I joined Twitter in November 2006, upon being told about it by a friend I knew from the days of AOL Instant Messenger, iMusic, Yahoo Instant Messenger, and Blackplanet, Lis. Shortly afterwards, I began to connect with other early adapters like Ray, Kenya, Brian, EJ, Will, Terri, and Todd aka The Big La. “In the early 2010s, when Twitter, which launched in 2006, was still relatively fresh, the site had a dramatically different atmosphere. People were more likely to tweet about fairly mundane things: school gossip, lunch, Shonda Rhimes’ hit TV series “Scandal.” Twitter was a place where ordinary people could talk about ordinary things”1 For me, it was just that, posting about the what DID appear to be mundane things – what you had for breakfast, lunch, dinner, running late for work, how you’re feeling, etc. I posted about all those things and, in addition, mainly about tech and music production (to include podcasting), along with other hobbies of mine. It was a relaxed, friendly, and fun place that forced you to be confined to the microblog’s limit of 140 characters. It was about or year or two later when my friend DarrenKeith aka DK joined. He and a number of us, including EJ, Fave (RIH), BSOTS, and many others were hosting podcasts on a regular basis, some weekly like DarrenKeith’s My Love For Music, Fave’s Friday Favecast, EJ’s Wayback Wednesday, and my podcast, theSunday Soundtrack. We are all pretty much regularly blogging back then. I know DK and I still do.
Fast forward to 2022, Twitter has changed tremendously as Internet technology advanced. Twitter was once known as a social network (like Facebook), but that term died and has been replaced with “social media”. Twitter has adopted a slew of new features, just like many other social media sites, but with the growth of technology, the advent and ease of first person news reporting, the use of advertising, algorithms, mobile device social media apps, and the like, Twitter has grown to possess the good and the bad (the latter I like to refer to as being akin to a cesspool).
Recently, the news has been full of the fact that Elon Musk has purchased Twitter. Most of that news (I’d say close to 100%) is that Twitter, based on who Elon Musk is, will suffer greatly at the hands of this millionaire and what he proposes to turn the site into, with respect to free speech and non-anonymity. From what I read, it’s a forthcoming doomsday for sure. Frankly, even with all Elon has been in the news for, the good and the bad, it’s speculation, which I treat as just that. Many say they’ll be part of the exodus already, despite the fact that he hasn’t fully taken over and no changes will be seen for at least six months from now.
Being a user of Twitter for as long as I have been, I’ve seen its evolution and know pretty much exactly how it works. I choose to follow who I do and use its privacy settings available to make my Twitter experience as pleasing as it can be for me. I can’t stand its algorithms in the least bit, BUT, algorithms are innate to social media technology so it’s something we all must live with.
As of today, I have no desire to leave Twitter and don’t plan to UNLESS (under the guise of ‘”free speech”) the environment becomes unavoidably more riddled with hate speech and the like. If that becomes a reality, I’ll take my 65000+ tweets and hit the road – meaning I will not participate/engage as a user any longer. No, I am not going to create a Mastodon (or similar) account and start all over. There is one site similar to Twitter, pnut.io, 100% user run, that I will continue to remain on (since joining in 2017). What I will also do is something DK and I have discussed ad infinitum – crosspost my blog posts from my blog (or walled garden as DK and I refer to it), along with future episodes of my latest podcast Tech Times, and give Twitter users the opportunity to visit. Might as well leverage social networking tech, yes? I’ve lived without Twitter prior to it’s existence, and if I feel the need to do so in the near future, I will. I enjoy Twitter for what it offers me and have connected with many great and resourceful users over the years that have expanded my personality, as well knowledge in a handful of personal interests, for the better. For what it’s worth, I never saw Twitter as a “race thing”, but a community of global users. Yes, racial issues continue to plague us today, but nonetheless…
Time will tell with regards to my exodus or not.
If you decide to leave Twitter, for whatever reason, what will you do, where will you go?
Thanks or the read.
Fresh.
1: Elon Musk’s possible takeover of Twitter is unsettling for many Black users
Great Post! I’m still waiting in the wings to see how this Elon Musk deal goes and what changes are likely. I will make a decision then. I agree with your sentiments as to where Twitter’s been, where it is now and the direction it may take in the future.
I don’t intend to ever delete my account completely, but (as you suggest) I may choose to take a step back and use it differently. I agree that whichever direction Twitter takes, there will be other ways to leverage our accounts to our benefit.
And lastly, I’m just learning about P.nut today. I’d like to join, is there an invite procedure? Thanks!
Ray, as always, thanks for your meaningful and insightful comments. Pnut is much like early Twitter. I’ll confirm the invite process and get back to you.
We don’t even know for sure if the sale will go through. I’m also not leaving Twitter. The value I have received outweighs the foolishness that’s on there.
I think the Twitter Circles feature will help create that feel that we had back in the early days. We’ll see.
Unless Twitter sinks to a place that’s unspeakable I’m not going anywhere. As I mentioned before, Twitter is a tool, a conduit for me to share my words, my images, my music podcasts.
This post brought a smile to my face and Elon has given me a breath of fresh air when it comes to social media.
Salient ponts, Kenya. I’ve tried the TCs a few times.
A conduit it is, bro….indeed.
Great post!
I don’t see myself leaving Twitter at this point. I’m trying to curate who I follow to cut out some of the foolishness and block or mute what the algorithm tries to push through.
Great post, and great comments! As of now, I do not plan on leaving Twitter myself, unless it deteriorates significantly like you’ve said. I have met great people, discovered great music, and it’s made me stretch the envelope on how I live my life today. Hard o believe it’s been that long.
Thank you for continuing to keep the common sense perspectives front and center when talking about tech. Where Twitter is concerned, I’m staying put unless things go all the way left. I tend to miss a lot of the online foolishness that jumps off due to the fact that I suffer from social media fatigue more now than ever before.
Humanity is taxing. Music is divine. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Will, thanks for the comment – that’s been my plan year after year.
Sensei, I couldn’t have said it better. Yes, the years hove flown by for sure.
Most welcome, Macedonia. Funny you mention social media fatigue… over the last two months, there’s been a cloud of that hanging over my head, or so it feels as such. Appreciate the comment.