I previously said we needed Twitter/X now more than ever, that Twitter/X is not dead, and everyone who predicted that was wrong. Of course every time we say things like this we get some angry emails and replies by people who rage quit Twitter because some deeply biased, untrustworthy media told them to or so-called “experts” said it’s not a “safe space” (as if you’re a little child and need to be told where to participate online).
Anyway, it’s great to see John Gruber from Daring Fireball post basically the same thing I’ve been saying for years, in X Once Again Marks the Spot:
You may not like it that X has re-found its footing under Elon Musk’s ownership, but it has. I’m citing Apple executives here but they’re far from alone. There are hundreds of interesting people and accounts I follow that post on X very regularly and do not post anywhere else at all…
The culture on X today is remarkably friendly and inclusive. It is a cheerful place. That cheerfulness is another differentiator. If you believe the world is falling apart and doomed only to get worse, that our obvious and real problems cannot be surmounted, X is not the platform for you. If you think the world is full of fun and amazing people and things, that humanity’s defining feature is our collective ability to solve any problem, that the only time better to be alive than today is tomorrow, it might be.
If you have stayed away, or even just mostly away, from X for years and then come back, people just say things like “Hey, glad you’re back!” On the other networks, especially Mastodon, they tell you you’re “feeding Nazis” — by going to the platform where Tim Cook posts Pikachu videos. These people have either lost their minds or refuse to check their prior assumptions. (Most of the ones who chime in about it publicly are the lost-their-minds types.)
Many posts on this blog are actually in a way, about these precise types of people who have also lost their minds a bit. We’re trying to get everyone back to a sane place in the middle, with rational thought and less emotional responses to everything. I think it’s working as we see normal liberal media types like Gruber post stories like this. People are honestly tired of living in a looney tunes world.
Even far left influencer Taylor Lorenz says Twitter/X is back which really puts a hole in the entire “it’s only conservatives there.” Zuck is posting AI announcements. Jensen Huang is sharing thoughts on the future of work. TBPN built and sold a 9-figure daily tech show basically off the back of the Twitter algo. Startups are acquiring new users and spreading memes. People from all across the political spectrum engage with my ideas daily, and many of them are very intelligent and high quality.
There’s just a ton of upside to be part of that community: I’ve personally gotten new business from it many times, professional opportunities, new friendships and coffee with interesting people I otherwise wouldn’t have met. It's a bit rough around the edges but it's always been that way, that’s not new, the authenticity and realness is actually what makes it compelling. Those of us who have been posting to the internet since the early days appreciate this. There’s just not that many places like Twitter left that feel like a proper forum and actually alive.
I want to come back to the point that all the people who declared it "dead" were wrong. Many will of course continue to say this, and not admit it’s still an important starting point of culture and conversations. I’ve seen very few of these folk admit they were wrong, because they’re the types incapable of doing that (actually something I respect when I see it). But the site is not only more important than ever from a culture perspective, but also has peak user numbers, as Nikita is the best in the business at social growth and has spent time helping turn the ship around. Just two cool features they launched under his leadership are a country location feature, so you can easily see if an account is a spammer from a far-off place, and Community Notes, where if someone posts false information the community corrects them. Both greatly improve the information fidelity from users you don’t know. No other major social network has rolled these features, but they should.
Also, a lot of people say “X is toxic” but I use it all the time and it’s not more or less toxic than Facebook, Instagram or any other social product. I actually find LinkedIn far more distasteful simply because it has so much AI spam and people pitching me useless products and services, which is more annoying than anything I see on Twitter. I also don’t think some people really are cut out for a raw internet forum like Twitter is, perhaps private group chats are better for them. Maybe they “put up” with it during the Jack days because the algo leaned left and so catered to their preferences. But now, at least to me, their team has done a great job and the algo presents a more balanced view of the world and provides many perspectives. I always find it the most compelling place online other than Substack (because, well, long form is still best). Also interestingly, I find it the place most willing to defend the Jewish people, so always feel a bit gaslit when I see people proclaim it’s somehow the “Nazi” site. Ironically, these same people post on another website that is zealously supportive of and march alongside (much larger) modern groups who are actively antisemitic and would actually align with the Nazis. As a Jew I’m used to being gaslit on these things of course, and am acutely aware of the moral inversion of modernity as I’m subjected to it daily.
Anyway, make sure you follow me on Twitter/X here if you don’t already.
I left mainly because the algo was too addictive
Quoting Taylor Lorenz though not a single statistical citation regarding growth claims.