Joe Sondow 

First my Twitter bots that use polls got suspended. No indication why.

Then my Twitter bots with less than 20,000 followers got suspended. No indication why.

Then tonight, just now, my personal account @JoeSondow got suspended. No indication why. I appealed, they emailed to say it was reinstated, then it got suspended again 5 minutes later.

My three most popular active bots are still running for now.

I guess I'll be leaving Twitter sooner than later.

Apr 25, 2023 at 9:36amWeb
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
I did it. I turned off all remaining Twitter automation, and announced from my last active accounts that they're done on Twitter and moving to Mastodon. That's @StarTrekHour @EmojiAquarium @PicardTips and @RikerGoogling. My other recently active accounts @JoeSondow @EmojiMeadow @TinyPettingZoo @EmojiPrincesses @EmojiTetra @EmojiSnakeGame @EmojiTetraFast all got permanently suspended recently, without explanation. I can only speculate the reason relates to Twitter automation.
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
It feels like a loss after 10 years building community there, and being a guy known for making lots of cute fun Twitter bots. Some of my closest friends introduce me as the twitter bot maker. But it was necessary to leave. It lets my last few accounts hopefully avoid getting suspended so I can speak for myself there a little bit, and some of my decade of work can remain available to see.
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023

I still have some poll game bots to finish porting to Mastodon, and I'm looking into porting a few things to Tumblr as well, and maybe Bluesky if I get enough invite codes and if I like the way it works.

My Mastodon bots are all linked in my bio at the moment.

Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
It's kind of a relief to be done with Twitter. My accounts were getting deboosted for weeks, so friends didn't get notified when I replied to them, and no one could read my threads, which made adding to my long interactive fiction poll threads useless. Seeing all my bots getting suspended in batches, and finally my personal account suspended, without a word from the company… I'm just like, okay, if I'm not welcome here I'll head out, and take 100,000 trekkies with me, I guess.
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
I was getting used to replying to people, knowing that most of them would just not get notified. I was like a ghost there. So it's nice to start exploring Mastodon and Tumblr and other platforms where my accounts aren't cursed for daring to using the platform's automation API. Now I get to watch Twitter fall apart from farther away, with less concern. Not my problem anymore.
Show threadHippyadam Apr 27, 2023

@JoeSondow as long as I can still get my amethyst pics here I'm happy 👍🏽

That place has definitely gone downhill though

Show threadPhilRedbeardApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow glad to have you here. I enjoy your Star Trek bots, and of course, your main. Twitter can die in flames.
Show threadNancyMay 1, 2023
@JoeSondow I'm sorry, Joe. Your Tetra bots (among others) brought me joy, but apart from that I hate to see anyone treated so... dismissively.
Show threadJoe Sondow May 1, 2023
@Skankyfish Thanks Nancy. Yeah, it bites. On the bright side, it forces me to devote more energy to things that are less doomed, like Mastodon, Bluesky, Tumblr, and game development.
Show threadMelanieGywerApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow Dear Joe, I love your bots and I am happy they are here on Mastodon. The bird site is killing all the fun by suspending the bots. And your personal account.
Thank you for all of your bots, I love them all.
@dice.camp
Show threadSteffan ZieglerApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow it puzzles me to no end, it seems to me that the end goal is to rip stuff out of the server room willy-nilly until the place costs 8 bucks a month to run, and to have two crazy guys paying 16 bucks a month to talk to each other about how Musk is a genius.
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
@saint_monkey It makes more sense if you think of him as a child.
Show threadKelly HaysApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow
Maybe the Chaos Raccoons will make an appearance here. I miss them.
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
@jkhii They might.
Show threadChristopher KybaApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow I'm really looking forward to playing emojitetra here 😀
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
@skyglowberlin I should get that sorted out then.
Show threadChristopher KybaApr 27, 2023

@JoeSondow 😂

Don't mean to tell you what to do. But it was one of the joys of birdsite for me, so I really hope you'll find time to make it work here.

Will you start a new high score list, though?

Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
@skyglowberlin Good question. I didn't keep up the high score list the past year or so, and the missing data may now be practically irretrievable since the account is suspended. I'll see what I can do.
Show threadChristopher KybaApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow I like the idea of a new high score list anyway - more chances to break records 😂
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
@skyglowberlin It could be like a new arcade machine. No memory of the old machine.
Show threadChristopher KybaApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow I think we had some C64 games that reset the high score list every time you loaded them 😂
Show threadChristopher KybaApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow I can't remember, was there a "bird emoji" version of the game? Would be funny to use that for the inaugural round 😂
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
@skyglowberlin No bird theme. I tried to choose themes where the emojis covered most of their squares with color so it would look more blocky at a distance.
Show threadChristopher KybaApr 28, 2023
@JoeSondow Makes sense.
Show threadAshley PorciunculaApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow I can imagine how this whole thing feels after how much you've put into that place. I'm very glad you're here!
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
@AshleyMarineP Thank you Ashley! I'm glad you're here too! So many people are not here. 😄
Show threadJJ PetersonApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow I lost my community there too.
Show threadJesseApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow At least it's on your terms, in part. Better to rip the bandade off yourself than have the wound forcefully stitched shut.
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
@JesseF8693 Exactly.
Show threaddragfyreApr 25, 2023
@JoeSondow not worth staying there to be honest, at least not if you can afford to rebuild your network elsewhere.
Show threadChris. R. 🎧🎼☕🍍Apr 25, 2023
@JoeSondow I had a great time on Twitter in the past and got to know quite some people through there.
It's a pity to see it going downhill in such a way.
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 25, 2023
@haploc Agreed.
Show threadThermoApr 25, 2023
@JoeSondow This really sucks. It was always nice seeing (or arduously finding) your posts. I guess i'll have to use this app now.
Show threadEskiApr 25, 2023
@JoeSondow what the heck? Ugh, Musk has ruined the place
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 25, 2023
@Eskiworks Yes. Trying to look at it as a blessing in disguise. But it still feels like a loss after 11 years building stuff there.
Show threadHelenaApr 25, 2023
@JoeSondow I got suspended for saying Musk was owned by Russia and China.
Show threadFeralRobotsApr 25, 2023

@JoeSondow Arbitrary authoritarian bullshit - don't even try to figure out why, the reasons don't really matter. We're all happy to have you over here & I hope it's working out for you.

FWIW your bots have been a go-to for me to explain why "bot" is a dumb term to use as a proxy for disinformation traffickers: Most bots are just useful or fun stuff; most disinfo is spread by humans, led by trolls, some of which happen to be bots. But they could as easily be (& often are) humans.

Show threadCheshire FātōrumApr 25, 2023

@JoeSondow Just saw the Emoji poll game bots being gone, tried to look you up to see what happened, and found you were banned, too.

Sure, I haven't played them in years (I was arguing about EmojiTetra moves under the handle AmakawaYuuto) , but still, kinda sad they vanished.

Show threadRowynApr 25, 2023
@JoeSondow "now we're randomly suspending personal accounts with no stated reason" sure is a thing. O_O
Show threadDr Ro SmithApr 25, 2023
@JoeSondow sad times :(
Show threadJesseApr 25, 2023
@JoeSondow @JoeSondow Shit, man. That sucks. Sorry to see this happened to you. But so glad to see your presence on here is increasing.
Say hi to Nibbler for me. :-)
Show threadWalter JayawardeneApr 25, 2023
@JoeSondow hi Joe. Sorry to hear this. I’m here on mastodon. Not a regular user yet but you know where I am. Hope you’re keeping well. Will jump into trek stuff here with you as you set things up.
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 26, 2023
@wjayawardene Thanks Walter! Good to see you!
Show threadshanaApr 25, 2023
@JoeSondow Oh maaan, that sucks, wtf?? 😕
Show threadNoigelApr 26, 2023
@JoeSondow Came here to check on you. Wish the bird site would fail already so everybody could move to greener pastures.
Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 26, 2023
@Noigel Thanks for checking. It is what it is. Time for me to head out of there, I guess.
Show threadPeterTrek1Apr 26, 2023

@JoeSondow

Hi there. Sorry to hear about what happened. Hope you have a better experience here (I suspect you will). Looking forward to chatting on Star Trek Hour and other Trek topics.

Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 26, 2023
@petertrek1 Thanks Peter. Great to see you here as well.
Show threadDaniel M. ReckApr 27, 2023

@JoeSondow I knew about a couple of your awesome #StarTrek parody accounts but OH MYYYY I just learned about the rest. I hope they all are ported over to Mastodon soon so we can follow them all here.

Sorry you got pushed off the Bird Site so suddenly, but glad you're building a new home here.

Show threadJoe Sondow Apr 27, 2023
@DanielMReck Thanks Daniel! I'm sad to see so much work go away, and this place takes getting used to, but I think I can make some pretty fun stuff here.
Show threadMettEagleApr 27, 2023
@JoeSondow #twitter is run by a naked emperor who turned tyrant. I dont wanna live like that. Not even virtually. I can understand why people dont want to lose their social contacts over there but the truth is that twitter will die. Soon. Better leave now and explore this site and make great new contacts than suffer endlessly on twitter. One can even become big here quickly as an early adopter.