Elon Musk's ideological takeover won't save Twitter. It's too late for that. Twitter has lost too many active users to make a comeback.
I deleted my Twitter account this year. I had it for 16 years. My Twitter account was boring. I'm not a right-wing or left-wing anything. My political commentary is less about ideology and more about practicality and appearances. It was also rare.
Mostly, I used my account to post schematics for projects I had built and to interact with colleagues.
I replied in a thread with a friend about some silly information security "debate" on Capitol Hill. I said that these politicians would be "tarred and feathered" over some stupid grandstanding they were making over information security, and my comment was flagged for inciting violence. Inciting violence? Seriously? It was a figurative statement about how they were going to be lambasted by the press -- no one is going to literally "tar and feather" anyone in this day and age -- leading to my comment being flagged and my account being suspended with a cool-down period.
The real problem is that this automated action changed my score on the platform. It put me in the cross-hairs of their moderation algorithm, which means that any future post I made would be further scrutinized by their poorly written AI. I was at the start of a vicious cycle that I had no intention of propagating. I've had my account since a few months after it was possible to have a Twitter account. I hit the delete button without hesitation, as many others have. I know the horror stories, and I'm not interested in getting stuck on their moderation treadmill. I'll catch my friends on IRC, Discord, or Slack. Twitter's purpose is meaningless the moment one can no longer effectively communicate on the platform.
I deleted my Twitter account this year. I had it for 16 years. My Twitter account was boring. I'm not a right-wing or left-wing anything. My political commentary is less about ideology and more about practicality and appearances. It was also rare. Mostly, I used my account to post schematics for projects I had built and to interact with colleagues.
I replied in a thread with a friend about some silly information security "debate" on Capitol Hill. I said that these politicians would be "tarred and feathered" over some stupid grandstanding they were making over information security, and my comment was flagged for inciting violence. Inciting violence? Seriously? It was a figurative statement about how they were going to be lambasted by the press -- no one is going to literally "tar and feather" anyone in this day and age -- leading to my comment being flagged and my account being suspended with a cool-down period.
The real problem is that this automated action changed my score on the platform. It put me in the cross-hairs of their moderation algorithm, which means that any future post I made would be further scrutinized by their poorly written AI. I was at the start of a vicious cycle that I had no intention of propagating. I've had my account since a few months after it was possible to have a Twitter account. I hit the delete button without hesitation, as many others have. I know the horror stories, and I'm not interested in getting stuck on their moderation treadmill. I'll catch my friends on IRC, Discord, or Slack. Twitter's purpose is meaningless the moment one can no longer effectively communicate on the platform.