It’s been a rough month so far.
I’d wanted to start writing more, but results from the latest election cycle was simply a gut punch and I couldn’t handle putting any words on paper (so to speak). We always seem to devolve during the politics, and I cannot understand how people continue to choose hate. It’s made me lose my faith in what I thought we were, and I don’t want to be here anymore.
Passport renewal in process.
In the meantime, I’ve been taking a long, hard look at the socials, and wondering if I should leave them be or burn everything down to the ground. I’ve been on Twitter since early 2007 and now I can’t bear wading into the cesspool to try to find my friends. 62.2K posts to date. Damn. That’s a lot of tweeting over 17 years. But somewhere we lost the joy. I’ve posted very little in the last few years and I really don’t want to continue to fight the algorithm and sidestep the trolls, but I hadn’t been sure if I was ready to close down everything and remove myself completely. It’s just so… final, you know? Until someone hacks my account and then raises hell, of course. I guess I’ll try to minimize risk and move on, because there’s almost nothing left of what was once a very good time with a great community.
Many people I’ve followed for years are leaving the platform for safer waters. I don’t disagree. Brad Frost recently wrote about his decision to leave Twitter, and his summation of the other networks makes me laugh so I’m sharing it with you:
- Threads seems to carry the meme-y, funny spirit of Twitter, and it feels more entertaining than Mastodon.
- Bluesky has quite a few of my friends, and people have been saying good things. I joined a while ago, and am going to jump back in.
- Mastodon is the technical curmudgeon of the bunch. I appreciate the practical knowledge sharing, but it doesn’t seem to capture the friendly side of things
- LinkedIn is like going out to after-work event with co-workers you don’t know all that well. You can have some decent conversations but certain topics are off limits. You can’t make fart jokes. That said, it’s a great place for sharing links and perspectives.
I’ve had a Bluesky account for some time but haven’t used it since the community wasn’t there. But it’s a different matter now that people are leaving Twitter in droves and it’s interesting to watch the incoming wave of newcomers surge the beach. Almost like Twitter back in the day. I’ve tried Threads and Mastodon, but they just didn’t have the spark. Maybe this is the one that will work for me and reignite the online community that I miss so much. I’m going to be a bit more mindful of curating lists this time but, fingers crossed, it’s the beginning of something good.
So find me out there if you’re so inclined. Say hi. Let’s kick the tires and get to know each other again. I used to be good at social media and, while I may be a bit out of practice, I’m willing to give it another shot. I’m Robin2go almost everywhere — Bluesky, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, Mastodon (except Spotify and Skype, where I’m rocking Robin2gogo) — and of course, I’ll still be trying to write here on the site. But for me, tweets are a thing of the past. It’s all blue skies from here on in.
Thank you, next.
