As I have witnessed Katri Bertram’s brave advocacy campaign in recent weeks to quit X, now finalized in a hard-hitting blog, “It’s time to move on from X”, let me try to weigh in on this issue as we’re heading for the end of the year.
For the time being, I’ve taken a different decision, combining both ‘X’ and ‘Bluesky’ – though I’m still “tweeting” a lot more from X, for now.
I do subscribe to most of Katri’s
arguments on the ‘human rights’ issue & ‘toxic environment’ that X has
become, due to Musk, while being well aware that ‘X’ is for some even more toxic
(eg: women with a different colour) than for others. I’m less convinced it’s an issue of ‘followers’
though.
My own take:
-
I’m no fan of what Musk has done to this
platform. And I’m no fan of Musk in general, and a lot of what he stands for (by
way of example, I hate his views on trade unions, and his own company policies
in this respect). I also certainly
admit that ‘X’ has a lot more ‘noise’ than, say, a year ago – when for every 10
tweets on my feed, 1 or sometimes 2 were highly relevant.
-
Still, the same is true for, say, Jeff
Bezos & Michael O’Ryan, whom I hate to the same extent, while for these, I seem
to have far less of an issue to boycott their companies.
-
Personally, I consider, for the time being, ‘X’ as my
preferred social medium to get a sense of what’s going on in the world (including
all the ugliness, sadly), unfiltered, even trolled, with some conspiracy
theories, etc. Whereas ‘Bluesky’ feels a bit more like a ‘safe space’, at least
for now. Where I hope I can also (and increasingly?) get some good
content-related discussions, perhaps more with scientists (who don’t want to
spend time anymore on X, for a number of reasons, which is clearly their
right). Put differently, for the time
being, I’m (still) willing to put up with a certain amount of ‘toxicity ‘ on X.
As it still provides me with something I don’t get from Bluesky (or
alternatives). If only, for example, to see what we’re up against, as radical-right
wing parties are gaining momentum in many areas of the world.
-
Also, for all its flaws (and undeniable
increased toxicity), X is still the main ‘public platform’ where a big chunk of
the public conversation happens. Sadly, not like one year ago – I also miss the
moderating, as I’m well aware that what we have ‘won’ in terms of radical-right
vile voices, we have lost in terms of many others, who have left the platform.
-
Why do I think ‘X’ is still the main public
platform? Just two indicators: many leaders (eg.
Dr Tedros – who certainly has to put up with plenty of toxicity and trolls himself)
still use X to get their messages out, including to discuss with opponents, or tackle clear disinformation. And I have
noticed that even many of the ones in global health who have now ‘Bluesky’ or ‘Mastodon’
accounts, do use these accounts as well to spread some of their messages on X. If
that’s the case, they might have as well kept their X accounts too : )
Anyway, just some quick reflections to
kick off this week. I’m sure there’s a lot more to say. And as mentioned: the question
on which social media we are and/or remain, is a personal one. Everybody has to decide that for themselves.
