Seth MasketDec 30, 2022
Over at the @denverpost, I have a piece up eulogizing not Twitter, but the intellectual community that Twitter once hosted. The piece is currently paywalled but here's a brief summary (1/4):
https://www.denverpost.com/2022/12/29/why-leave-twitter-seth-masket-rip-twitter/
Opinion: RIP Twitter’s intellectual community

I left Twitter in early November, shortly after Elon Musk endorsed a party right before an election and promoted conspiracy theories about the attack on Paul Pelosi.

The Denver Post
Show threadSeth MasketDec 30, 2022
One of my frustrations with political science when I first started was that we and political reporters and political practitioners were talking past each other. I got involved in blogging in part to address that, and later Twitter helped build a community where we were in contact with each other. Sometimes we agreed, sometimes we sniped, but at its best, that community taught us to speak to and learn from each other. (2/4)
Show threadSeth Masket

That community helped me personally, as well, introducing me to friends and raising my professional profile in a way that otherwise could not have happened.

Now, it's easy to romanticize that community, but of course it had problems, including bullying, intense hierarchies, rough treatment of members of marginalized communities, and more. I believe it had been improving in recent years, but Elon Musk has reversed that. (3/4)

Dec 30, 2022 at 5:46pmWeb
Show threadSeth MasketDec 30, 2022
Through his interventions, Musk has managed to kill that intellectual community. Thousands or even millions of conversations are not happening now as a result. It's possible that that community will be able to rebuild elsewhere, but it really hasn't happened yet, and it will take some time. The world can change quickly, but it's easier to destroy than build. (4/4)
Show threadJesseDec 30, 2022
@smotus n=1, and I'm hardly an academic, but I'm having more intellectual conversations here than I had there in years. At least for me, the net effect was positive. But I understand that specific expert networks that were actively conversing are a real loss.
Show threadDuncan Bell 無為Dec 30, 2022

@smotus There are the kids who build big, beautiful snowmen.
There are then kids who see that, get inspired and build an even better snowman.
Then there are the kids who see these beautiful snowmen, get hot with jealous rage and smash them down.

Those destroyers of things are happy destroying, but they are even HAPPIER if they can see the builders suffer while they destroy.

Show threadMartin Vermeer (not Jesus)Jan 1, 2023
@duncanbell @smotus Yep. 'The cruelty is the point'.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/
The Cruelty Is the Point

President Trump and his supporters find community by rejoicing in the suffering of those they hate and fear.

The Atlantic
Show threadMaria BustillosJan 1, 2023

@smotus

Maybe we can build something far better, and better-protected, and it might happen faster than you think.... the ad-free, algorithm-free vibe here is far more conducive to real conversation imo.

I think it is great that you and so many other leading Twitterers are here.

Serious question, how long did it take you to gather 4.4K followers on Twitter??

Show threadSeth MasketJan 1, 2023
@maria I've only been on here since early November.
Show threadMaria BustillosJan 1, 2023

@smotus

That is AWESOME.

Show threadWalt BaldwinJan 1, 2023
@smotus i think we have come a long way preserving the #EnergyTwitter community at mastodon.energy. why not set up a political science mastodon instance and provide a lifeboat for your community?
Show threadSusanKnieriemenJan 2, 2023

@smotus

The GOP discovered that under Reagan. They’ve only doubled down since then.