@cheri dang. This post really hit my heart. I think you're totally right. I got onto Twitter because I didn't know many people IRL that had similar interests to me. Twitter was the place I found people that loved things I loved and where I could talk about them comfortably.
@cheri wrote: "the opposite of Twitter isnāt Mastadon or Micro.blog. Instead itās connection, friendship, and community. Thatās what weāre mourning. Not the tweets and likes."
Absolutely brilliant!
Everyone, go read the article. It is short, direct and to the point. Not 280, but definitely worth your valuable time.
@cheri I'm using Twitter less and less, but haven't shut down my account entirely, because there are just things that Twitter does well that do not, and likely cannot, exist without a centralized social network. But that doesn't stop me from disliking/protesting its more negative traits. Thus, the right answer for me is just finding alternatives for what I can and try to use Twitter exclusively for the things that cannot be reproduced elsewhere. I've made some enduring friendships there, and it is definitely sad to watch the place deteriorate under clueless/indifferent leadership.
@cheri smart post. Iād noticed a lot of bargaining āthe algorithmic timeline is fine, I don't need to read every post, who needs 3rd party apps anyway?ā and denial āother apps will never replace Twitterā and anger (well, pick any tweet really)
@Lioncourt I havenāt deleted my account either, for similar reasons. Iām loathe to lose my writing buddies, but also pulling back in my participation.
@cheri Well said. Iāve been slowly scaling back the number of follows I give on the network, as for me thatās what has made it chaotic. I think of the social network Path, where they set a 150 person limit since research showed thatās the number of personal connections the average person could manage at once. That said, how I use Twitter now and how I used it early on are totally different. I do think weāre longing for real personal connections again and the realization Twitter isnāt it is hitting some people hard after theyāve invested so much into the thing. Social media can be a catalyst for connecting with those important to us, but it shouldnāt be the only thing. I think taking a step back from social media can only be a step in the right direction.
@cheri This is so well said. The whole Mastodon thing makes me wonder if decentralised works when so much of the labour is put on the individuals, when the thing we ought to prioritise most is this kind of work in physical space.
@simonwoods I read a book entitled My Year of Living Danishly and the author talked about the Danish social & sport clubs commonly held after work. Also regular gatherings in private homes to be cozy together during winter. Iād love to do something similar.
@cheri Yes, same. After we moved to this house in February some of the first things we did included talking to our new neighbours and we're super lucky to have a local coffee shop, bakery, clothing donation, and radio station all run by volunteers. After spending a lot of time escaping via the web it was too easy to forget just how awesome people can be IRL.
@cheri I think I read that! Is one of the clubs a big singing group? And they have big parties with friends outside the city right? I'm really keen to go spend some time in Scandinavia sometime soon!
@cheri I think everyoneās already made all the points I was going to make, so Iām just adding my thank you for your post š
@cheri I've just caught this post. It was probably written before I signed up to micro.blog. Brilliant! You really hit the nail on the head with this one. I have cut most of my social media accounts in the last month. Twitter, which I have been on since 2008, has been harder to say goodbye to. Twitterrific makes it more manageable for me. The only other one I'm barely hanging onto is Instagram, mainly because family are there, though I suspect that I will off that soon. It no longer lives on my phone and I occaisionally take a look via a browser.
