BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE

The decline of Twitter has really intrigued me, and it’s sort of bittersweet. I mean, I love seeing a rich jerk completely shit the bed, but dammit, I’ve been on Twitter since July 22, 2006. I’m user #2,873. This site has been a major part of my life, and now it’s just burning to the ground.

I mean, I know it hasn’t been great, and it hasn’t been a joy to use since 2016 and all that nonsense (ahem), but wow.

It’s not that I’m going to “miss everyone,” as I see the same people around Instagram or Facebook, and I text with some of them, and have phone calls with others.

Twitter was one of the most successful tools we’ve ever had to call truth to power. A barista on their smoke break could dunk on the President and get seen by millions.

In hindsight, the fact that it got dismantled in a week by the world’s richest man was its logical ending.

— Dan White (@atdanwhite) November 11, 2022

That idea (above) is what gets me. You can literally post something in the morning, and be on a late-night TV show later that evening.

Tweet something before you get on a plane, get fired before you land.

You could Tweet at a major musical idol, or movie star, and they might reply.

So there was a lot of tension on there. The ability to call truth to power, gather support, raise funds – big stuff.

It was all in one place, and now it might be gone.