I logged into my Twitter account for the first time in 2024 today.
Ironically, I was on Twitter to inform some friends of mine who are on another social media site, Spoutible, of serious security issues recently discovered. I had deleted my Spoutible account months ago as it wasn’t very engaging and seemed more like a place for self proclaimed progressives to beat their chests, but I wanted to make sure my friends were aware.
While on Twitter, I also checked my notifications, just to see if I missed any conversations with my fellow drum corps and/or baseball fans. What I found instead was a number of likes and follows from many bot accounts, nearly all of them pointing to fake porn sites waiting to infect my computer with viruses.
Ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter on November of 2022, the site has become less and less useful and entertaining, becoming more like Truth Social than a place where people could actually be social with one another. The continuous waves of bot accounts and right wing extremists, goaded on by Musk’s own white supremacy and anti-semitism, has led to multiple migrations off of Twitter to other social media services such as Mastodon or Tumblr. I, myself, have set up accounts on both services and, with no light at the end of the Twitter tunnel, I think it’s time I do the same.
I’m not leaving Twitter completely, nor am I deleting or deactivating my account. I don’t want my username up for grabs for some asshole to use. While I won’t use Twitter, focusing instead on this website, I will be sure to make a monthly post to keep my account in active good standing.
Here’s where you can find me on social media if you’d like to stay in touch:
