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There is a debate on French Bsky because a left-wing media outlet has announced it is returning to X due to insufficient engagement on Bsky—even though they are barely active on the platform. A quick reminder: unless you are some sort of celebrity, generating engagement takes work. Sorry.

Especially on a social network without an opaque algorithm—you can't really count on "hit tweets" here. You have to create interesting posts, reply to people, interact with other accounts, and avoid looking like a bot. (The "Nazi bar" issue and the reign of bots on X are separate topics.)

It really sucks, especially if you were already a media outlet or mid-sized account before joining Bsky. 20% of my X followers followed me here, and anyone with a reasonably large account had an advantage here right from the start. Crossposting is nice, but you need to be present.

I just pulled up one of my old tweets from X and was met with a flood of tweets from people obsessed with the return of progressives from Bsky, accusing them of antisemitism and pedophilia. On X 🫠 It gives me PTSD of my last months there.

I almost fell for it and replied (accounts with five times fewer followers after six years on X than I have after two years on Bsky claiming there’s no engagement here 🤡). Then I remembered the trap of the X algo and the much-anticipated "debates" that consists of nothing but getting insulted.

I don't know how people can stay on a platform that allowed for the creation of sexual photomontages of children, but to each their own.