Yesterday, I hit a mini-milestone: I’ve accumulated 1,000 followers on one of my accounts on X (formerly Twitter). It took me three years to get here, and I’m genuinely happy about it.

Back in early 2022, I wanted a forum to talk about my neighborhood and possibly connect with local people — but I didn’t want to do that on my main Twitter account. I felt the followers who knew me in real life wouldn’t be interested in the small, everyday details I wanted to share about the area. I also wanted followers who were genuinely interested in the town and followed me for my posts — not just because they knew me personally.

I started the account in Japanese, thinking I’d get more engagement that way — especially since the town I wanted to talk about isn’t a major one in Tokyo. I never told anyone about the account, except maybe my wife. I wanted to keep it focused on the neighborhood, and for obvious reasons, I didn’t want random people on the internet to associate it with me — or figure out where we live.

Now, three years later, I’ve reached 1,000 followers — and I get more engagement there than on any of my other social media accounts. The conversations also feel more positive. People just share useful info about the town: new restaurants, upcoming developments, local events. I’ve even noticed a few local politicians following me — and occasionally interacting with my posts.

That’s a big contrast to my main Twitter account — an English-language one mostly interacting with the English-speaking community in Tokyo, i.e. Tokyo “gaijins.” There’s a lot of negativity in that space. I’m not sure if it’s because of the accounts I happened to follow, or if that’s just the general vibe among foreigners here. Maybe it’s also because I understand it more deeply — since everything’s in English. Either way, I hardly log in to that account anymore. I might even delete it altogether.

For now, I’ll keep posting about the neighborhood. Maybe in a few more years, I’ll hit 5,000 followers and become a local influencer. Even if I do, I don’t think I’ll try to monetize it. I’ll keep the account anonymous — and I still wouldn’t invite my real-life friends to follow it.

My real friends? I’ll just see them in person.