As I predicted in the Fall of 2022 Elon will make Twitter into Parler. As of now it feels like it’s at about 50% complete on that. With Facebook/IG’s Threads app banning searches on coronavirus it’s tabloid/pop-entertainment mission can’t be relied on either regardless of web app. This leaves me back to AP as the viable way forward, but its UX really needs a lot of work and more so the renter comforts need habit change to owning your own place online so we’re back toward the blogging days paradigm more than we’ve ever been... hopefully wiser now.
Micah, minor clarification: I took my account private a c ouple of months ago for many of the reasons laid out in this excellent post. Influx of Nazis. Musk's malevolence. Etc. I remain ambivalent about surrendering social capital forever. And I'm curious (but not particularly optimistic) about using Musk's 44B toy against him and licksplittle tech bro circle.
The reason Eric Boehlert's Twitter account is inactive is because he died in a tragic accident while riding his bike last year. So he probably shouldn't be listed in your "inactive Twitter account" list.
Micah! Sorry, missed this first time round. I’m actually @sdp (not @smr) on there, and have a weird relationship with it still:
- despise him, his values and his actions, and find the idea of helping reduce his enormous losses through my personal actions migraine-inducing when I stop to think about it
- find the huge spike in spam and adult content throughout the service a nightmare
- much like Tom above, am reluctant to wholly abandon a space and set of connections where rational, facts-based, anti-racist, rights-respecting voices are being actively trolled into leaving, and passively left to feel isolated or swamped
- also think that is potentially delusional and wish I had a better response than spreading attention badly between there, Bluesky, threads, mastodon, instagram, LinkedIn, etc
- notice that others are on there unapologetically or defiantly, and want to engage to help boost their reach (again, delusional…)
So I am there in some ways but much less that before. The Day Shall Come.
Almost the moment after Musk took over I became inactive. Once or twice, early on, by reflex I posted a tweet. Immediately after doing so I regretted it.
Twitter was enjoyable, useful, informative for perspective on news, sports (primarily baseball), and various forms of arts and entertainment. Also for DMs with some people generally difficult to reach in other ways. "X" still sends me notices and tells me so-and-so has posted something. I ignore it. It devolved into what I feared and anticipated: a forum for hatred and self-aggrandizement.
I have found some of the political tweeters on Threads. A scant few of the baseball tweeters on Threads. News is available all over the place. For arts and entertainment there are many other sources, I do not have a sense of loss over what was attained via Twitter.
Most of all I miss the baseball tweets. That conversation was fun. It has not reappeared on Threads, although a few of those tweeters have surfaced on Facebook.
The most upsetting part of all is not the loss (by choice) of Twitter. It is the publicity, the forum, the newsworthiness Musk derives or creates from what is now X. A hate-monger with a massive worldwide platform. He treats it as would a slave master; it is his plantation. Work under his rules or he will have no use for you.
That journalists still feel a need or desire to use the platform is a sad statement. It strengthens Musk. It bows to his power. It props up his power. That is a very sad state of being.
This is such an important discussion, and something I continue to grapple with. I'm tweeting far less than I once did and don't visit the site as often, but I haven't left yet for a few reasons:
1. I believe that if I'm going to track the industry and the actions platforms are taking I should also be at least logging on and looking at content on those platforms and experiencing it first hand.
2. Hedging my bets in case Twitter does still end up being the place where people I know and follow still post. I fully admit I suffer from FOMO.
One thing that I think has been missing from this debate is the ease at which most websites across the web make it to share things to Twitter. No one has talked about and/or pressured news websites to remove the share with Twitter function and no share with Threads, Substack Notes, Bluesky, T2 or Mastadon exists. I know it's not that many more steps to copy and paste a link to share to these places but that one click sure makes it easier. If there was an option to share to Threads I'd probably pick that over Twitter. Right now, I just don't know where to share quickly when I have a story I find interesting that doesn't involve me having to do it in 5 places.
Yes, I agree that if being an industry expert is your daily bread, then I understand why one would have an account. I have (hidden) accounts on Gab and Parler for the same reason. But David French's analogy really hits home for me.
As I predicted in the Fall of 2022 Elon will make Twitter into Parler. As of now it feels like it’s at about 50% complete on that. With Facebook/IG’s Threads app banning searches on coronavirus it’s tabloid/pop-entertainment mission can’t be relied on either regardless of web app. This leaves me back to AP as the viable way forward, but its UX really needs a lot of work and more so the renter comforts need habit change to owning your own place online so we’re back toward the blogging days paradigm more than we’ve ever been... hopefully wiser now.
Micah, minor clarification: I took my account private a c ouple of months ago for many of the reasons laid out in this excellent post. Influx of Nazis. Musk's malevolence. Etc. I remain ambivalent about surrendering social capital forever. And I'm curious (but not particularly optimistic) about using Musk's 44B toy against him and licksplittle tech bro circle.
Locked but still posting, right?
Yup. Not as frequently, either. But locked it feels at least like MY network and somewhat valuable.
The reason Eric Boehlert's Twitter account is inactive is because he died in a tragic accident while riding his bike last year. So he probably shouldn't be listed in your "inactive Twitter account" list.
Oops, I should have caught that. Yes, very tragic to lose him.
Micah! Sorry, missed this first time round. I’m actually @sdp (not @smr) on there, and have a weird relationship with it still:
- despise him, his values and his actions, and find the idea of helping reduce his enormous losses through my personal actions migraine-inducing when I stop to think about it
- find the huge spike in spam and adult content throughout the service a nightmare
- much like Tom above, am reluctant to wholly abandon a space and set of connections where rational, facts-based, anti-racist, rights-respecting voices are being actively trolled into leaving, and passively left to feel isolated or swamped
- also think that is potentially delusional and wish I had a better response than spreading attention badly between there, Bluesky, threads, mastodon, instagram, LinkedIn, etc
- notice that others are on there unapologetically or defiantly, and want to engage to help boost their reach (again, delusional…)
So I am there in some ways but much less that before. The Day Shall Come.
FWIW vis-a-vis Lessig's comment, I just noticed this morning that threads.net *is up* and running, finally, a web-client for Threads!
I agree, it has been rotting from edges for quite a while, now it's starting to rot from the top and the insides don't seem healthy either ...
#RunAway
Almost the moment after Musk took over I became inactive. Once or twice, early on, by reflex I posted a tweet. Immediately after doing so I regretted it.
Twitter was enjoyable, useful, informative for perspective on news, sports (primarily baseball), and various forms of arts and entertainment. Also for DMs with some people generally difficult to reach in other ways. "X" still sends me notices and tells me so-and-so has posted something. I ignore it. It devolved into what I feared and anticipated: a forum for hatred and self-aggrandizement.
I have found some of the political tweeters on Threads. A scant few of the baseball tweeters on Threads. News is available all over the place. For arts and entertainment there are many other sources, I do not have a sense of loss over what was attained via Twitter.
Most of all I miss the baseball tweets. That conversation was fun. It has not reappeared on Threads, although a few of those tweeters have surfaced on Facebook.
The most upsetting part of all is not the loss (by choice) of Twitter. It is the publicity, the forum, the newsworthiness Musk derives or creates from what is now X. A hate-monger with a massive worldwide platform. He treats it as would a slave master; it is his plantation. Work under his rules or he will have no use for you.
That journalists still feel a need or desire to use the platform is a sad statement. It strengthens Musk. It bows to his power. It props up his power. That is a very sad state of being.
Good summary of both sides of issue
Yay! Thank you!
This is such an important discussion, and something I continue to grapple with. I'm tweeting far less than I once did and don't visit the site as often, but I haven't left yet for a few reasons:
1. I believe that if I'm going to track the industry and the actions platforms are taking I should also be at least logging on and looking at content on those platforms and experiencing it first hand.
2. Hedging my bets in case Twitter does still end up being the place where people I know and follow still post. I fully admit I suffer from FOMO.
One thing that I think has been missing from this debate is the ease at which most websites across the web make it to share things to Twitter. No one has talked about and/or pressured news websites to remove the share with Twitter function and no share with Threads, Substack Notes, Bluesky, T2 or Mastadon exists. I know it's not that many more steps to copy and paste a link to share to these places but that one click sure makes it easier. If there was an option to share to Threads I'd probably pick that over Twitter. Right now, I just don't know where to share quickly when I have a story I find interesting that doesn't involve me having to do it in 5 places.
Yes, I agree that if being an industry expert is your daily bread, then I understand why one would have an account. I have (hidden) accounts on Gab and Parler for the same reason. But David French's analogy really hits home for me.