End of the Twitter party

I've mentioned on my blog previously that I used to be a heavy Twitter user. I joined in 2007, and it became one of my favorite places to spend time online. Twitter gave me a feeling of community. From nerds to news to real-life friends, my feed was fantastic. That began to change after Musk bought it. Over time, Twitter became increasingly unrecognizable, and I wanted to leave but didn’t know where to go.

Musk's changes made leaving easier, but those changes were incremental. For a while, I found glimpses of old Twitter and stuck around as an active user for a few months, but as of late 2024, the things I enjoyed about Twitter are either gone or drowned out by the negative things on the platform.

Although I didn't record the date I changed the settings on my Twitter profile, I've kept my account active but private and unused for nearly two years. At some point, I also deleted all my old posts. I did not delete my account because I had some hope that Twitter would somehow transform back into what it once was. Yesterday, I finally acknowledged that this change won't happen, so I pulled the plug completely. The account I had for 17 years will be deleted entirely after the 30-day window imposed by Twitter.

What comes next?

Facebook and Instagram

Let’s get the obvious options out of the way first. Facebook and Instagram are viable options for many people. I'm not a big user of either. I check them occasionally, but neither is where I spend my time.

LinkedIn

If LinkedIn works for you, please enjoy that. Maybe you’ll find a valuable business opportunity to increase the value of your personal brand. That is not what I'm looking for. LinkedIn is not a Twitter replacement.

Mastodon

My first genuine attempt at leaving Twitter was Mastodon. I tried two different public servers. The first server changed ownership and became unreliable, leading to my current server at Mastodon Social. I tried to fall in love with Mastodon, but it didn't work. You can't engineer love, I guess. I appreciate what Mastodon is trying to be, but setting up an account has too much mental overhead for most people, which will always limit the breadth of the community.

Using Mastodon made me feel like I was at the wrong party. I recognized a few people and had some good moments but didn't click in this room. Maybe you've been at that party before, sipping your drink, thinking your friends better show up soon, or you're going home. I still have a Mastodon account and try to check it regularly, but Mastodon doesn't feel like the right fit for me.

Discord

I use Discord, but it doesn't feel like Twitter. I belong to 22 different servers in Discord. Twenty-two is not a typo. Each server is a silo of people and conversation. Maybe it's the lack of cross-pollination, but Discord is not a replacement for my old Twitter experience.

Threads

When Threads came along, I was hungry to try it. The buzz around it was that it was a Twitter killer. Short, pithy bursts of text from people you follow. Sign me up. I created my account within the first hours the service was public. While Threads is not the same as old Twitter, it has worked reasonably well as a substitute. I do enjoy Threads.

Threads is like being at a party with you and your friends in your parent's basement instead of being at a party in your dorm room at college. By that, I mean if things got too rowdy, your parents might come down the stairs anytime to interrupt your Threads party.

BlueSky

As soon as I got an invite to the beta, I created my BlueSky account. There were fewer users than either Threads or Twitter, but I liked what I saw. I noticed quite a few familiar usernames and thumbnails. Was everyone there? No, not by a long shot, but BlueSky felt fun. There was also a sense of freedom to what was going on there. To reuse the party-in-your-parents basement analogy, Mom and Dad are not waiting at the top of the stairs to keep things in line. The people at this party were the ones dictating the vibe. Also, with the feeds feature of BlueSky, it felt like many smaller parties were going on all the time. A BlueSky feed is sort of like following a hashtag.

I'm enjoying the surge in users who have joined BlueSky since the November 2024 US election. It is the closest I've experienced to my early memories of using Twitter. It can be messy, irreverent, and surprising.

Fractured social media life

I now try to initiate conversations on my three accounts: Mastodon, Threads, and BlueSky. I'm using the Croissant App, an iOS app that lets you crosspost to these accounts. That way, I can engage with people wherever they are—unless they happen to be on Twitter. My experience is only a tiny sampling, but I have found the most engagement on BlueSky.

I don't expect anything to replicate old Twitter. That party’s over. Party on.