While it may have helped me as an author, I’m done with Twitter.
Like you, I’ve been watching Twitter come apart at the seams.
What Mr. Musk had planned as his end game for his actions is anyone’s guess. While I expected it to be gone soon – with or without Musk at its helm – I’ve left of my own accord.
To be honest – I’ve spent very little time on Twitter overall. Between lots and lots of negativity, including some friends’ frequent complaints, and other factors, it’s been best for my mental health to leave it.
I’m aware that as a creator, Twitter is still a decent resource for reaching more people in the world. To help spread my work and sell my books, Twitter has usage.
However, in the spirit of the things I boycott and avoid because of terrible, hurtful, ugly policies and discrimination – like Hobby Lobby, Chik-fil-A, and the Salvation Army – what value Twitter might have held is not something I’m willing to support.
The straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak? The reinstatement of Trump’s account. That hateful, spiteful, awful Orange Shitgibbon should remain banned (and the only reason I suspect he’s not yet in prison is that they’re gathering enough on him to have an ironclad case to lock him away for good).
Am I cutting off my nose to spite my face? I don’t think so.
Social media is a fluid idea.
Today’s hot channel is tomorrow’s joke
Did you have a MySpace account? Were you a blogger on LiveJournal? Are you one of the few people still hanging onto a Tumblr account?
All of these were once really hot and go-to places of social media. Now? If they’re still around, they’re burned out and barely glowing – like a dying fluorescent light.
I’ve been saying for about the last year that I suspect our current social media star vehicles – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – have maybe 5 years of life remaining. Twitter has far less now, I suspect. But the others? The clock is ticking.
Why? Because the internet is fickle, there have been some less-than-brilliant moves on the part of their leadership, and change happens. As Web3 gains traction, I expect one of the decentralized nodes or DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) will create something that catches fire akin to Facebook and/or Twitter. In time, that new model will be where we find ourselves in the social media landscape.
That’s why I think Zuckerberg rebranded as Meta, FYI. To position his company for Web3. But the true genius of Web3 is that it’s aimed to re-empower the individual creators, and provide them revenue opportunities – rather than the current model of corporate profit and frequently screwed-over individuals.
Sure, the DOAs might sell out to corporate interests and investors for the money. But then, they might stick it out for the principal. Only time will tell.
And I could be completely wrong here. No, I’m still very certain the existing social media star vehicles will be gone in time – but something new and corporate rather than Web3-focused might take their place.
Only time will tell.
Consequences of abandoning the Twitter ship
There are a few consequences that will come from dumping Twitter.
The biggest is friends who are on no other social media site but Twitter. I have several friends and personas I follow who are only on Twitter. Since they are not on the other social media platforms that I am, that connection is gone.
There are lots of advertising and promotional options Twitter presented. Hashtags related to my work were a great way to draw more eyes to it.
However, I’ve never seen any numbers for what impact that had. Have I garnered much following or any sales via Twitter? Possibly, maybe, potentially. But I don’t know, and never worked out how to dig into any metrics to see if there was a gain connected to the social media platform.
The truth is, there might be ZERO consequences for abandoning Twitter.
Conversely, there are definite benefits.
The benefits of abandoning Twitter
There was a lot of anger on Twitter. Many of the posts I saw expressed doom and gloom, dismay, frustration, and similar negativity.
I’m in no way saying it is without justification. There are some truly terrible, awful, unbelievable things happening in the world today. The levels of hate, spite, fear, and the like, are almost physically unpleasant and painful.
Did I need to be inundated with that regularly? No.
Do I need the summary of tweets from the accounts I was connected to in my email inbox? No.
Will I miss frequently removing followers that are bots, amateur porn actresses, and overall time wasters? No.
I have never needed to spend time going down the Twitter rabbit hole. There are plenty of far more useful things that can take up my time over being on Twitter. Many far better uses for my time, really.
And that might be the biggest benefit of them all. I get back a little time that was previously wasted on this social media platform. Given that I’ve been reducing overall social media time on all the platforms I’m on – no great loss when all is said and done.
Social media shouldn’t replace socialization and other stuff
To be fair – there are many people whom I live nowhere near that I am connected to on social media. Some are old friends, acquaintances, people I get to fence against once a year, and a celebrity or two I hold to a degree of esteem I enjoy reading things from.
But social media has become almost overbearing in many ways. You get so tuned in to goings-on online that you lose touch with yourself.
Further, any time you could spend being social with people – or doing things like reading books from lesser-known authors like yours truly – could be much more beneficial to your health, wellness, and wellbeing. Why? Because social media is to socialization like junk food is to fine dining. Maybe a tasty snack- but hardly good for you.
You and you alone know what’s best for you, of course. Your mileage may vary.
If you followed me on Twitter, my departure was without fanfare or a goodbye. I simply erased my account. If you were a follower and have been a supporter – thank you very much.
I’m still available on other social media outlets. What new avenues come about and whether I’ll take part in them only time will tell.
Thanks for reading.
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