All social media platforms subtly, and not-so-subtly, have personality warping effects. But none are as bad as this one. The more time spent on X, the more aggressive, paranoid, and reactive you become.
And increasingly, I don't see the point in using the platform anymore.
- All social media platforms subtly, and not-so-subtly, have personality warping effects. But none are as bad as this one. The more time spent on X, the more aggressive, paranoid, and reactive you become. And increasingly, I don't see the point in using the platform anymore.
It's a shame, because I like that X – unlike Instagram, or TikTok – is fundamentally about writing. It was especially helpful in breaking the bad habits of university writing (why use one clause, when you can use fifteen?). Using Twitter made me think seriously about brevity.But the negatives far outweigh any remaining positives. People have such extreme reactions to things they don't like or disagree with; you've got no idea if the account dousing you with abuse is even a human; the permanent mode of interaction is to tear things down.Worst of all, it's just not fun anymore. I've already been dialling back my use of X, and I'll continue to wind it down. I'll be posting/interacting a lot less. And if you see me doing the opposite, it's probably because I'm emotionally dysregulated – tell me to log off!In short: it's time to stop huffing glue.
Seeing as you suddenly like brevity…this post can be condensed to: ‘Me and Aaron are trying our level best to slither away from the hard left and reinvent ourselves as mainstream visitors to the late night sofas on TV, and this shitty app has too many receipts’ We’re winning