Christine’s Guide to (one of many) TPOT(s)

Written by @christineist in July 2022

What is TPOT (this part of twitter)?

According to Otis: 

My own take

Start here

• Tasshin’s Guide to Twitter
• Visa: Make Friends
• Visa: Practice Good Reply Game
• Otis’s guide to tpot
• Check out interintellect & try a few of the friend finding salons as easy entry

Who to follow^[a][b][c][d]

• @visakanv - I recommend his e-book Friendly Ambitious Nerd
• @tasshinfogleman - kindness, writing, metta meditation
• @TheAnnaGat - runs InterIntellect
• @eigenrobot - robot friend
• @vgr - venkatesh rao - source of many concepts… ribbonfarm
• @nickcammarata - into psychedelics and IFS (internal family systems)
• @frideswyth - created Jesscamp
• @nopranablem - welcoming, into meditation
• @gptbrooke - organized vibecamp, into community building
• @tszzl - cornerstone of tech schizo twitter
• @Aella_Girl - rationalism, sex/kinks/bdsm, edgy topics
• There are a few lists in this tweet you can check out.

Ways to begin tweeting

• Follow people who are talking about something you’re interested in
• Reply to their tweets (like before you reply to show positive intention)
• Share some art you’re into, an excerpt from a book/article and share your thoughts
• Shitpost (make a joke, say whatever)

Twitter -> IRL

• Reply to their replies
• Wait until you have a number of good interactions(you’ve replied back and forth a few times)

• If you get a long conversation going, it might be a good idea to move it into the DMs

• DM about something specific that you are both interested in & want to talk about
• If it’s going well, you can ask if they’d be interested in a video call. Alternatively, you can meet people on video in InterIntellect salons (many people in TPOT attend those salons).
• Some cities (Bay Area, NYC, LA, Seattle etc) have local group chats that announce TPOT events. Mute notifications for peace of mind.
• VibeCamp happened in spring of 2022 and will be coming back next year!

TPOT journey

• At first you will be a smol account. Enjoy this, you can shout whatever you want into the void.
• Then you will make some mutuals. Enjoy this, this is like a small troupe of eclectic folk that chat and appreciate each other.
• Eventually, if you stick around long enough and engage with enough people, you will feel a sense of knowing each other, having seen each other around, and being a part of a community.

Boundaries^[e] & Bad Actors

• Keep in mind that TPOT is not a utopian society where everyone loves everyone else and only good things happen. Some users hate each other, there are clashing subcultures, etc.
• As anon pointed out— TPOT is a permission-less, open-access society and this means bad actors and interpersonal conflicts are inevitable. Sometimes you may encounter people who will block you without reason or ignore well-meaning interactions, etc. If you experience this, try not to take it personally. Sometimes people are setting boundaries or simply won't like you, and won't bother telling you why. It's okay: you don't have to be friends with everyone! TPOT is relatively drama-resistant, meaning negativity, criticism, or raising bad behavior can get thrown out. Try to approach criticism from a space of curiosity and desire to understand.
• If you are getting harassed, you can do many things, such as unfollow, mute, block, delete the top level tweet, set replies to only mutuals, etc. You can see if anyone you know is also following a user for an indication of trust.

Closing Thoughts

• TPOT is real(ish)! You can make real friends, build a local community, attend book clubs, go to retreats/unconferences/parties, etc. Twitter has provided an amazing third space that allows for repeated interactions in a world where many work from home or have isolated lives in a city/rural area.
• TPOT is a thriving space to build friendships, share ideas, clarify your thinking, find romantic partners, get jobs, get into writing, make memes, talk about your obscure interests, share services and blog posts, get feedback on creative projects, shitpost and more.