twitter was a collective hallucination

Getting over my personal feelings about the ~cultural importance~ of twitter to see the truth: fewer people use twitter than pinterest or linkedin

[ItsRadishTime]

just a pinned tweet to say thanks for watching and if you want to help me make more videos you can do that at patreon.com/itsradishtime

[untappedinkwell]

I stopped using facebook about a year ago, and as a result, *all* of my social media usage has gone down, but especially when I start to have the "this feed is making me feel bad" feelings. I'm much better at stopping myself and saying "wait, I could be doing *literally anything else*" and then I close the tab and (usually) the laptop and go do those other things. I think I also have a better time when I am engaged on social media, because I know what I want to get out of it (connection, education, fun). And, well, that's nice.

[joeymason]

I've been thinking recently about the kind of "illusion of free choice" situation twitter puts us in. On tiktok or youtube, there's a homepage where the content is clearly dredged up for you -- the algorithm's workings are clear and present.

On twitter, though, it's easy to think "what I'm seeing is my fault, I could follow different people and get a totally different (maybe more positive or constructive or fun) experience." When really, a huge portion of it is algorithm-based just the same.

We don't see every tweet from everyone we follow, and the amount of stuff that just shows up because twitter knows what you want is always increasing. Maybe it's harder to log off entirely when the experience feels 'fixable'?

[strwbrryFish]

I'm on insta and Twitter to post art occasionally, but I'm also on Twitter just to doom scroll endlessly and it's been really bad lately. I use Facebook entirely for the messenger and a couple groups, so I mostly avoid politics there. But, it really feels like nowhere is safe for your mental health lately

[AhsanteB]

“at the beginning of matter tossing out stars” Hahahaha, so good. I definitely feel pretty done with engaging with random people on the internet in favor of closed/ curated group spaces like slack, discord, patreon. I just feel like any sense of community or safety in a public internet space has dissolved for me, and that at this point in 2022 public online discourse is pretty toxic and unproductive (with the exception of this lovely comments section which is always so thoughtful). So on Twitter and IG I'm just trying to be present for the people who might be looking out for me there. So like - make an announcement/ share content and then dip. Post and ghost, if you will. The Twitter scroll is still hella tempting though.

[cgs]

Deleted all my social media outside of YouTube and it feels like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. Relapsed like 3 times but now it’s been about a month since I have used twitter and my mental health issues finally feel manageable

[KatrinaEames]

Now that social media is my day job I think I like it less than I used to, but it still takes up the same amount of time in my day if not more because I'm trying to be careful, thoughtful, and to bring people together with hope (which as it turns out is hard af)

[scout_register]

This really makes me think about my relationship with YouTube. I love keeping up with so many of my interests, but at the same time I feel like I can't miss out on a single video, and when the home page is dry I just keep refreshing instead of doing something more productive or enriching.

[MattPalka]

I am very fascinated, over time, to see what Discord continues to do to all this. Because it feels like some social media sites, like Facebook, are a noisy lobby and Discord and some others (and smaller Youtube channels for communities) is a classroom-like campfire. There's more silence and listening there. The sites are kinda like an upstream door opening place for people to find others downstream where it matters and the enrolled people are located, the ones that really care for the journey. I constantly litmus test myself why I use the platforms. It's fun to connect and see how ideas spread, but so far, Discord is winning I think because it offers the best depth to community in the end.

[miguol_]

i still can't believe this video has less than a thousand views. you deserve much more with that video quality!!

[BlinkPopShift]

I gave up on Twitter and TikTok but I still love YouTube. I feel like YouTube (or at least the way I use YT) teaches me to listen to a variety of longform voices. I still love making videos and am comfortable with my tiny audience here.

[willow]

"It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism."
-Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism

[yuvalne]

I am a Facebook addict. I've tried a few things to quit, including joining the Fediverse, and while that was fun, it didn't reduce my Facebook usage.
Back when I quit Instagram, it was because I realised it isn't fun anymore, and deleted the app. But with Facebook I feel like I can't do that.
I recently found a route that will hopefully be the final solution - my family and I went on a vacation, and I realised I had to stop myself somehow from getting sucked into Facebook. So I set a time limit of 90 minutes, after which my phone shuts down Facebook. 90 minutes is a lot, but I was using it way more.
And surprisingly, it worked. The timer, as well as the vacation and the fun things we were doing there, resulted in me being fine with putting Facebook aside when I hit the limit, and sometimes not even reaching it at all.
I've given myself a rule that the limit must decrease over time, and must never increase, not even temporarily.
Yesterday I've decreased it to 85 minutes.
Here's hoping.

[Nicole_Noga]

I just went through and unfollowed a a bunch of accounts on Instagram. I feel like I have to scroll to the bottom of infinite scroll pages (or at least until I get to the last post I saw the last time I logged in), or else I'm failing at social media somehow? Recognizing that this is bananas but not something I can easily change about myself, I decided to unfollow folks to make that infinite scroll a little bit shorter.

[rrrosecarbinela]

You're still reaching the people and changing the minds. Only a lot more authentically

[Mallory-Malkovich]

I never understood why people seemed so excited that Twitter was the New Town Square. We stopped yelling things at each other in town squares _for a reason, _ because it's a crappy way to communicate with each other. Could we get a Salon in app form?

[chrisrus]

Yeah nah I've never used Twitter.

It's the name. I refuse to tweet.

[The_SOB_II]

I keep getting sucked into Twitter because it has so much variety that there's always a chance for novelty, but at the same time you have to look through so much shit to get something good. It's classic gambler bait. But yesterday I logged out and hopefully I won't use it again for a good while. Also it doesn't help that some interesting people that I like are on there and nowhere else that I know of

[taweja]

I quit both twitter and facebook at the beginning of the year. Sometimes I do miss the feeling of witnessing *the discourse*, but mostly I just feel better.

[quirkyblackenby]

I stopped using TikTok regularly because I kinda felt like it was a worse version of YouTube and I just didn’t feel like I was getting a lot from it. If I do use it I only stay on for a little while then I get off and sometimes delete the app.
YouTube will always be my favorite social media platform (if it’s considered that) because I feel like it grows with me more than other platforms can.