While it is probably too far to say Twitter is important to me, I can say I have found and followed many internet acquaintances through their tweets.
Some of these pals I found from their blogs showcasing then-new links to their Twitter feed. Others I found through the web Twitter wove among those users’ follows and followers.
Over time, Twitter moved from hilarious quips recorded on Favrd (and the spinoff Favstar, which somehow warrants its own Wikipedia entry) to the potential “free-for-all hellscape” it has become under current billionaire owner Elon Musk ownership.[1]
To my memory, Twitter (née twttr) was the first social network. Again, without looking anything up (and with the possible exception of MySpace),[2] Facebook and Instagram et al followed in its wake.
The character limits were refreshing relative to blogs and posts. If you couldn’t say it in 140 characters, you just couldn’t say it. This lead to a resurgence in pithy humor and the art of the one-liner. Though I have many faves, I think my favorite of all time was a tweet by Daring Fireball’s John Gruber.
“I don’t gamble. I don’t drink. My one vice is buying a new iPhone every summer. Well, that and lying about drinking and gambling.” —John Gruber
How far Twitter has fallen since those idyllic days.
On Oct. 28, Musk reassured users.
“Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.” —Elon Musk
On Nov. 19, Twitter’s new Supreme Leader took a hard Right after posting a Twitter poll to “allow the people to decide.”
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei.” —Elon Musk
Because saying something in Latin makes him sound smart and official. Right? Wrong! Case in point…
Totum diem Latine loqui possum gratias Google Translate.
Being a billionaire doesn’t necessarily make you smart. It sometimes means a person was born into wealth and fell upward thanks to help from their family and dumb luck.
As quoted in the Washington Post, the NAACP summed the current situation nicely.
“In Elon Musk’s Twittersphere, you can incite an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which led to the deaths of multiple people, and still be allowed to spew hate speech and violent conspiracies on his platform,” it said in a statement. “If Elon Musk continues to run Twitter like this, using garbage polls that do not represent the American people and the needs of our democracy, God help us all.”
Indeed.