If you asked me a year ago what I thought about Twitter, I would have ranted on and on about how much of a cesspool Twitter is and how impossible it was to even have conversations with people on the app.
Twitter was an angry place where people fought and said vile things to one another. Everything was political, views were extreme, trolls were rampant, but it was a good place to keep up with world events.
I personally started using Twitter heavily in 2016 to keep tabs on Trump, I had to know what he was tweeting. I understood that words mattered, even if my my family and friends thought that he was mostly harmless, I knew that words had the ability to affect change. And boy did he affect change!
Today Twitter is pretty much still the same, although under new management with Elon Musk, people are wondering if he’ll bring a different user experience to Twitter. Recent scandals and Twitters overreach in getting involved with personal vendetta’s lead many to think not.
Twitter isn’t all bad though, it’s a place where people form little communities and have in depth conversations though the Twitter Spaces feature. As with anything that exists in this world, these tools of communication can be used for good, bad, or ugly. I personally have met so many amazing people from all over the world and have had wonderful in depth conversations. I’m communicating with people who have all sorts of religious beliefs, human experiences and political ideologies. The conversations remain respectable because we choose to respect one another. That isn’t to say that trolls don’t pop in every now and again to be rude and make insults. It happens, but the app offers various ways of preventing further interaction with them.
I find that many people are grateful for Twitter Spaces and for the bonds they have fostered through the app. I think any social media platform will be what you make of it. It’s about who you choose to allow in your world, and the type of content you choose to absorb.
What makes Twitter an ugly place are the users who use it for manipulation. Journalists spread disinformation. Prominent figures use their inside connections to squash out anyone who criticizes them. Hell even the new #TwitBoss uses the platform to suppress anyone who pisses him off. I can’t get too excited about Elon releasing #TwitterFiles because even he is being selective about what he wants to release, it’s all just another attempt to control a narrative. The old adage, “don’t believe everything you read on the internet” still holds true. It’s important to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism and ask questions.
All in all, I’ve found that these days I enjoy Twitter more than Facebook or Instagram and maybe just a little more than TikTok! That’s only because of the people I get to communicate with on a daily basis. The user experience is what you make of it.
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AprilTapia
Feature image credit to @dreamjar (Twitter)
