Why Twitter friends are better than real life friends

Twitter friends are a wonder of social media, especially if you’re an introverted writer looking for community. Here’s why they’re so great.

Twitter friends are small, two-dimensional creatures that often take the appearance of models, bearded knights, cats, household items, or occasionally book covers. They live in an application on your phone or a tab in your computer browser, and provide inspiration, encouragement, commiseration, congratulations, or random silliness as appropriate.

You can never be sure what form Twitter friends take in the physical world or what their physical-world names are, but none of this matters.

Names are only labels for people, and handles work just as well for that purpose. (Mine’s @AkkalonAS, in case you didn’t know.)

As for physical form, as long as the physical form can type, it’s wholly irrelevant.

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The introvert’s guide to practicing a foreign language

Studying a foreign language can be challenging for introverts. Read on for my language-learning strategies and a few unintended consequences.

Some time back, I wrote The introvert’s guide to choosing a foreign language. In the months since I wrote it, that post has helped thousands of introverts–okay, hundreds of introverts… Dozens? Fine, one or two introverts if you want to be generous about it–to decide what foreign language to study.

With all these introverts studying new languages, it’s now time to provide some reliable information on the best way to study a foreign language as an introvert.

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