unless you are a magician.
I follow less than four hundred people. Even at that number, so few of them regularly appear in my feed because I’ve trained Twitter to keep the others away. They may or may not be saying interesting things, but I don’t really need to find out. Those folks exist for occasional browsing — not regular consumption.
Remove your association with anyone not critical to your day-to-day feed.
I get it — it’s hard to banish one of your Twitter friends. Or, whatever you call them. You’ve likely followed numerous folks extraneous to your day-to-day thinking, but you shouldn’t.
If you’re absolutely incensed by the mindless posting of an otherwise valuable connection, mute them.
I suspect Twitter slowly carves away other undesirable posts after you choose to mute.