Post

So true

Brian Cuban@bcuban.bsky.social

Twitter has gone from a website of respectful discourse with pockets of horrible people to a website of primarily horrible people w/pockets of respectful discourse

1.1K reposts12.3K likes

The amount of effort it takes to get to the point where you can even find those pockets of respectful discourse is monumental. It took me about a month of blocking the worse accounts and bots to get to where it was usable again after I returned from a year long absence.

I think that’s an oversimplification. Twitter actively brings out the worst in everyone. It is a cortisol pump and it goes brrrrrrrrr. Even back on the early days I saw plenty of good people go all foaming at the mouth after people they agree with over the stupidest shit. And I was not immune either

I joined Twitter in 2014 during the Michael Brown riots, because I lived in the metro St. Louis area and felt that the media wasn't covering the truth. Back then, you could hear the truth on Twitter. I deleted my Twitter yesterday because the MAGA are liars and aggressive.

that is why I left.....it was literally exposing myself to mental plutonium.....why do that to myself..I mean there is the constant doom scrolling-but you can do that anywhere...glad that you are here!

I miss the civilized discourse. Good faith political debates with people I disagree with was / is my main goal with social media... It was sad watching the number of sincere people dwindle to nothing as the era of trolls and bots shifted every discussion into something you'd see in grade school

Are you aware of the two different feed options? Not sure if you knew this but you can just look at posts from people you follow! No other pesky opinions or ideas that will be different from yours that may expand your mental horizons. Why would anyone want that?

Respectful discourse between who, the white nationals, the KKK, and the Russian bots? What does that look like? "what, who, my, gun, kill, I" One syllable words are all they know.

There's a huge poetry community there, one for books, indie fashion - so many more. Those are the people I don't want to leave behind. But thanks to M-Rat's drive to kill Twitter & become a Nazi-loving Putin-cozied oligarch, it looks like the hope of outliving his influence & saving it is doomed.

The ability of demagogues & autocrats to surprise, to create a new scandal every day, is their superpower. It diminishes attention to the previous day's transgressions & normalizes them. It slowly numbs the senses, including outrage. Values are the only defense. Hold them dear.