Twitter had another bad night.
Elon Musk is a petulant and myopic jackass, and he is burning his $44 billion investment to the ground. But that’s not what this post is about.
I’m writing angry, because Twitter has been my home online for a lot of years and I’m now watching it die.
I’ve enjoyed Twitter for a few reasons, but a really big part of why I spent so much time there is because I was in control.
I spend time on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and many other websites, but I hate how they all insist on shoving content based on the recommendation algorithm.
Even music services like Spotify often feel like they really want to shove algorithmically generated playlists at you, rather than just giving you control.
Twitter always let you just follow people, and see all their latest posts, with no algorithm in the way.
I don’t know where the new spot is, but I know a lot of us are lost and in search of a new home. We are going to need to build when we find the new home.
I expect it’s going to be a lumpy few months while people figure out where to coalesce. It might be TikTok or it might be one of the Twitter clones, or it might be Substack.
Wherever it is, I’m going to need to rebuild my follower list, and you are too. The networks and social structures that have made Twitter work for me and a lot of other people, we are going to need to rebuild that.
Where do we organize protests?
On Twitter right now I follow 2,561 people.
That’s more people than I follow on Mastodon, Post.News, Instagram, TikTok and everywhere else put together.
Those 2,561 give me a mix of news, commentary, humour, social engagement, and exposure to even more people. I am constantly tweaking my follow list to cut out the cruft and add new perspectives to enrich my feed.
I also specifically follow a lot of local people, and use Twitter as my way to connect with people in Toronto. Maybe you can organize and promote a political protest through TikTok, but I don’t trust the algorithm to support righteous dissent.
So how do we connect with people to make things happen in the real world?
This is not a rhetorical question. Tell me how you connect with people to make things happen in the real world. My way was Twitter, and it is going away.
Do not just leave it to the algorithm. Take control.
The algorithm doesn’t work for you. It works for the company.
If what makes you happy or piques your interest is in conflict with how the platform makes money, the algorithm will work against you.
So, I am going to start resurrecting an old Twitter tradition: #FollowFriday
Here are a few things that I follow, which I enjoy and I think you might like too. Please share your own recommendations in the comments.
Brian McCullough makes the daily Techmeme Ride Home Podcast, which has contributed immensely to my understanding of the global tech sector.
https://www.ridehome.info/show/techmeme-ride-home/
I follow Dave Shellnut on Twitter and Instagram, and I’ve met him irl. He goes by @TheBikingLawyer and he is an advocate for cyclists in Toronto, which is an issue I care about. Follow good community organizers in your community.
On TikTok, Jim Behymer makes great videos about sandwiches. https://www.tiktok.com/@sandwichidiot
On YouTube, I enjoy Linus Tech Tips a lot:
https://www.youtube.com/@LinusTechTips
Please send me the things that you like on the internet. If I like them too, I’ll share them on a Friday in the future.
And just in general, let’s revive #FollowFriday wherever we spend time online.
Let’s share and subscribe to good things, and not just accept whatever the algorithm sends us.
We've gotta start doing #FollowFriday again at the new spot
Hi James. I really used to enjoy #FollowFridays, it would be nice to carry on the tradition in some way. It does make me wonder about each person's permanent digital identifier that they carry with them wherever they go on the Web. Right not we basically have two: email address or phone number, these are the two universal pieces of online identity that I can think of to track people as they move between platforms.
I deleted my Twitter account on Nov. 3 after 15 years, expecting the worst, and so far the worst seems to be dominating what's happening.
Posting this now to encourage myself to respond with some worthwhile follows and people I've found/learned from through Twitter and everywhere else.