The internet has become increasingly awful over the past couple of years. No where is this more evident than Twitter, which began as a place to exchange stupid jokes and news tidbits and has since morphed into a cesspool of trolls, disinformation from president-elects, and incessant chatter between unfunny political reporters. But there are some accounts that make the social media network occasionally worthwhile, like @tcberman and @DiscoverAndKnow, the latter of which offers its followers a very succinct bit of knowledge with every tweet.
The account was originally called @LearnSomething, but—after an unexplained months-long hiatus—it recently rebranded itself as @DiscoverAndKnow. @DiscoverAndKnow’s purpose remains the same, though: Several times a week (sometimes it’ll post twice a day; sometimes it’ll wait a couple of days between tweets) the account will share a photo of something interesting or unusual with a brief and simple caption that almost always includes “This is what [tk] looks like.”
For example, a recent tweet featured a picture of a dog with water running off it. The accompanying caption said, “This is what a dog jumping out of water looks like.”
The simplicity of the account is what makes it so enjoyable to follow; it’s an island of uncomplicated wonder in the middle of the shit sea that is the vast majority of Twitter these days. Instead of an annoying opinion or a bad joke or an update to some horrific news story, you get a nice picture and a concise description. As the account puts it in their bio: “Discover amazing photos while expanding your mind. Learn something new every day with us.”
Here are some of our favorite @DiscoverAndKnow tweets.
This is what a huge rhododendron tree looks like.
https://twitter.com/DiscoverAndKnow/status/809489462942199808
This is what an Ice Canyon in Greenland looks like.
https://twitter.com/DiscoverAndKnow/status/805140807766384644
This is what an ant’s face looks like, as seen through a microscope.
https://twitter.com/DiscoverAndKnow/status/799705067662274561
This is what the bottom of a water lily looks like.
https://twitter.com/DiscoverAndKnow/status/788093495408033792
This is what a scallop farm looks like.
https://twitter.com/DiscoverAndKnow/status/783020064568205312
This is what it looks like under a wave.
https://twitter.com/DiscoverAndKnow/status/777322526024278020
This is what an armadillo putting up his self defense mechanism looks like.
https://twitter.com/DiscoverAndKnow/status/775379736386277377
This is what a Contraluz opal worth $20,000 looks like.
https://twitter.com/DiscoverAndKnow/status/768494345171394560
This is what a blue-footed booby family looks like.
https://twitter.com/DiscoverAndKnow/status/764870458084917252
