Twitter (X) has become so bad now that it feels almost impossible to cope with. Every visit is an anger inducing thread of negativity, even if you only follow decent people, and it is nothing like what it was only a couple of years ago. Knowing that it is owned by someone who appeared to use it for political gain does not help and so I have cut back on my use of it to a large degree.

More and more people I know are leaving and account I follow, James O’brien and the Guardian to name just two, are slowly stepping away so now seems like the right time to give it up completely. I joined in March 2007 and for most of that time found it to be hugely enjoyable, but the new First Lady (Elonia) ruined it for the rest of us.

Threads is better than Twitter (X), but I have noticed a very poor algorithm that rewards people for posting certain things. ‘I am cancer free’, ‘Why is iPhone better than Android?’ etc etc will get you more comments and these simple phrases change every month or so to the point that you end up wading through repetitive nonsense to find useful content. I will stick with it because it is non-offensive, but the manipulation is more than obvious. Only web use for me- the shocking amount of data the app requires access to is scary!

Instagram is not too bad for a quick scroll through, which becomes a long scroll, but it had never been more than a few minutes a week for me.

Facebook has also lost a lot of its appeal to me. Scam adverts, half stories that tempt you to click to go to some terrible news site, repetitive joke comments and so on. Some content is worthwhile, Tom Munch for example and some other friends, but overall it has become a less than pleasing place to reside. I only use it via the web because the app is a monster for battery and privacy, and even then only for about 5 minutes a week.

TikTok- too scared to allow the privacy demands it needs.

I am starting to believe that social networks as we know them today could be a decade and a half thing. They are becoming too dangerous, too negative and too influential to the wrong people which all goes to make the rest of us not enjoy the experience any more.

Maybe it is time for the ‘normal’ people to just stay away and enjoy our lives…

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