16 November 2024
Over time, people change, and it becomes necessary to part ways because of that change. So, too, with organizations and, in this particular case, social media platforms. When it began, Twitter was a bastion of hope and optimism, the center of the pro-democracy "Arab Spring" and a (naive, perhaps) belief that ordinary people communicating with one another frankly and openly could provoke serious change in the world. Then, Elon bought Twitter, and it accelerated its slide into the dumpster fire it has become.
I joined Twitter back in the 2007/2008 timeframe, egged on by a few speaker colleagues who'd discovered it. I had no idea what to do with this "microblogging" platform, as I had a blog, and I was just fine with posting long-form content. When I started, I wrote haiku on it--not my idea, Neal Ford's--because I couldn't really figure out what you do with less than 140 characters at a time. But it became apparent that this was becoming something of a magical place, making connections and exchanging ideas. More than once I made a connection on Twitter that, over time, turned into an online friendship that, in a few cases, turned into a "real-life" friendship.
Those days are long past. X has now, thanks to Elon's "stewardship", turned into a cesspool of right-wing aspiration, far-right harrassment, and incessant click-baiting and rage-baiting posts. When the moderation team was entirely fired shortly after his purchase of the platform, I had my concerns, but I thought, "Maybe I need to stick it out and stand up, use my follower count as a counter against the ideologuery that is building."
But not anymore. It's exhausting, and I don't see the point of it anymore. This isn't a physical property or an ancestral homeland that needs defending--it's all just bits living in servers and phones someplace. The only value is in the engagement, if there's no engagement, then there's no point. And I simply refuse to be engaged by political forces that are more interested in anointing an American aristrocracy than in preserving democracy. So, it's time.
I will not abandon my account--that would give somebody else an opportunity to use my handle for their own purposes. Instead, I'll just quiesce my participation on the platform, neither posting nor "liking" or in other ways engaging. The more of us that flee the platform, the less attractive it becomes as a place for advertisers and marketers. The less attractive it becomes, the less money people will spend on it. Hey, if Elon wants to use his fortune to prop up a social online network that is essentially a giant salve to his fragile ego, it would be entirely in keeping with what I've observed of the man in person. (Yes, I've met him in person, at an OReilly FOO camp way back in the day. I was not impressed then, and I'm even less impressed now.)
Meanwhile, I'm thinking my engagement will now take place on LinkedIn, Reddit, and Bluesky. If you're reading this, you probably already know how to find me on those places.
As for social media in general.... I think that social media is going through its "yellow journalism" period, hearkening back to the days when printed newspapers and journals wrote any headline that might sell more copies. William Randolph Hearst was the Musk of his day, and in time, journalism standards stiffened to the point where it was unthinkable to write the kind of headlines like that which started the Spanish-American War. (Seriously, look it up.) In time, administrations (probably not the US) will realize that social media is every bit as influential and important as newspapers and other periodicals, and begin to enforce standards of conduct and honest reporting that will build trust again. (Honestly, we could use those for newspapers and other periodicals again, too.)
But in the meantime, I strongly suggest to people that you go back to some of the original news outlets--AP and Reuters--and subscribe to their feeds. If you want analysis, I suggest places like The Economist, and if you want summations, consider The Week. But don't assume that any news outlet that disagrees with your interpretation of the world as "fake news", because if we can't agree on the basics of reality, we are collectively doomed as a species.
Last modified 16 November 2024