I used to really like Twitter - I was in a writing group, I engaged with authors I admired, and I was in a F1 group. I also used it for news and F1 live results...one by one everyone left. I feel I've gotten in the dead internet theory, with me the last person still there. The last reasonable person.
I seem to be surrounded by angry racists, horrible transphobic or homophobic people - or some other shockingly offensive person that I would never engage with in real life.
The final straw for me might be last night's outrage over....wait for it...fairy lights. This woman is trying to rouse outrage over houses festooned in fairy lights. The reason? Because they aren't Christmas lights, they've been put up for Diwali.
It's not a Nazi flag. It's not even a protest. It's the same as putting them up for a birthday party or Christmas. You're just putting them up to celebrate. It's nice for everyone to look at (except the racists, apparently).
It is the most nonsensical thing to get upset about. It's ugly and it makes Australians look stupid. Can we leave that to other countries that are revelling in their xenophobia and racism, thanks...let's not import other countries problems.
I shut off the app feeling worse than when I logged on. It is a sign that perhaps it's time to go. My small cheery corner of that platform gets swamped by the stupid and the ugly. And the not true. So it's harder and harder to see the point.
Simu Liu put up a post awhile back that the algorithm is not real. Don't pay attention to those extremes. Talk to real people - your friends, family, the people around you. That's what people really think. It's a good reminder.
What no longer serves you, let it go.
I will wait until the end of the F1 season and decide....
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