Twitter is Worse Than You Remember

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I have a history of investigating things, finding out what they’re all about, and then deciding for myself if I feel like there’s anything worthwhile in it, or if it’s complete garbage all-around. For example, my experimentation with AI: local AI, VAL3R1E, and my millions of weird little videos. That aside, it had been years since I really interacted with Twitter/X at all, and recently I’ve been seeing dissatisfied Bluesky users hollering, “I’m going back to Twitter!” And I’m not even talking about the chuds who decided that the entire app blocking them sucks. I’m talking, regular normal people. Marginalized people … deciding to go back to Twitter?

So, what does one do? Investigate.

I’ve spent most of the year so far posting on Twitter/X casually (because most of my attention is in the Fediverse and ATProtocol). Jumping into conversations about games, calling incels “stupid”, following tens of dev studio accounts, and receiving next to no reciprocal follows, or any following whatsoever. And that’s with the eleven dollars I put into a verified subscription, just to see if it actually did anything.

It doesn’t.

I mean, it puts your replies near the top of someone’s post or thread, but that’s virtually useless, because …

The app is filled with neo nazis, fascists, incels, and pedophiles. This was true four years ago, and it’s still true now.

Obviously, I didn’t keep screenshots of any of this. I’d rather not. But you don’t need screenshots to know that this is the case.

When Elon Musk took over, he de-shadowbanned all of the worst people who weren’t being recommended to everyone else, and decided to shove them into the “For You” timeline, forever. So, on a regular day, you’ll see gaming takes, some anime, maybe content from people you actually follow, and then random dudes who’ve never been laid blaming women for all of their problems, men constantly speaking about how India is responsible for all of the issues in the job market and tech world (see: racism), and other dudes just straight up spamming the n-word and constant nazi paraphernalia.

Get ready for seventeen different accounts asking you to “Define fascism.”

You can block them, and mute them for days, but you’ll just keep seeing more, and more, no matter what you do.

And that’s partially because X-Corp, or whatever they’re called right now, are injecting fake accounts into the feed. AI-controlled accounts that fill in the gaps where there used to be people. It’s everywhere. And you won’t spot them immediately, until you see five accounts saying the exact same thing to someone.

This is not an exaggeration, or hyperbole. There are bot accounts replacing empty space where active users once were.

But what about that eleven bucks!? Boosted replies? A chance to take money away from Elon Musk and pocket it for yourself?

No.

Unless you’re a complete sociopath who can and is willing to lie, embellish, manipulate, and engagement bait with false information and outrageous statements all day long, every day, this is something that will never happen for you. Which is kind of the way TikTok works, except crank it up to the extremes.

So why in the world would marginalized people who are fed up with Bluesky decide to return to this, rather than test the waters on the Fediverse?

I honestly can’t tell you.

Complacency? Apathy? Ignorance?

Whatever it is: I did the research and investigation for you, so that you don’t have to. Twitter/X used to be a place where people yelled at each other constantly, because the algorithm kept showing people things they disagreed with, and now it’s worse than its ever been before and is liable to lead you into a state of psychosis.

If you care about your mental wellbeing, do not return to Twitter. If you can’t take Bluesky, and you’re too stubborn for the Fediverse, just … make a website, or take a break. Walk away for a few days, a week. But stay away from Ravenholm.