With all the latest developments this feels like the right time to say goodbye to Twitter - a platform that I never really embraced anyway.
Twitter has always been a strange platform to me. The whole mess with Elon Musk taking over control is just the nail in the coffin.
A couple of former colleagues back in the days tried to convince me to join because “that’s the place where you can really learn something new”. That promise never really materialized for me though.
Sure, I followed some people on Twitter that provided interesting insights into the technology world and share some of their wisdom and of course there were a couple of satire accounts that made me smile once in a while with an image or a pun but basically that was it.
I tried posting tweeting myself a couple of times, mostly to promote talks at conferences I was about to give - but except the occasional upvote there was nothing that I felt resembled feedback or an opportunity to get into a deeper exchange of ideas.
However, the biggest issue I have with Twitter at the moment is the simple fact that Twitter isn’t a place that inspires me to learn or that makes me want to get into contact with anyone. Actually, Twitter is a place that’s weighing me down. It’s a place where people shout at each other, where people insist on others being wrong and complaining how bad the world has become.
I don’t really care if the people complaining are right or wrong. I care about the fact that after having scrolled through my Twitter feed for a couple of minutes I really start to feel angry. Angry at “those idiots”, angry at the way the conversation is being conducted and angry at myself for coming back again and again.
It’s not a place that makes me feel good - and why should I keep coming back to a place that doesn’t make me feel good?
So today I deleted my account, removed the app from my phone and put the experience behind me. It didn’t even hurt.
Goodbye Twitter and good luck for the future!