The two types of Twitter poasting

2025, Feb 08    

growing kelp

I discovered Twitter (now 𝕏, but we still call it Twitter anyway) in 2009, yet didn’t actively use it until the 2020 when the pandemic hit. As a newcomer to the platform, I sought advice how others use it and discovered two very distinct approaches. This post explores these contrasting ways you can use Twitter to connect with others.

Understanding Social Media Dynamics

Before diving into Twitter specifically, let’s establish some social media fundamentals:

Social media operates on two key elements:

• People: Real humans with values, emotions, needs, goals, and fears
• Algorithm: The system deciding which humans see your content

When I post something, the algorithm determines initial visibility, then adjusts reach based on human interaction. This human-algorithm interplay determines a post’s ultimate reach. While all platforms function this way, algorithms remain somewhat mysterious—we make educated guesses about their inner workings.

The “Job Poasting” Approach

When I first started using Twitter, I repeatedly encountered this advice:

1. Choose a passion topic
2. Make that topic clear in your profile
3. Post about that topic consistently (ideally daily)
4. Follow and engage with others sharing this interest

I call this the “job poasting” approach because it genuinely resembles an employment. You wake up, go to your Twitter “job,” create content, interact with “colleagues” in your field, then log off. And this works well for many users.

In essence, job poasting is like:

• Working a 9-to-5 job — you clock in, produce expected content, and clock out.
• Becoming a specialist in a corporate environment — you develop expertise in one domain.
• Building a professional network — you connect primarily with others in your “industry”.
• Maintaining a consistent brand — your online persona becomes a carefully curated product.
• Playing it safe — you avoid topics that might alienate your established audience.
• Climbing a career ladder — success is measured by metrics and industry recognition.

However, I faced a dilemma: What if I’m professionally involved in animation but personally passionate about cooking? If I post exclusively about animation, I become part of “Animation Twitter,” connecting with that community. Similarly, consistent cooking posts place me in “Cooking Twitter.” And then mixing those topics confuses the algorithm, which struggles to determine appropriate audiences. This becomes even more problematic when posting about multiple interests — the algorithm shows your content to random followers with minimal chance of engagement, as they likely follow you for other specific content.

My Personal Tension

The biggest issue for me with this advice was that I couldn’t commit to a single topic. My interests span widely — I’m equally fascinated by art as I am by software engineering and entrepreneurship. I’m interested in both the human psyche as I am in fly fishing. Selecting just one focus felt impossible and disingenuous. When reading “job poasters,” I often sense this same feeling of artificiality and inauthenticity. What I mean is that nobody is so one sided. All people are genuinely interesting to me! I want to know more about them! If they only post about one thing, I don’t feel much connection to the human being behind the posts.

The “Quest Poasting” Alternative

Fortunately, I discovered some people using Twitter differently. I call this approach the “quest poasting” because it feels more like a quest and an adventure rather than routine job or work:

How quest poasting feels and what it is like:

• On a quest, you know the general direction but not the exact path — similarly, quest post might share a spontaneous curiosity without knowing where it leads.
• Quests poasting introduces you to unexpected companions — by doing so you often attract responses from diverse new connections rather than the same circle of known accounts.
• Quest poasting is inherently unpredictable — you never know what outcomes your tweets might generate, unlike the high predictability of job poasting.
• It is like being a renaissance person — you embrace the full spectrum of your interests without constraint.
• Showing your authentic self — your online presence reflects your multifaceted personality.
• Taking intellectual risks — you share half-formed ideas and evolving thoughts. (like this blog post)
• Following a personal odyssey — growth comes through exploration rather than optimization.
• Embracing serendipity — some of your most meaningful connections come from unexpected interactions.
• Building a tavern rather than a stage — your timeline becomes a space for genuine conversation.
• Valuing wonder over metrics — success is measured by interesting discoveries rather than engagement statistics.
• Dancing with the algorithm rather than serving it — you accept unpredictable reach as part of the journey.

Finding Your Own Path

I follow some amazing people who do the job poasting approach where they build focused communities around a very specific expertise. It works great for them. They grow steadily, gain recognition, and create valuable connections within their field. Their timelines have a coherent narrative that attracts like-minded followers, and there’s something admirable about that kind of disciplined commitment to a subject.

Others blend both approaches — they have a general territory but allow themselves to wander off-trail. They’ve found a balance that gives them room to breathe while still maintaining enough topical consistency for the algorithm to make sense of them. It’s like having a home base with permission to explore.

I personally decided to use the quest poasting approach - for me it feels more natural because it aligns with my many interests which I often want to go deep on. Some days I’ll dive into animation techniques, other days I’m exploring entrepreneurship concepts or sharing thoughts about human behavior. This approach means my follower growth might be slower and less predictable, but the connections I make tend to be more varied and surprising. I’ve had fascinating conversations with people I would never have encountered if I’d stayed in one lane.

What I’ve discovered is that the quest approach attracts people who are similarly curious about multiple domains. My timeline has become a kind of intellectual potluck where different perspectives and expertise collide in unexpected ways. The algorithm might not always know what to do with me, but the humans who resonate with this style of sharing certainly do. And ultimately, that’s what makes Twitter worthwhile for me - not optimizing for growth metrics, but creating space for genuine exploration and connection.