Going to try to keep this short, but it's the seventh-or-so time I've seen people claim they're going to move to other platforms or methods in response to the latest stupidity, and I'm once again having some feelings watching people not address their Twitter addiction. I'm going to try to take it from a different angle this time, because of recent changes with the site.
Do you know how hard it has become to look at the website Twitter if you are not a Twitter user? I'm usually greeted with a sign-up screen now (they clearly haven't been able to turn that feature all the way off since implementing it) but if I do manage to actually get a tweet, I no longer see the thread it's a part of or the replies to it. If I manage to reach someone's profile, I no longer see their most recent posts, just a random assortment.
If you've had something happen in your life or accomplished something special to you and not talked about it elsewhere, I have not heard about it. Half of the time, I cannot access tweets people share on Discord without reaching a "Sorry, something went wrong." page and I've stopped asking what has been linked because I can only stand to trot out "I'm not on Twitter" so many times. You're writing notes on a sinking ship and then asking me to put my scuba gear back on, but I'd rather just keep breathing fresh air.
They had something like 300 million users at their peak, right? We know they have less now. And everyone outside of that is having this experience. So I hope the art you're posting has tons of winks and nods to dying 2023 Twitter specifically in it, because that's your audience. And even if I did have an account, I know that algorithmic shit is still there, right? So I'm still extremely unlikely to see you. But despite all these barriers and the rapidly narrowing appeal of the platform, this is somehow still the place where people are putting out their most urgent, passionate and true feelings--the online space where "it counts"?
I'm not going to act like deleting Twitter is an easy thing. I pored over analytics for months and got used to the other communication methods I had with my listeners before deciding to deactivate mine. For months after that, I had fears about my outreach that were only put to rest with my recent album release going fine without a Twitter. But what it came down to for me was, even with my comparatively small following, I did not want to be part of the draw for people continuing to use a fascist micro-blogging site.
If you're there posting your stuff without also putting it elsewhere, you are creating a reason for people to stay and look. And because you're reading this on cohost, chances are that you have people close to you who are either trying to use Twitter less or have left it behind entirely. Help them out. Stop letting it be your everything. Look at your online footprint, hell, your existence outside of what you put on Twitter. Ask yourself if it's really detailed enough to define you for people you want to connect with. If it's not, then I have bad news, but it's the part of you a lot of us are limited to seeing.
