> None of these suggestions replace what Twitter offers as a whole
So? I think it’s clear that the accent here was not on twitter replacement as a whole, but on the decentralized options. And it’s fine to give up some functionality of a service when choosing an alternative. Especially when the reason for the switch is the unbearable user experience.
Sometimes there might not be any alternative, and that’s also fine. I stopped using social networks and youtube years ago and I feel much better than before. It felt like I was missing out something, but this feeling didn’t last long.
Twitter, Facebook, etc cover a majority of Americans. These social media platforms have a significant effect on the beliefs and values of their users. Divisive, outraging content drives engagement. This leads to the curation of echo chambers that work to continually galvanize and outrage users.
I have made the choice not to use social media, but a large majority of Americans do. Since we live in a democracy, this gives companies like Twitter and Facebook a non-trivial amount of control over elections and legislation.
I don't think this can be ignored with the quip "just don't use the platforms". These platforms have the ability to form public opinion, and that is a problem for democracy that we as a society need to solve.
> Can anybody make a good argument as to why Twitter (in its current form) isn’t a major detriment to society?
Basically no one actually uses twitter. I only know one person in real life who uses twitter.
Twitter's problem is that 'media types' really like twitter, for one reason or another, and tend to blow everything that happens there out of proportion for off-platform engagement.
Personally, I really like twitter. I carefully curate my Twitter experience to follow people I'm interested in, mute people and words I don't care for (it's great never having to see "NFT" on twitter!), and block people who are actively harmful. I'm left with a pretty positive experience that has good community and funny jokes. That's how I use it.
Did you read what I said? I have stopped using Twitter. I don't tweet, I don't have the app, I don't engage in anything what happens there now.
I just occasionally peek in to see if I'm missing out on anything and surprisingly I don't. As a result I see myself (unconsciously) check Twitter less and less.
> Why, then, do you subject yourself to it? I simply can't understand why someone would go through the trouble of using nitter, constantly clearing cookies, or using browser extensions _just to use a service that is hostile to them_. Especially because you and I both know that these workarounds aren't going to work forever, and soon enough you'll be scrambling for another hole in the wall.
Network effects are real.
I only use Twitter to read posts that someone linked to. I would prefer these posts to be hosted elsewhere, but I have no control over that, just like I cannot control the messenger apps that others are using. I currently have three options for communicating online:
1) use the platform/protocol that someone else picked, directly or through some other tool
2) convince them to use the platform/protocol that I prefer
3) stop sharing content with that person
I think the only way out of this is regulation that breaks up walled gardens. Companies have no incentive to open up their gardens to competitors, so we may have to apply some force.
> Cut the cord. You don't need twitter. You don't need reddit, which has been employing similar patterns recently. The internet exists beyond these walled gardens. Take some time to reflect on your relationship to this technology and the people/ideas whose presence in your life/mind is dependent on it.
The cost for that for many people is losing connections to friends, family and other contacts, unless their peers migrate at the same time. That Signal moment was a bit like that when many people moved from Whatsapp to Signal. My wife was finally able to get rid of Whatsapp without losing contacts.
>"Choosing" to opt out of corporate ownership is equivalent to a de facto excommunication from society.
Not using twitter isn't an excommunication from society, that's absurd hyperbole that might be a sign you're living in a bubble. I don't use twitter, most people I know don't use it, I'm willing to bet most people on this forum don't use it, which is all totally anecdotal, but the effect size is massive.
> This statement is so detached from reality that it's almost like you don't know what Twitter is.
I think that statement is the one that is detached from reality; the reality where twitter is of negligible importance beyond shitposting with famous people.
> This is kind of like saying, "There's nothing stopping you from eating sand." It's technically true, but eating sand will not yield the same results as eating food.
You're comparing a choice between messaging apps with the choice between eating food (necessary to survive) and dirt, and I'm the one that is detached from reality? Nobody needs to use twitter. Let me repeat that again because it is the fundamental point that you and many others in this thread seem to be missing
Nobody needs to use twitter.
You won't die if you won't don't use it. You won't lose your job if you don't use it. You will still be able to communicate with your family, friends, and everyone you care to know online if you don't use it. There are tons of other social networking apps and websites out there. People use twitter because they like it. If the twitter userbase has a problem, they can start a trending hashtag or an internet petition or something else to get twitter to change its behavior, but twitter has no obligation to listen besides the obligation they have to corporate shareholders, because they provide their services for free and nothing prevents those users from moving to another platform.
> I've made several concerted efforts over the past 10+ years to use Twitter, with various accounts on various subjects, dutifully regularly posting, following, unfollowing etc. as per recommendations in articles such as this, but all I've ended up with is the sense of having wasted an enormous amount of time and got nothing worthwhile in return
Same for me. I did try to avoid any drama and keyboard wars, but it's simply not possible with how often the algorithm pushes political topics into the trends.
I'm thinking about blocking it in my router, i don't think i'll be missing out
> Platforms like Twitter have become de facto utilities.
No, they have not.
I cannot live without water or electricity; perhaps also a general Internet connection (in the modern world). I live my life just fine without Twitter.
Twitter is an online service that some people find useful and others ignore completely. There is nothing utility-like about it.
>I have the same problem as you with Twitter. Nobody I know is on it, and when I've used it it's value is not at all apparent to me. Every time I try to use the platform it seems like a waste of time.
That's the whole idea. Twitter isn't meant to be productive -- just a fun waste of time, reading not so important news, gossip, and quips.
> Twitter does not use me any more. I use Twitter. I use it logged out. I use it intentionally, and on the schedule I set, and for the duration I choose...
That is to be celebrated, for sure!
But, I have to say: an even healthier relationship to something you think is fundamentally bad is to not engage with it at all. Twitter is totally optional and voluntary; you don't need to negotiate on how little you use it, you can just quit.
>That does not make any sense. Suppose I was upset that other people now have free speech; how would me quitting twitter affect it in any way? If I really wanted to somehow (what whatever reason) prevent others from having free speech, how would me closing my twitter account achieve that?
They really don't want to see what the censored people have to say.
>The reason I closed my twitter account yesterday is because I dislike Musk and do not particularly want to participate in his social media platform.
That seems fine with me.
I generally dont do social media. Best to stay away.
> You can still be a citizen of the 21st century world and not be on social media. It does not put you at any disadvantage to not have a twitter account. If you believe that it would, reconsider your priorities in life.
This is analogous to all those arguments that "If you have nothing to hide, you have ", or, "If you want privacy, you always have the option to become a hermit and live completely off the grid with no contact with friends or family" What if I want privacy and to participate in modern society? Why should I have to choose?
It's the same here: Twitter, for all its faults, is very useful. Why should I have to choose between not using it and enduring a bunch of abuse on it, if Twitter can fix that? To protect the "right" of some anonymous shitheads to have victims be forced to listen to their harassment? Please.
You keep replying in this thread but you keep making the same error because you're starting from the axiom that "blocking is bad" and deducing forward from there. I reject that axiom.
> Nothing you can say or do, no policies twitter puts in place, will ever eradicate them. At best it will slow them down. There's always some work around and they have lives sad enough to dedicate to finding these work-arounds.
First of all, this isn't true: plenty of platforms have "good enough" moderation that harassment is either eliminated or at least reduced to a tolerable level. But even if it were true, it would not be a reason for Twitter not to attempt anything. Again, you're starting from entirely the wrong premises here.
> With Twitter, I am constantly bombarded with people soapboxing their opinions, trying to start arguments, virtue-signalling, trying to force group outrage, witch-hunting... all manner of things. Even news articles have started using Twitter as sources. Its ridiculous.
What stops you from removing Twitter from your life just as easily as Facebook?
> If I could go on Twitter and only see stuff from people I follow I'd feel the same as you about it. But they make it almost impossible not to be barraged with other stuff too, and not just ads, but hate and insanity that I tried hard not to follow. Those are the things that drove me away.
The only sane way to use Twitter is through a 3rd-party client: no ads, none of that Notifications spam and other recommendations
> ... intentionally locking yourself into a bubble.
im not trying to be snarky, but, i mean, using a closed off eco-system like twitter and suggesting people to use "one" platform is quite literally bubbling yourself.
It works for me.
I don't use Twitter (or Facebook for that matter) and I don't lose anything by not doing so.
and so, why do you believe that? I'm not being combative or snarky here. I honestly don't understand why not using Twitter isn't "practical."
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