21 Comments

I got a Twitter account a few years ago so that I could get breaking news, access to cable news clips (I don't have cable, only streaming accounts), and access to magazine, journal and newspaper articles. I've stayed although I've had to mute quite a few accounts to have some piece of mind. And, I think Musk is a terrible business person and I don't like him personally. But, I'd say stay on Twitter. It's important to be able to read accurate news that I have faith in and I love the fact that you listen to the rally's so I don't have to. I cannot listen to Trump since when he speaks it's all chaos and reminds me of fingernails on a chalkboard.

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I'm a fan of any article quoting Kimberly Guilfoyle.

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You should compile a book of quotes, or perhaps a lengthy pamphlet. We can drop them by plane into Trump rallies. Then again, why do that? We'll sell it on Amazon.

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I'm done with all corporate-sponsored social media, including x/twitter, Facebook, threads, bluesky, Instagram and others. You can find me on Mastodon. Lots of good people there. Worthy of your time.

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I am on Mastodon! I also have fediverse sharing enabled on Threads. I do agree that decentralization is the future of social media.

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I am as well - all of it. I kept Facebook for the express purpose of looking at baby and kid pictures from family. That's it for me - like a photo album.

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Although I never installed the app, I still access Xitter from my browser and thanks to a browser add-in (Twitter Control Panel) I can still choose only to see the accounts that I have followed so it's still a useful source of information. Lately it has been showing me ads but at least they are labeled as such so I can skip over them.

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That's similar to how I use it -- I stick to my "following" list and very rarely stray to the algorithmic timeline

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It’s a good question. On the one hand you are helping to prop up what is now more of a propaganda site for Musk and his minions. The more people stay there the more Musk is elevated as okay. And he clearly is not. On the other hand, without clear voices showing facts vs. lies, Twitter just becomes more and more of an echo chamber for the far right and fascism will abound. So I guess it’s not an easy answer. Maybe it depends on why you stay? If it’s for a revenue stream that is provided by being on Twitter, then no. If it’s because you believe you are helping spread factual information to shine a light into the darkness enveloping the site, then…yes. Personally, I left. I just can not support Musk.

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I joined Twitter in 2008 when it was still a “baby” platform. At that time, I owned my business consulting firm and it was a great platform to grow a business.

Once many other social media platforms popped up - Instagram, TickTock, etc - many people followed the crowd and left Twitter. I stayed and am still there even though I’ve closed my business.

As a non business owner, it still meets my needs for a variety of news and viewpoints. I think you should stay as long as you have an audience there. It will be worth it.

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I had a Twitter account from the get-go, then only got on there around 2021. I didn't last a year. I would tell anyone to get off of there, but I understand you do rely on it as a writer.

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It's tough. I would certainly be bad for my business and also in terms of tracking right-wingers. A huge chunk of my audience is still there. As I mention during the panel, there's a bit of a collective active problem going on.

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Get rid of the jorts. Although it seems unbelievable, I got sick of pasta and pizza after 2 weeks in Siena.

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Congratulations on this wonderful trip to Italy. I left twitter when Elon Musk took over before that I was on it quite a lot, that’s how I found you!

I have to say my whole social media usage went way down after leaving Twitter.

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The only reason why I still have my Twitter account is following Aaron Rupar, information on stocks, and my sports (NBA / NFL).

If Rupar navigated to Threads I’d prolly start an account.

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I'm on Threads! Aaron.rupar there

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The problem with Twitter it has so much right wing propaganda directed by Elon to generate those algos.

You saw that latest clickbate about Biden’s 44% capital gains tax? With zero context provided. It only applies to millionaires and Biden is not passing it anyways. It was only a suggestion.

I feel like Elon is paying some of those blue check mark accounts like Mario Newfall to spread post with right wing bias.

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The more I think about it and my response to social media (which is not positive), I'm wondering whether, at age 52, I'm pulling my first old-man card out that trumps everyone else. Just holing up and screaming, "No social media! Bad!". But that's about the extent of it for me, and yes, I have spent time on social media. My argument is that it is an exquisitely bad medium for public conversation, period. I get journalists being on there for breaking news (that seems almost a requirement), but unless the news is that my house is on fire or I'm about to get hit by a missile, any news needs context.

I'm just wondering if there is any relation between this and the fact that my dad (84 years old) still cannot operate a VCR, even though they're now obsolete. So it's not like I'm saying, "What are these kids gonna think of these days! Phooey!", but rather, "This is really, really bad as a product and means for communicating." I think there's a difference, considering that I am a pretty "techy" Gen-Xer.

This still doesn't address whether the internet itself is actually Satan. (jk)

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I actually find social media to be a great way to stay in touch with sources and colleagues, especially since I'm now living in the Midwest and am not seeing folks in media and politics as often as I was when living in DC. But I do know what you mean about it not being an ideal medium for public conversation. It incentivizes confrontation, trolling, and downright meanness. I try to ignore as much of that as I can.

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Every click, link, post, tweet, etc… is support of eloon and hate speech. That’s it. Stop making excuses. So many other “new sources” for breaking news. It’s a lame excuse for using and supporting a hate speech site. Everytime you post it provides support for Eloon to claim another account for advertising. Any account, even if not used, is supporting Eloon and hate speech. Delete it and stop using excuses for keeping it. Stop supporting a hate speech, white nationalist and fascist site. You aren’t going to change it. Never.

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I left Twitter in December of 2022, so you have not been able to reach your most important audience (me) there since then. As I told people at the time, the ratio of light to heat was no longer satisfactory, and the inescapability of Elon Musk's tweets was the final straw -- despite muting and blocking, he kept showing up in my timeline. I am happy without it, still get news from a variety of sources, and have more time for activities like reading books and brushing my teeth. I pay for your content here. Why do you want to give it to Mr. Musk for free?

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