I'll be blunt - I think Twitter was and is a complete shitshow. And by that, I include the pre-Musk version that, for some mysterious reason, some people actually think was a good platform. My last straw: After seeing a bunch of Twitterati openly call Kmele Foster a "house nigger" (their exact words), I tweeted that even though Kmele has opinions and a class position that's very different from most of the Black community, calling him a "house nigger" is totally out of line. For that, I was tagged for "hate speech". That later led to a "review" of my account that got me kicked. And there's no actual appeal for a bad decision like that - the appeal's process is absolutely non-responsive, something I've heard from every other person who's attempted it. That speaks volumes about the ideological bias of that platform and why I don't want to be part of a space where I have to abide by a stacked set of rules.
In general, it's a platform for mob action and bullying, and all Twitter "trust and safety" does is ensure that center left "social justice" types get to do the lion's share of the bullying. Nor do I have any better expectations of Mastodon, which is where most of these awful bluecheck types seem to be migrating. As to Elon Musk, I actually agree with his stated reasons for wanting to change Twitter's moderation policies, but his execution is off. But if he destroys Twitter in the process, I take some satisfaction in that, and in the tears of the hateful bluecheck types who are losing their clubhouse.
In general, though, I'm glad to be off of Twitter, as my outlook on life is better without constant exposure to the negativity inherent in that place. The only downside is that I miss out on the primary venue of a few of my favorite writers, you being among them. And Substack is particularly a good venue, because it's a return to the thoughtful, longform kind of writing that was largely lost when so many writers went from blogging to microblogging.
I'll be blunt - I think Twitter was and is a complete shitshow. And by that, I include the pre-Musk version that, for some mysterious reason, some people actually think was a good platform. My last straw: After seeing a bunch of Twitterati openly call Kmele Foster a "house nigger" (their exact words), I tweeted that even though Kmele has opinions and a class position that's very different from most of the Black community, calling him a "house nigger" is totally out of line. For that, I was tagged for "hate speech". That later led to a "review" of my account that got me kicked. And there's no actual appeal for a bad decision like that - the appeal's process is absolutely non-responsive, something I've heard from every other person who's attempted it. That speaks volumes about the ideological bias of that platform and why I don't want to be part of a space where I have to abide by a stacked set of rules.
In general, it's a platform for mob action and bullying, and all Twitter "trust and safety" does is ensure that center left "social justice" types get to do the lion's share of the bullying. Nor do I have any better expectations of Mastodon, which is where most of these awful bluecheck types seem to be migrating. As to Elon Musk, I actually agree with his stated reasons for wanting to change Twitter's moderation policies, but his execution is off. But if he destroys Twitter in the process, I take some satisfaction in that, and in the tears of the hateful bluecheck types who are losing their clubhouse.
In general, though, I'm glad to be off of Twitter, as my outlook on life is better without constant exposure to the negativity inherent in that place. The only downside is that I miss out on the primary venue of a few of my favorite writers, you being among them. And Substack is particularly a good venue, because it's a return to the thoughtful, longform kind of writing that was largely lost when so many writers went from blogging to microblogging.