So glad you shared your thoughts on Twitter with us! I’m a begrudging Tweeter. That’s just how I feel about social media in general. There are some great things about social media, but, personally, I’m a long-form writing kind of person.
Yes, I'm long form, too. Academic have a contradictory pressure when it comes to Twitter: you're pushed to join up for the sake of visibility and "reputation" but you also endure the criticism of being flip and shallow. It's a odiferous concoction.
Ha! You made me Google it. Still unclaimed, but I bet we could whip up something quickly. Of course, it'd have plenty of musk in it. That goes without saying.
Exactly! I signed up way back in 2012 while getting my Ph.D. because a professor told me I should. But all the anxieties of finishing a diss and trying to get a job just made Twitter feel like more of a minefield.
Good stuff here, Mark! For the life of me, I’ll never understand how we let these private platforms convince us that they are the public square. I also don’t understand why anyone thinks a private company is there to safeguard free speech. The fact that both of those positions are widely held across society gives me really bleak dystopian vibes.
I quit Twitter once, mostly for mental health reasons. It just made me sad and depressed, and doom scrolling all day really put a damper on my writing. This time around I’m taking a wait-and-see approach because I just don’t use twitter as much as I did the first go around.
That said, three things are likely to push me off Twitter. First, I’m seeing a lot more hate speech, especially in trending topics. As a Jew, it’s never a good day when I wake up and see that my religion is a trending topic, because the second I click on that hashtag I know I’m about to see some awful shit. The second thing that’s likely to push me off Twitter this time is if I see that all the interesting folks I’ve met (including you) aren’t there anymore. Without cool people, what’s the point of social media? I guess a third thing that might make me quit is if a subscription is required. I see value in Twitter, but not that much value. What can I say? More hate speech, fewer friends, and more money is a lousy combination.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on this topic, Mark!
Hi Michael, very thoughtful response. I think you hit upon an important point, which is the impact of Trending Topics, which by itself is a key dread-inducing element (and almost certainly gamed).
I think Twitter has been used as a platform to manipulate reality via language for at least a decade. The meanest, unhinged people are absolutely glued to that site. It’s a good thing to walk away from it, regardless of Elon or not.
I was kicked off Twitter a few months back for asserting that Nazis ought to be killed. I’m fine with that.
Musk may be rich but he’s an amoral idiot, like a certain other “rich” guy. The fact that amoral idiots get to make media companies their playthings for no other reason than their wealth is an excellent illustration of how capitalism fails most of us.
To be honest, Mark, I'm not sure there will be a replacement for Twitter. I'm not sure there needs to be one. The era of mass, global, broad social media feels like a relic of a very specific time: when we thought the internet was something slightly different to what it actually is.
Smaller networks, whether on Discord, via Whatsapp/Snapchat type systems, and deeper discussion via the likes of Substack, feel like a more likely future.
Combine that with the natural generational shift - kids don't go on Facebook and Twitter because that's where their parents hang out - and it feels inevitable that the 2000s-era social media will dwindle away. It won't fully go away, of course - MySpace is still around, right? - but it'll be a shadow of its former self, populated by a specific generation that didn't move on.
You’ll be missed, Mark. Just don’t stop doing this newsletter! 😎
I think free speech is excellent… I just worry that Elon and his ilk (good band name?) don’t think there are consequences for free speech. Toddlers seem to have better impulse control but I’m sticking around Twitter for now. Time will tell if I’m a musician playing while the titanic sinks…
I’m morbidly fascinated with going down with the ship at the moment, it definitely seems like things will be destroyed in a matter of weeks. Which is a shame - but also, I don’t really miss MSN or Piczo or whatever else was in with the youths of Atlantic Canada back in the 2000s. They served their purpose and then we moved on. The death of Twitter is looking to be accelerated and not as natural, but same principles. Anyway, miss you on the bird app!
Great article - very insightful and interesting. I've never really used Twitter - I have an account because I needed to follow my kids' sports days, etc., but it otherwise never gripped me. Which, from what I now know, was both a good and bad thing! I think it's important to realise that all social media - no matter the format - is inherently a form of entertainment and as such needs to be treated as such. Good luck going cold turkey!
Interesting -- based upon how much you referenced, as with many addictions, relapse is possible :) -- I am enjoying some of your older posts and very enjoyable here on Substack -- your time better spent here for sure! I left FB about 12 years ago or thereabouts and recently left Twitter -- my simple, social experiment (once a week review or so of Twitter) was (1) remove the app from my phone (2) remove some follows each time I logged on methodically reducing the footprint -- what I found is the volume of nonsense never changed even when I got down to ONLY 25 FOLLOWS -- clearly constructed to overwhelm our brains with fear and anger I surmise. Good luck.
I am intrigued by the topic of how social media impacts our brains. Many people, including me, seem sure they understand but it has to be guesswork based on our lack of knowledge of idea formulation in our heads. I think we all can only step-back at times and assess how it affects us. I''ve posted a bit about it but hate when people clutter comments with their posts so I resist the urge :) -- I've added your Newsletter to my TBR but resist more subscriptions, too many already.
Thank you for writing this up! I have had some great times on Twitter too but not lately. Your Godzilla in the Bookstore analogy is accurate. I suppose we should be glad to get what we got out of Twitter while we could? And now we can all chat here. (Or maybe we can talk to real people in person? That sounds interesting but I don't entirely remember how that works.)
I am determined to get it right, even though every time I try I end up laughing a little too loud or unintentionally screaming about something ("LOOK AT THAT DOG! WOW, I LOVE YOUR SWEATER! MY COFFEE IS DELICIOUS, HOW IS YOUR COFFEE?").
You can tell happily about water. (I don't drink alcohol but probably make up for it on coffee. Although I think coffee small talk is interesting for about 5 seconds.)
So long from Twitter, Mark. I enjoyed following you on that site. I understand completely your reasons and am strongly considering leaving as well for the same reasons. (I'll decide and act by the end of the day today). Thanks for mentioning Mastadon - checking that out now. Regardless - I'll look forward to seeing your content on this substack. Cheers.
A very thoughtful and thought-provoking article, Mark. I have a few thoughts about Twitter, both in general and personal. For the general aspect, I like to think that Musk is a force for good, insofar as (hopefully) he will stop the nonsense whereby Twitter was suspending people's accounts for, in effect, wrongthink. However, I am concerned that the public square, as it were, is in the hands of people who are unelected and either accountable to nobody or to shareholders. Also, that some megarich technocrats -- not necessarily Musk but in general -- will read a dystopian sci-fi novel or watch an episode of Black Mirror and think they are looking at a blueprint rather than a warning. On a personal level, I take a cost-benefit approach: so far, the benefits, in terms of finding out stuff and making new connections have been greater than the costs (in terms of being the victim of a pile-on: but I never respond because I believe in not feeding the trolls).
I left FB in 2010, Twitter in 2016, and Instagram in 2018. You’ll be fine. 🙌
Yeah, it's all about the path.
So glad you shared your thoughts on Twitter with us! I’m a begrudging Tweeter. That’s just how I feel about social media in general. There are some great things about social media, but, personally, I’m a long-form writing kind of person.
Yes, I'm long form, too. Academic have a contradictory pressure when it comes to Twitter: you're pushed to join up for the sake of visibility and "reputation" but you also endure the criticism of being flip and shallow. It's a odiferous concoction.
Isn't odiferous concoction the name of someone's new cologne?
Ha! You made me Google it. Still unclaimed, but I bet we could whip up something quickly. Of course, it'd have plenty of musk in it. That goes without saying.
Exactly! I signed up way back in 2012 while getting my Ph.D. because a professor told me I should. But all the anxieties of finishing a diss and trying to get a job just made Twitter feel like more of a minefield.
Good stuff here, Mark! For the life of me, I’ll never understand how we let these private platforms convince us that they are the public square. I also don’t understand why anyone thinks a private company is there to safeguard free speech. The fact that both of those positions are widely held across society gives me really bleak dystopian vibes.
I quit Twitter once, mostly for mental health reasons. It just made me sad and depressed, and doom scrolling all day really put a damper on my writing. This time around I’m taking a wait-and-see approach because I just don’t use twitter as much as I did the first go around.
That said, three things are likely to push me off Twitter. First, I’m seeing a lot more hate speech, especially in trending topics. As a Jew, it’s never a good day when I wake up and see that my religion is a trending topic, because the second I click on that hashtag I know I’m about to see some awful shit. The second thing that’s likely to push me off Twitter this time is if I see that all the interesting folks I’ve met (including you) aren’t there anymore. Without cool people, what’s the point of social media? I guess a third thing that might make me quit is if a subscription is required. I see value in Twitter, but not that much value. What can I say? More hate speech, fewer friends, and more money is a lousy combination.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on this topic, Mark!
Hi Michael, very thoughtful response. I think you hit upon an important point, which is the impact of Trending Topics, which by itself is a key dread-inducing element (and almost certainly gamed).
So many times I’ve said to myself I wish I could just see my timeline and make trending topics invisible.
I think Twitter has been used as a platform to manipulate reality via language for at least a decade. The meanest, unhinged people are absolutely glued to that site. It’s a good thing to walk away from it, regardless of Elon or not.
Yes, this has been a concern for some time.
I was kicked off Twitter a few months back for asserting that Nazis ought to be killed. I’m fine with that.
Musk may be rich but he’s an amoral idiot, like a certain other “rich” guy. The fact that amoral idiots get to make media companies their playthings for no other reason than their wealth is an excellent illustration of how capitalism fails most of us.
I'm watching Succession and some of these themes abound.
To be honest, Mark, I'm not sure there will be a replacement for Twitter. I'm not sure there needs to be one. The era of mass, global, broad social media feels like a relic of a very specific time: when we thought the internet was something slightly different to what it actually is.
Smaller networks, whether on Discord, via Whatsapp/Snapchat type systems, and deeper discussion via the likes of Substack, feel like a more likely future.
Combine that with the natural generational shift - kids don't go on Facebook and Twitter because that's where their parents hang out - and it feels inevitable that the 2000s-era social media will dwindle away. It won't fully go away, of course - MySpace is still around, right? - but it'll be a shadow of its former self, populated by a specific generation that didn't move on.
Thanks, Simon. There does seem to be a problem of scale, doesn't there?
You’ll be missed, Mark. Just don’t stop doing this newsletter! 😎
I think free speech is excellent… I just worry that Elon and his ilk (good band name?) don’t think there are consequences for free speech. Toddlers seem to have better impulse control but I’m sticking around Twitter for now. Time will tell if I’m a musician playing while the titanic sinks…
I'll be interested to hear your own takes as the situation develops.
I’m morbidly fascinated with going down with the ship at the moment, it definitely seems like things will be destroyed in a matter of weeks. Which is a shame - but also, I don’t really miss MSN or Piczo or whatever else was in with the youths of Atlantic Canada back in the 2000s. They served their purpose and then we moved on. The death of Twitter is looking to be accelerated and not as natural, but same principles. Anyway, miss you on the bird app!
My days lack your millenial/library science enfused bursts of outrage, which I was never quite sure how seriously to take - they are among the finest.
I mean, I don’t take myself that seriously…
Great article - very insightful and interesting. I've never really used Twitter - I have an account because I needed to follow my kids' sports days, etc., but it otherwise never gripped me. Which, from what I now know, was both a good and bad thing! I think it's important to realise that all social media - no matter the format - is inherently a form of entertainment and as such needs to be treated as such. Good luck going cold turkey!
This may be a Generation Jones question...do we even need Twitter? What if everybody told Elon Musk "Nah, we good"?
Interesting -- based upon how much you referenced, as with many addictions, relapse is possible :) -- I am enjoying some of your older posts and very enjoyable here on Substack -- your time better spent here for sure! I left FB about 12 years ago or thereabouts and recently left Twitter -- my simple, social experiment (once a week review or so of Twitter) was (1) remove the app from my phone (2) remove some follows each time I logged on methodically reducing the footprint -- what I found is the volume of nonsense never changed even when I got down to ONLY 25 FOLLOWS -- clearly constructed to overwhelm our brains with fear and anger I surmise. Good luck.
Great insights, Mark, thanks. Only 25 follows and still the nonsense... that's awful.
I am intrigued by the topic of how social media impacts our brains. Many people, including me, seem sure they understand but it has to be guesswork based on our lack of knowledge of idea formulation in our heads. I think we all can only step-back at times and assess how it affects us. I''ve posted a bit about it but hate when people clutter comments with their posts so I resist the urge :) -- I've added your Newsletter to my TBR but resist more subscriptions, too many already.
Thanks for sharing this, Mark! Great to read your insights.
Thank you for writing this up! I have had some great times on Twitter too but not lately. Your Godzilla in the Bookstore analogy is accurate. I suppose we should be glad to get what we got out of Twitter while we could? And now we can all chat here. (Or maybe we can talk to real people in person? That sounds interesting but I don't entirely remember how that works.)
It's not been a great decade for in person conversation so far, has it?
I am determined to get it right, even though every time I try I end up laughing a little too loud or unintentionally screaming about something ("LOOK AT THAT DOG! WOW, I LOVE YOUR SWEATER! MY COFFEE IS DELICIOUS, HOW IS YOUR COFFEE?").
I don't drink coffee or much alcohol, which is incredibly limiting for small talk.
You can tell happily about water. (I don't drink alcohol but probably make up for it on coffee. Although I think coffee small talk is interesting for about 5 seconds.)
Time to start complaining about the water filter! :)
https://mstdn.science/@shaneomara
I've made the jump from the birdsite to Mastodon. It seems nice, so far.
Birdsite presence going to 0
Seems a little wrong to provide content to a temperamental billionaire who is firing people without a care in the world ☹
I shall follow you there!
I'll follow back!
So long from Twitter, Mark. I enjoyed following you on that site. I understand completely your reasons and am strongly considering leaving as well for the same reasons. (I'll decide and act by the end of the day today). Thanks for mentioning Mastadon - checking that out now. Regardless - I'll look forward to seeing your content on this substack. Cheers.
Thank you kindly!
A very thoughtful and thought-provoking article, Mark. I have a few thoughts about Twitter, both in general and personal. For the general aspect, I like to think that Musk is a force for good, insofar as (hopefully) he will stop the nonsense whereby Twitter was suspending people's accounts for, in effect, wrongthink. However, I am concerned that the public square, as it were, is in the hands of people who are unelected and either accountable to nobody or to shareholders. Also, that some megarich technocrats -- not necessarily Musk but in general -- will read a dystopian sci-fi novel or watch an episode of Black Mirror and think they are looking at a blueprint rather than a warning. On a personal level, I take a cost-benefit approach: so far, the benefits, in terms of finding out stuff and making new connections have been greater than the costs (in terms of being the victim of a pile-on: but I never respond because I believe in not feeding the trolls).
I think we share some of the same concerns. Legacy remains to be seen.