Abandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
1/ Nobody likes to lose their followers, having to find the folks they followed, or have to learn new systems and procedures for doing something they were already doing. Even with a kind community like the folks here it's frustrating to have to reconfigure and rebuild, as I'm sure it must be to work endlessly to support new people on your servers.
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022

2/ But the hate machine Twitter has become is just too much. Every time I go back on I'm sorry I did, and upset that it is becoming a right wing mob harassment mechanism with the outright endorsement of its new owner. It seems certain to promote and organize real world violence, and with Musk at the helm there's not much anyone can do.

I locked my account, and am done posting there for the time being. I am glad to have Mastodon but it does sting.

Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022

3/ I've rewritten this a bunch of times and wanted to have some coherent resolution to offer. "Isn't it great we have somewhere else to go! It's so much better here!"

And you know, that's true. But it still hurts my heart to see it play out like this. The new owner opening the floodgates to the worst people on the second largest social media platform and encouraging their bigotry and threats is a bigger nightmare than I think people have processed yet.

Show threadAbandoned America

4/ Twitter going offline/out of business is the best case scenario now because the longer it goes on like this the more damage it will do.

I hate it. Even if I never used it again, I never would have wanted to see it work out like this. And I am so, so grateful for the folks here who are working so hard to make it easier.

Yet it still aches. It's watching a community gathering place not even burn but become a frat for bigots. Good to have somewhere else to go. But you still need to mourn.

Nov 23, 2022 at 5:19amMastodon for Android
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022

5/ The old thing I loved is dying and there isn't a replacement. Mastodon isn't Twitter. It doesn't want to be, can't be, and shouldn't be. It can't replace it because it's not the same thing. I do believe I will keep finding things to love about Mastodon as time goes on and I get to know the community better here. I see a lot to like already and I'm glad it is its own entity and not a halfhearted clone.

But I do miss my Old Thing sometimes. The one that's dying. I wish it didn't end like this.

Show threadJohn BrownlowNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica tbh Twitter had been heading for a brick wall for a long time. We were all drinking in the last chance saloon. Things change... it's OK. Nostalgia is corrosive IMO. I suspect the things we liked about it were also basically the things that destroyed it.
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@thejohnbrownlow my entire body of work is saying goodbye to things. It's a necessary part of moving forward. I can't speak for other people but the parts of Twitter I liked were just fine - delightful even, though sometimes mixed with melancholy - and I don't feel a need to tell myself otherwise to heal. This sounds like I mean it in a pissy way and I don't but if you can go on without looking back I am sincerely happy for you. I am. But sometimes other people need time and space to process it
Show threadJohn BrownlowNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica sure, I guess we all process it differently and probably experienced it differently too. I personally wasted too much of my life there grinding my teeth about things I couldn't possibly change. I'm not at all sure the good outweighed the bad for me, so I guess I am pretty happy to move forward. The comment wasn't really directed at you so much as musing out loud. My (photo) work has all been about accepting change and chaos so maybe it all makes sense somehow.
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@thejohnbrownlow I understand, and it's fair that you had that reaction. I get that. I found a lot of really nice people, learned a ton, and laughed a lot and that's the part I miss. Here's hoping that the future holds more of that in store
Show threadc.reider Nov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica yeah it hurts.
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@c_reider ❤️❤️ at least you're not alone in feeling it
Show threadc.reider Nov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica it’s horrible. I had hoped to maybe hang onto my account, use it for occasional things, but the way he’s shifting it to specifically be a hate-site, I just can’t be a content-provider / ad viewer for a site like that.
I’m coming to terms with it, but it sucks so much
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@c_reider boy, every word of that sums up my own feelings too. I still am figuring out how I want to handle the break up but posting content is definitely not part of the plan any more.
Show threadACAB for Cutie Nov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica
This is a very familiar sentiment :(
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@CassOfDunshire sorry for your loss there too. May you find new things to make you happy ahead
Show threadJimmy 🧙🏼‍♂️Nov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica thanks for this. 😔
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@jimmybh you bet. Sorry you're feeling it too ❤️
Show threadcobalt going beige todayNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica replying with a short letter back to you on my TL. Hope you can find it!
Show threadCrystalisreading (She/her)Nov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica we are definitely allowed to grieve for the looming loss of communities we valued. And a successful way to promote your work. And a place where marginalized people found resources and community. So much grief, all so a selfish little man could have a platform for hate and silence people who mocked him. 😫
Show threadJon RodmanNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica The bird site we knew and loved is gone, this one only replaces part of it, let's hope it grows into a new version with its own features over time.
Show threadOlavNov 23, 2022

@AbandonedAmerica I was one of the first people on Google+ and one of the last people on Google+. The photog community there was special, but when the clock ran out a lot of people got blown to the wind.

Hopefully we can minimize that this time.

Show threadMarie WalshNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica
I really am trying to understand & like Mastodon ..by reminding myself that it's ONLY being a couple of Days...
But I miss my Old Familiar Twitter..
Show threadJens <3Nov 23, 2022

@AbandonedAmerica plus not to make a meal of it, I am sure for you twitter was also part of your income which Mastodon isn't really made to be.

Thats a part of it that I think is often lost - twitter was a critical way for a lot of people to among other things pay their bills. Or do marketing for their projects.

Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@ohyran yep. And this is happening just when I'm at a point where it's kind of mission critical to be able to promote work. Twitter was always a distant second to Facebook in that regard but... still sucks. Sucks for all.
Show threadPrinceNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica I remember what we lost when Facebook, Twitter, and the like took over. Transitions are hard, but it might not be terrible that we get to go back to something closer to what existed before the Facebook/Twitter era.
Show threadArclightNov 23, 2022

@AbandonedAmerica If only I could hug a thread...

This, all of this.

Show threadDreaNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica Mastodon isn’t Twitter but as more people are joining, it’s feeling more like what I WANTED Twitter to be - a place to exchange ideas and information on topics which I’m interested. A place to share my own thoughts and build a small community of similarly-valued people, or find people to whom I can relate. The problem with Twitter and other social media has always been that we were the product, the means to make someone else rich.
Show threadDreaNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica I’ve hoped for a long time that Mastodon would take off and disrupt that dynamic and I think that could now happen. But people have to be willing to PAY for it, literally. I always said I’d be fine chipping in some $ if it meant a corporation wasn’t in control of my social media experience. Well, this is it.
Show threadDreaNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica the only thing I miss right now from Twitter is “breaking news” kind of stuff. I really relied on Twitter for that, especially local things. I’m hoping some of that starts coming to Mastodon as well. My hope is major news outlets set up their own instances which I would think would benefit them too, as they wouldn’t be subject to corporate whims and algorithms they don’t control.
Show thread81HorseNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica Twitter was a well-lit environment with lots of familiar landmarks. I mostly avoided the ugly parts, and spent a big part of every day there plugged into the zeitgeist. Mastodon is different. Generally kinder, but (so far) less engaging. I’m not feeling the connections. There is a *reason* many of us had dormant Mastodon accounts from previous look-sees.
Show threadGideon ZhiNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica It sucks bad, yeah. None of the "replacements" feel like they manage to fulfill the function either.
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@gideonzhi well, I mean, weird analogy but it's like when a animal buddy dies. You can't just get another one and expect it to be the one you lost. You have to learn to love the new one for who it is. Nothing can replace Twitter because this isn't Twitter and doesn't want to be and couldn't if it did. But I hope as the sorrow over what is happening subsides I'll continue to find reasons to love Mastodon for its own merits and not as a replacement
Show threadRain 💜🖤🤍Nov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica I think you've perfectly encapsulated how I felt about it today. I locked my two accounts earlier this evening as well. I just can't be there anymore.
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@rainspirit11 I'm sorry, I think it was the best decision but that doesn't make it an easy one ❤️
Show threadzakyfarmsNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica I’m hanging onto my Twitter account for now. Honestly my Twitter experience hasn’t changed much, maybe because I use Tweetbot so all I get is the tweets of folks I follow in chronological order, algorithm-free and ad-free. I’m ready to drop it when that changes, and I do enjoy it here.
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@zakyfarms I get that. I just don't feel staying there and duking it out with neverending hordes of malevolent trolls is who I am or how I want to spend my time. And I don't want to contribute to Elon's success by using my content there, even if my posts are only a small part of the Twitter whole.
Show threadJamieGCNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica still seeing major corporations post ads over there. They are helping make it a more awful place, and need to hear about it.
Show threadMichaelNov 23, 2022

@AbandonedAmerica best thing would be if Twitter sinks so much that Elong has to go bankrupt and sell it, or have his creditors take it from him, in order to try to save Tesla.
And then boot the fucking nazis, blast them into space like his roadster.

After 14 years as an active daily user, I left. I can't be part of the metrics that help him survive and ruin it.

Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022

@alpha1beta I agree completely. But even if he gets booted the damage will be done. A lot of people are never going to come back or trust it again and if something like this can happen that's entirely valid. The God King system is just not trustworthy.

I don't want to help his metrics either. What it is now needs to fail. The longer it goes on the more harm it will do

Show threadMichaelNov 23, 2022

@AbandonedAmerica a lot of damage but I think under new same ownership a lot of us would go back. The trust would take longer to repair but I actually believe it's good that's is broken. People should know that any system like this is out of their control.

My biggest fear is that not enough people will leave and normal, apolitical people will be slowly radicalized by the creeping fascism - basically condencing the Fox news style evolution from conversative to bat shit to a couple of years.

Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@alpha1beta that is indeed a concern. As is the platform's use for targeted harassment/violence campaigns. It has very quickly started resembling kiwifarms and we all know how well that works out for anyone who falls into their crosshairs
Show threadMichaelNov 23, 2022

@AbandonedAmerica exactly, and completely expected by anyone who's been paying attention, and quite frankly, it seems it's his plan. In the court evidence, there's text messages, but only one two messages where the sender name is redacted. It lays out a plan to destroy Twitter and turn it into an alt-right utopia, with clout. And it seems to be the playbook he's following.

https://nitter.net/oneunderscore__/status/1594136044911448064#m

Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__)

Texts from an unknown sender, from discovery in the Elon Musk/Twitter suit.

Nitter
Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@alpha1beta yep. May it be a very costly failure for him in the end
Show threadtaafyNov 23, 2022
@AbandonedAmerica totally agree. For all it's faults, it was a worthwhile community
Show threadshockwaverNov 23, 2022

@AbandonedAmerica A lot of people have a lot of callous disregard for the pain of losing a community.

Lots of us have seen lots of communities (especially online) we care about die - and no matter how hard you try people you care about get lost in the shuffle. There are people who meant the world to me, people whose presence literally saved my life - who are gone from my life forever because where we talked disappeared. That hurts. And watching it happen to Twitter hurts deeply.

Show threadAbandoned AmericaNov 23, 2022
@shockwaver yes exactly. You're not losing the platform itself, you're losing the people you connected to there that you now are no longer able to communicate and share a space with
Show threadRocketroomNov 23, 2022

@AbandonedAmerica @shockwaver I hear you both. It is very sad. This is why Open Source projects like this exist. I have felt this same loss not only with the loss of communities, but also with software that I loved and relied on. Tools essential to my art, and business.

What's clear to me is that corporations, no matter what can't be relied on. They are obliged by their share holders to put profit above people and community.

Turns out the community has power too. ヅ