Are DUers migrating away from Twitter?

[Simeon Salus]

As someone who's been mostly reading DU closely for 21 years now, I've been disturbed (especially since 2015) about the rise of DU threads whose only OP content has been a twitter post with no commentary from the OP. I believe such posts act as an echo-chamber amplifier and tended to prioritize a single narrow corporate platform over others in a way that linking YouTube videos, for example, doesn't quite do.

IMHO twitter was always entirely about impulsive mob behavior, and the new owner clearly thinks he has purchased an impulsive mob megaphone. I'm afraid he ignored he was purchasing direct access to a vigorous diverse community, and as MySpace owners can tell you, communities have other places they can move when their access gets purchased and their diversity so reduced.

I continue to use DU mostly as a news aggregator because crowdsourcing makes for an effective screening resource. The firehose is harsh but I like to stay informed. As someone who doesn't always donate (I'm elderly and choose to rotate my donations among several sites), I'm in no position to give advice to others here old or new.

I am enormously gratified to read more Mastodon links, but would love to see more commentary from each OP about why they posted the link. A post lacking comment from the OP tells a reader less than the poster would like.

In any case, thank you DU for helping make informed choices, at least since Denis Kucinich was winning all the primary polls here.

Thank you DUers (old and new) for helping some of us in flyover territory stay out of the dark.

[Native]

1. I'm not.

[lamp_shade]

2. I did... months ago.

[old as dirt]

3. Maybe I'm luddite.

I've never tried Twitter, and the fact that tfg was allowed push his bs for so long didn't induce me to try.

That made it appear like a platform for bullying.

[NullTuples]

68. Fun FYI, Luddites were often the engineers who sabotaged the machinery they kept running

It was a protest & they were typically in solidarity with workers whose livelihoods were threatened or those who thought modern looms were destroying society. The Luddites were more analogous to modern computer crackers / hackers and others who are able to use technology against corporations that use and sometimes develop it for profit, as a protest against changes those corporations & their products are imposing on society.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-the-luddites-really-fought-against-264412/

[Wounded Bear]

4. No, but I only really "joined" to read the links posted here...

other than that, I don't follow anybody, and I don't tweet at all.

[DFW]

36. Same here.

It wasn't difficult to migrate away from something I never was really a part of in the first place.

A friends of mine just quit cold turkey at Musk's takeover. I would hope that many did, but this guy used to be Governor of Vermont, and did some pretty cool stuff after that, too.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

5. Not by the rate at which R monsters are posted about each time they say something stupid...

which is hourly on Twitter.

From the R monsters lips to DUs lips…also hourly.

[Mosby]

6. No.

[secondwind]

7. I left Twitter 2-3 weeks ago. Don't seem to miss it one bit.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

8. Applause! 👏

[ColinC]

9. I made a bet that if I lost I would delete twitter

I tried to delete it several times because of its toxicity but kept going back. Finally the rando i “bet” held me to it, so I did the thing where I create a random password so before I deleted it so it would be more difficult to log back in.


It is for the better.

[CatWoman]

10. deactivated my account earlier today

that Fauci bullshit was the last straw.

[HAB911]

76. same here

gave it a chance, downward spiral continues, just deactivated

[PortTack]

11. I have not deleted my account, but have not been on the site since eloonie took over.

Don’t miss it. Will probably delete my account.

[d_r]

12. I don't want to be a chicken little

but I feel like after Musk fired so many people that some departments were left bare, and personally I wouldn't consider it a secure site - like I would be sure to use a different password on it than anywhere else and would probably use an email address that I made up just for it.

I mean I closed my account weeks ago but if it was something that I couldn't easily let go I would try to put it in a silo. I just think it is a hot mess.

[Cha]

13. I am.. I signed into POST last

night.. see a lot of my friends there.

[RandySF]

14. Not anytime soon.

It's still widely used by news sources and progressive voices. I avoid trolls and giving any attention to Musk.

[Simeon Salus]

16. That's why I'm asking.

I know a lot of long-time respected users utilize twitter as an aggregator and filter like I use DU.

My post is not intended to change minds but instead to measure the temperature.

[In It to Win It]

15. I'm not. I use Twitter primarily for court watching.

My feed is not a cesspool. I don't see things about Elon Musk, or rightwing bullshit. If I want to see that, it's something I have to actively look for.

It's one of few places where all credible people and news organizations are gathered.

I have signed up for Mastodon but Twitter will remain for me until it is no longer useful.

[mcar]

17. I'm still on Twitter

but on the wait list for Post, which seems to be where most of those I follow are migrating. I'm also on mastodon but that's a work in progress.

When I post a tweet here, I always copy and paste the text so the non-Twits can see it. I've liked Twitter, or something like it, because I can see info from a lot of news sources without having to scroll through loads of websites.

And, I've loved following some of our former DUers, many of them Black, to get their perspective on things.

[kimbutgar]

18. I quit the day muskrat took over

I see tweets that are on this site and will watch them but if they take me to the Twitter site I don’t look at it.

I still love seeing animal videos and there are some good ones that are still on Twitter.

[onetexan]

67. Ditto

[Tree-Hugger]

19. I'm active on Twitter

My Twitter feed has not changed. I'm on there several times a day - posting, commenting, retweeting, reading. My feed remains the same as it was pre-moosk. I don't see him pop up on my feed. I don't see an increase in RW content. I don't see less progressive content. Problematic posters have always existed and I'm still seeing the same pushback from progressive voices, which is great.

The only place I regularly see moosk, RW, and hateful content is when it's reposted here.

I have yet to join Mastodon. It seems so cumbersome.

As far content posted to DU - my own personal pet peeve is when tweets, mastodon posts, YouTube vids, etc are posted with zero commentary (copy/paste of the original caption doesn't count).

[CatWoman]

26. i had the exact opposite experience

all I got was RW nut jobs, all the time showing up in my feed.

[jmbar2]

42. I use it extensively as a day trader.

Also follow news about Ukraine, and progressive news. I never click on RW sounding stuff, and I turn off all ads. I follow a few really good people and respond to tweets from them.

Honestly, I have seen no change in my feed.

[Arazi]

56. Same. My experience has been unchanged

[zuul]

75. I have not left Twitter and I have had the same experience as you.

I don't have much of a following there and on the rare occasion that I see a troll, I block them, so I guess the Twitter algorythms don't show me the hateful content.

I think that explains the different ways people experience Twitter. If you engage with the trolls, you will see more of them.

[Timewas]

20. This one has

Dropped as soon as the dipshit bought it..

[cally]

21. Considering what to do...I have seen great arguments

That progressives need to stay and I enjoy all the news posting. My twitter feed is much less interesting now but I rarely see the worst of twitter. I also don’t want to be associated with something that promotes hate, racism, and anti-semitism and disinformation.

I have signed up at Post, mastodon, etc. but I am not comfortable with the new formats yet

[RandySF]

23. I'm STILL on Mastadon's waiting list.

[oioioi]

24. there is no waiting list for Mastodon.

If a particular server is delaying your registration, just select a different one and register there. Most will register you based on an instant email confirmation...

https://joinmastodon.org/servers

There's a federated feed as well as a local feed for the server you join.

[CatWoman]

27. i joined Mastadon last night.

[oioioi]

22. Yes - Mastodon much better. Not interested in twitter. Wish we could auto hide any twit posts

[d_r]

78. I haven't had it for a long time but

I see a lot of smart people posting there and the signal to noise ratio seems really good so far

[barbtries]

25. i have deactivated my account.

also joined Mastodon but haven't really found a way to make it useful yet.

my account will be deleted soon. I still go look at it sometimes because I enjoy reading the responses. Can't respond or even like a post but that's okay.

[CatWoman]

29. on Mastadon's home page is a menu on the right

click on "explore".

there you can view posts, hashtags, news etc.

also see: https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-basic-tips/#HowDoIFindPeopleToFollow

[barbtries]

30. i think i have done that.

i'm looking for threads? and just haven't found them. thank heaven for DU

[CatWoman]

32. check the link I added

[blogslug]

46. When you click on a post, and if others have replied, there should be a thread

I don't know how you're using Mastodon. I don't know how it works on mobile. So far, I've only used it on PC.

[barbtries]

57. on my PC.

i haven't spent a lot of time there yet. clearly lol

[oioioi]

58. Mastodon works well on mobile - for Android, the Tusky app is good

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keylesspalace.tusky&gl=US

[d_r]

74. This is very helpful thank you

Last edited Mon Dec 12, 2022, 09:25 PM - Edit history (1)

also, do you have any particular things to follow that you would suggest?

ETA I follow this guy - @[e-mail]

[ananda]

28. Been gone awhile now and don't really miss it.

...

[BootinUp]

31. Initially I didn't plan on it

but Musk's actions since taking it over have changed my mind.

[DavidDvorkin]

33. I'm staying on Twitter

What I see in my feed has not changed at all.

[Sky Jewels]

34. I was never much of a Twitter user, but I deactivated my account when the creep took over.

[Emrys]

35. I've seen little change in my Twitter use since Musk took over.

I've always been very selective and quite trigger-happy in muting timewasters and trolls, and I have my own lists and bookmarks that mean I'm not reliant on Twitter timeline features. I'm a strictly read-only user who's never tweeted. I was quite surprised to read recently that a lot of people use it more or less as I do.

I see a lot more about Musk, Trump and various other reprobates on DU than I do on Twitter because I don't seek them out there. There are more interesting and pressing things going on in the world, and I get more than my fill of them in a half-hour here and there on General Discussion.

Your comments in the OP about "such posts act as an echo-chamber amplifier" could apply to any number of posts on DU that focus on rightwingers and whose sources have nothing at all to do with Twitter. Day after day of MTG's antics, for example, get a bit tired after a while, but each to their own and nobody forces me to read them.

You also said "IMHO twitter was always entirely about impulsive mob behavior". That's a gross misrepresentation and has not been my experience of the platform, otherwise I wouldn't make so much use of it. Many very erudite and conscientious people and organizations have Twitter feeds. It's a hell of a resource, literally life-changing if not life-saving for some people, and I'm extremely pissed off that Musk has no fucking idea about what its importance is and what might need to be done to sustain it.

I don't feel like I'm being driven off Twitter yet. If that time comes, I'll re-evaluate. What I don't enjoy is some of the scolds on DU who pop up from time to time to criticize those of us who still choose to use Twitter, often from a position of unfamiliarity with the platform. If you think it's a cesspit, then you're not using it to its optimum for your needs, and maybe it's not for you. Peer pressure is not going to make me change how I choose to spend my time.

[NewHendoLib]

37. I tried it a few years ago and was quickly repulsed.

Left quickly. Jettisoned FB too.

I'd love to see more commentary from DYers instead of just social network posts from any source.

[Maraya1969]

38. I haven't completely taken my account down - probably because it took a long time to

get 500 followers but I did remove all my personal information and left up only "Fuck you Musk" on my profile.

Twitter is not the same. There are too many right winged jerks. But there are still good people there and some great handles like "Baby animals" that I like to look at.

[SYFROYH]

39. I was never on Twitter much. FB and DU serves me well.

[tavernier]

40. About three weeks when it first started.

Realized quickly that I wanted to spend that time involved with the real world. I’m not always right, but boy I was on that one

[Mr.Bill]

41. I've never used Twitter.

DU and a few car forums are my only social media memberships. My grandchildren are astonished that I can exist without Facebook.

[Crowman2009]

47. Imagine how astonished they would be if the only functions their phone had were talk & text.

Of course they would lose their minds if you told them about the days of letters, landlines, and telex.

[Mr.Bill]

48. If cell phones stopped working

an entire generation would not know how to communicate with each other.

Not that they're all that good at it anyway.

[DownriverDem]

43. Deactivated

my account weeks ago.

[Warpy]

44. I hate to see nothing but a blind Twitter link

if only because it takes that site so damned long to load all their crap before the post finally pops up. A few times it's lived up to the hype but that's rare and it's another 2 minutes I'll never get back and I'm old and my time's short.

So mostly I just sigh and click the post off with a terse and rude comment about lazy posters.

[Ilsa]

45. I don't visit very often. Lots of accounts are to talk about a new product

someone famous is making or endorsing.

[brooklynite]

49. Not me...

Post News and Mastadon offer nothing comparable to the number of voices available on Twitter, and the fringe ones can be muted.

@chrisbastianbkl

[AllyCat]

50. Yes. I deleted it weeks ago and was a multiple times/day user

Cold Turkey. I currently advocate for removing the Twitter button from DU posting.

Musk-Melin deserves NO retweets, likes, reposting or logins from Americans.

None.

[Lucinda]

51. For now...I'm still there

❤️ ✿❧🌿❧✿ ❤️

[Richluu]

52. I quit Twitter and joined Mastodon

Because a DU article warned about security and that one could get hacked.

[iluvtennis]

53. When Musk starts charging to use it - I'm leaving. In a holdinpattern until then. n/t

[area51]

54. As for me, not yet.

I'm considering joining Mastodon, and have already joined Post News. Also, I'm curious about what Chris Bouzy and Bot Sentinel will come up with for an alternative to Twitter.

Link to tweet

Text:

"You deserve better than this. If you want to be part of something better and share your thoughts on what a Twitter alternative should include, then please pre-register here and let's build something better together: http://preregister.spoutible.com"

[BigmanPigman]

55. I never had it or Fakebook

and neither has anyone in my immediate family. We all somehow have survived throughout the years...go figure.

[slightlv]

59. I was old "fogey" for many, many years...

didn't do FB or twitter. Then, my friends finally got me on FB... along with my daughter. Still don't "use" it much, but it is nice to stay in touch with friends who've moved a few states away.

Twitter, OTOH, I could see was going to be a black hole of time. I only got roped into registering to see something that was posted on DU.

Then I found Stephen King's twitter page. And he's the only person I regularly check in with. I like his sense of humor.

I don't see any of the right-wing rantings and ravings, because I don't follow anyone who'd give me that stuff, either directly or indirectly. I don't do ads, so their ads don't show up, either. I'll admit I'm a total hold when it comes to critters and Caturdays. Also, there are a few gorgeous photography forums. While I don't do photography, myself, I can appreciate the labor of love it takes to create the photos.

I've been "on twitter" for probably the last couple of years... but in all that time, I've never posted anything, never retweeted, tho I may have pushed the "like" button a few times. That's about the extent of my interaction.

I've bookmarked mastadonudon because that's where George Takai moved, and I'm a Star Trek nerd from way back. But I also found several other niches I could inhabit quite easily. On one hand, I like the decentralized nature in that it precludes any one person "taking over" (like Musk did with the bird). On the other hand, I dislike the decentralization because it makes it so hard to find anyone you might be specifically looking for.

I think in time, the Admins at Mastadon will write some sort of bridge code that will allow a search across servers. That would solve a lot of issues new users seem to have.

I've not registered on Mastadon yet, but I will. I would like to understand it better before I do. There are basic functions I don't know well enough. I mean... when even the hashtags and how they work are "new" to you... you've got some reading to do! (LOL)

[Thunderbeast]

60. Closed my account when Musk conquered it

I never posted or followed, so no tangible loss.

To be honest...I never figured out the "why" of Twitter in the first place.

[AllaN01Bear]

61. never did , under musks agen" leadership", never will . quit facebook after i

was locked into read only mode .

[SCantiGOP]

62. I did several weeks ago

I can’t give any support to Musk, even indirectly.

[tishaLA]

63. I deactivated my account a few weeks ago but then

someone posted an article (or link, I don't recall) saying that it's safer from a security standpoint to keep your account active but never visit the site. So I then reactivated the account, but it's such a fucking sewer now that I feel like deactivation would be the best option so the temptation to visit would be gone.

[Historic NY]

64. Plucking around yet.....

but I've opened new accounts elsewhere. We just can't turn this over to the morons

[Lulu KC]

65. Yes

I was part of a really fun little circle of people and actually met friends from all over the world through Twitter--people who later came to visit me in person! But I'm over it. Out of there.
Those friends and I have other communication, but I miss the instant access to news via journalists I followed. I'll deal with it.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

66. i check in less, but still drop into twitter for viral videos

I know I need to cut the cord. Tesla guy is so horrible

[NullTuples]

70. I cleared my history, locked my account and haven't Tweeted in a week or so. I feel better.

I had no idea how much it had been raising my stress baseline. There was so much pure hatred spewed by people who were getting an emotional charge out of being cruel to others.

I'm on Mastodon now and it's...nice. I joined an instance that is very protective of communities I belong to and does not tolerate sexism, ableism, racism, and so on. The pace is much slower.

I still catch myself perhaps once a day reading some news story and feeling the stressful need to post it to Twitter so the everyone knew about the impending threat to our community. Now I just figure if the story is big enough, word will get around and if it's not...it will fade away without real harm happening. I do still worry though about what will happen when we will need to politically organize & spread crucial information, as Mastodon just isn't big enough yet to be effective.

In the last week I've also cleaned out the storage room and swapped stored summer & winter clothes. No more endless doomscrolling* for me.

*doomscrolling is an emotional state and an action where someone feels compelled typically by fear to keep scrolling to make sure there's no hidden danger in wait for them.

[Prairie_Seagull]

71. It has been discussed here many times.

We all want to take more direct action to help out the causes we believe in. I believe twitter and others like it are a serious threat to progress in America. Change is a hard, sometimes avery hard thing. Baby steps.

For anther instance: If we are shopping or getting coffee or a doughnut someplace and someone walks in with AR15 or like weapon, Just leave, then call the manager and complain. I wonder how long it would take for a sign to go up barring the wearing of weapons. Baby steps.

I never have had a twitter account so it's not even a thing for me. I'm out, I have to say however that I do like the linked critter videos here. Not much of a price for me but I will miss them. Baby steps.

No migration necessary here, more like a short flight home.

[Mad_Machine76]

72. I finally decided to nope out today

Elon is turning Twitter into another Truth Social (and now he's going Qanon) and there's no end in sight likely anytime soon or any real hope of things getting better. I don't need any extra stress/aggravation.

[dmr]

77. I haven't left Twitter.

I've seriously considered leaving, but I follow too many people and news sources i respect.

I haven't encountered an increase in right wing bullcrap. Thankfully. I enjoy reading what other posters have to say, their memes and their links to various news articles, etc.

I did join Post, but haven't done anything with it, yet.

All in all Twitter is the same to me.

[WarGamer]

79. I'm not. For a few reasons.

1) Twitter is what YOU make it.

If you're seeing garbage on your Twitter feed that's because the algorithm knows you like garbage so it feeds garbage to you.

2) This reminds me of when Trump got kicked off of Twitter and all the RW'ers starting screaming about "boycott" and talked about Mastodon, etc...

Seeing our side act like this now is pathetic.

3) Twitter is the best site for Global, nearly instantaneous news and video... explosion in Ukraine? It'll be on Twitter before the US satellite system video is unencrypted and sent to the Pentagon.

I can follow all of my non-political interests on Twitter and never see a MTG, Trump or Bannon Tweet.