A couple of weeks ago I deleted my Twitter account. I don’t mean that I just deleted the app from my phone. I mean I deactivated my entire account. Almost a decade’s worth of interactions and postings, all gone. I don’t feel an ounce of regret because the guy who owns it, whose actual name I don’t even want to appear on my website so I’ll refer to him as Elongated Muskrat, is a piece of shit.
Not only did it become a cesspool of toxic interactions and bigotry, amplified by his own toxicity and ignorance, but I believe they recently changed their terms of service to allow all the artwork posted there to be used to train generative A.I. programs. Might want to check that out for yourself and not just take my word for it, but it would certainly explain the mass exodus from Twitter these past few days.
Where did everyone go? They went where I and many others escaped to. I’ve been on Bluesky for a few months now and it feels like an oasis reminiscent not only of old Twitter, but in some ways the old internet.
For one thing, there’s no social media algorithm, which by itself is reason for me to adore it. I’ve raged for years against the social media algorithm, and Bluesky doesn’t have it. For the first time in years I actually reached the end of my chat scroll and I’d legitimately forgotten what that felt like. I was sold immediately.
The other aspect people have really enjoyed is the “nuclear block” option. Unlike Twitter, which also recently changed its Block function to be utterly useless, Bluesky erases all mentions and interactions of unwanted accounts from your feed. And Bluesky users have been advocating to make generous use of it. With no algorithm to feed off negativity in the name of “engagement” there’s no reason to tolerate that sort of toxic behavior. It’s really, really nice.
But you have to put the work in to get the experience you want. Because there’s no algorithm there’s no point in just broadcasting your posts and expecting people to find you. You have to join conversations or groups/lists, and make yourself known to those around you. Most folks have been welcoming and eager to chat as a result, so long as you’re polite.
Will it change in the future once big name brands and advertisers take notice and move in? Probably. They’ve ruined everything I loved about the internet of my youth and there’s nothing that says they won’t muscle their way in and do it again. But in the meantime, we might as well enjoy ourselves in a space where the skies are still blue.