Is Twitter worth saving?

Are we headed for a permanent fail whale, or can Twitter be salvaged?

Twitter can be a hellscape filled with bots and vicious attacks by random people hiding in the anonymity of the Internet.

But it can also be a platform that allows people to be who they really are — coming out as LGBTQIA+ or as an atheist, expressing sincerely-held political beliefs without fear of being disowned by conservative family members or fired from their jobs in red states.

I honestly don’t know what my life would be like today if it weren’t for Twitter. For one thing, I would still be in the closet about being an atheist. I have three extended family members who work at churches and nearly all of the rest of my family moderately to very religious, including my wife. Being able to express myself and find other atheists online made me feel like I wasn’t the only “crazy” one out there. I found the courage to “come out” about being atheist to my wife and a few other people thanks to Twitter.

Growing up, I was an introverted, extremely shy person. I hated going to any type of social gathering and was too self-conscious to talk most of the time. Thanks to having an identity online that wasn’t linked to my irl name, I became more and more outgoing not just online, but in person too. I sometimes surprise relatives and friends now with jokes and stories because they knew me back when I just used to sit and not saying anything. On Twitter, and other platforms as “Eclectic”, you can’t shut me up sometimes. The interaction and reaction from people has made me feel more secure in my quirky sense of humor, and I now irl am often the one to start conversations instead of dreading them.

I also found my voice politically on Twitter. When I was an undergrad, I flirted with socialism before going towards the more “reasonable” Rachael Maddows of the world. I didn’t really know what a progressive was (or socialism, for that matter) until I started interacting — openly but anonymously — with other people.

As a public employee in a red state, my wife and I don’t feel comfortable with me doing things like calling for the end of capitalism under my real name. But thanks to my “family” online — most of whom I met on Twitter — I accept being more liberal than liberals, I have read and developed arguments countering mainstream media narratives, and have developed my political beliefs further so I again, in an informed way, can call myself a socialist.

So while I know about and have seen (and fortunately for me, only occasionally experienced personally) the vitriol on Twitter, I am a much happier, well-rounded person than I was before I was on Twitter. Despite all its negatives, there are good people and good interactions to be had on Twitter.

If I had to verify my identity, like on Facebook or some other platforms, most of that would never have happened. I wouldn’t be a part of the TYT community, which is like a family to me.

Some people say you shouldn’t have people hiding behind usernames. There are certainly people who are using anonymity to be more aggressive and hateful than they would be if their name was easily linked to their comments. Anecdotally, it seems like the more followers you have, the more likely you’ll come across people like that.

But there are also plenty of people who find strength in the ability to tweet what they actually think without the judgment of family, friends, community members, and employers.

With all that said, Twitter seems to be heading even more in the wrong direction than it already was, with reports of racism, antisemitism, and bullying going up since Musk took it over. I understand people wanting to leave Twitter, especially now that Musk owns it.

Go get him, Twitter bird!! (Image source: Reuters)

And I think I’m far enough along in my journey that even if I had to close my account or dramatically alter my online presence, I would still be completely fine. I’m not sure how much that would have been the case several years ago, and for some people the transition away from Twitter would be much more difficult.

But at the same time, when thinking about the possible end of Twitter, I think of all the other people who I have built relationships with on Twitter who I only know by their screenname. Some are heading over to Mastodon either for good or as a back up. But with over 2k followers on Twitter, how many am I going to find again or how many will find me again?

Is Twitter worth all the negatives? I know many would say no. And it remains to see just how bad things may get under Musk. But hopefully if you are in the 100% anti-Twitter camp, you can also realize that many people — including me — also use Twitter as a platform to build community and be themselves politically and philosophically.

So for now, I’m trying to ride out the storm. Hopefully there are enough good people to keep Twitter going and Musk doesn’t destroy the good that exists in Twitter as a platform. Hopefully we as users can keep it from turning into the imperfect but sometimes useful tool it is now, to becoming so toxic that people like me — who owe a lot to Twitter for the opportunity to grow — are forced to leave it for good.