social media war

Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on with Twitter these days either. Since Musky took over it seems to be going downhill fast(er). Not that it wasn’t kinda a shitshow before he came along and decided he knew best how to run things. Sure, sparky. How’s that going for you?

Even with the increased bullshit I’ve decided to hang in there and not delete my account just yet. Why? I’m not 100% sure. I guess it’s mostly just habit. I’ve been on Twitter since 2007 and I look at pretty much every day. Not saying that’s a good thing, it’s just a thing that happens.

I also don’t want some chode to come along and take the @ChrisU handle. That’s mine you fuckers. I got it on day one (or day three or at the beginning anyway) and I’m going to hold onto it. Keep your grubby paws off.

So even if I stop going to Twitter and disappear from it entirely, I’ll likely just disable my account and not delete it. That way, it won’t fall into the “wrong” hands and I can always go back one day if things improve. But really, at this point, I don’t know exactly what I’ll do.

Meantime, I’m also making accounts at all the other places people seem to be going. Like Hive, for example. Again, why am I doing any of this? And again, I’m not 100% sure. I enjoy some of the interactions I’ve had online so I guess I want to try to find that positive side of it again . . . if that’s even possible anymore.

I am enjoying Mastodon so far. Sure, it’s a bit wonky and the people running it aren’t always great at communication or tolerance for newbs, but I think they’re trying. I know the attitude has put a few people off so far and that’s not great for potential future community interaction. But everyone is getting used to a new platform and a new system with new rules and guidelines, there’s bound to be some growing pains. Let’s hope they don’t last too long.

I’ll probably hang in at Mastodon for the time being as I’m not having much of a problem figuring out how to make it work or talking to people. So far, everyone has been pretty cool. I’ve tried my best to be nice and people seem to respond in kind.

Don’t be an asshole and maybe people won’t be an asshole to you? It’s so crazy an idea it just might work. I just try to be kind and see what happens. It doesn’t always work out, though.

Some people are just giant dicks for no real reason. Shocking, I know. I tend to just block them and move on. You should try it.

As far as other social media sites go, as I said I’m on Hive now and I even took a look at my old Tumblr to see if that was interesting to go back to. Still looking at that one. I’m also on Instagram, Flickr, my other website, Facebook (yes, I know) and a few others I’ve probably forgotten about. And I’m still doing the podcast every week. You should listen to that, It’s fun.

Of course, I still have this blog you’re reading too. It’s been around longer than Twitter and a lot of other social media sites. Since 2004, if you can believe that. Hey, maybe that’s the answer?

Maybe we should all just go back to blogs. Those seemed to work pretty well for me and a bunch of people I know . . . at least for awhile anyway.

If I’m being totally honest (and why not?) I don’t know exactly what to do. You may have guessed that. I’ve also said it a few times already. Keep up.

Like it or not Twitter is a part of my life, for good or bad. It used to be good but I’ve been on it less and less the last couple years and maybe I should just deactivate it and commit 100% to something else like Mastodon? I don’t like the direction Twitter is going and I don’t know if it can be saved at this point.

Or, maybe it’s time for a total break from social media? That probably couldn’t hurt either. Lots of things to think about, anyway.

If you’ve left Twitter, where did you end up? I’m always interested to hear about other people’s experiences.

No matter where you go, always try to be kind. We need that now more than ever.

 

Note: The title of this point is not my joke. I can’t remember where I saw it so I can’t give credit. Thank you person on the Internet who said it first. Your sacrifice has not been in vain. 

Image: Disney / Lucasfilm