Over the past month or so, I’ve been taking a break from social media. I didn’t go right back to it when the month was up—partly because I had Covid and was generally disengaged / abed, and partly because I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do about social media.
When I took the break, I had developed a habit of reflexively refreshing Twitter, and to a much lesser extent, Instagram. Pulling down that Twitter timeline out of boredom, waiting for it to entertain me somehow, to hit that little dopamine button in my brain, had begun to feel like a game I couldn’t win. The best case scenario seemed to be that I would hit something entertaining, informative, or funny, and then I would quit. But mostly, I didn’t quit. It often felt frantic and depressing, the endless fucking doom scroll.
At its best, Twitter has connected me to some really great people, those who I know from either offline or online life. Twitter has been a tool for meaningful connection and conversation. If I quit Twitter, I would miss those folks!
Then today’s news came. I went—where else?—to Twitter, for the Discourse. And y’all, it’s not good for me. It’s not a healthy space. Even if I curate the bejebus out of my timeline, even if I lock it down and make my profile private, it’s not great. So, it’s not really about M*sk buying Twitter. Well, it’s not just that.
You can keep up with me on micro.blog (@jeanb or tinybirds.net) or Mastodon (banjoden@toot.cat), and sometimes on Instagram (jeanbpdx). I’ll likely continue crossposting to Twitter, but I’m not reinstalling it on my phone, and I don’t plan to check it regularly. If you want to reach me, other methods are more reliable.