I’m coming off Twitter. (I refuse to call it “X”, as instructed by the network’s boss, Elon Musk. It’s Twitter, mate. That’s what everyone still knows it as, so get used to it.)
Why am I leaving the social media platform? Not for the reasons so many others gave this month for doing so. I don’t care that Musk is Trump’s new bestie; I’m not making a protest over that, unlike Bette Midler, Greg Davies, Jamie Lee Curtis, and a host of other leftleaning celebs, charities and politicians who have all exited X.
(Damn, I said I wouldn’t call it that. Sorry, couldn’t resist the alliteration.)
Graham Norton put it succinctly in a recent interview with The Times. When asked why he’s cancelled his Twitter account, he said it was now a “horrible” online place to visit.
“I could type something like: ‘Morning everyone, beautiful day, isn’t it?’” he said. “Count five, and I’d have a reply along the lines of: ‘That’s easy for you to say, you ****ing rich ****er.’”
Twitter is now dominated by sour-spirited, irreducibly hostile people who are only interested in posting abuse. They actively compete with each other to reach new lows in vilification.
It wasn’t always like this. When I joined the site, oh, I don’t know, maybe 15 years ago, it was a great virtual place to hang out. Back then I likened it to a new pub on the corner of your street. A bright, cheerful place full of interesting, funny, thoughtful patrons.
You could stroll in and have great craic about pretty much anything. Now, you risk having drinks thrown in your face or someone urinating on your shoes.
You could ask anything, too. Twitter was a living, breathing search engine. Post a question about, say, recommendations for the best recipe for spaghetti Bolognese, or tips for getting a good night’s sleep, and the replies would ping back straight away – usually funny, clever, informed and kind. Those days are long gone.
For anyone in the public eye, Twitter has become a shooting gallery, with them as the moving targets. No one gets a fair hearing or a decent shake. The abuse is vicious and unrelenting.
On a personal level, I couldn’t give a tuppeny stuff. Twitter has inflated its own currency so comprehensively that the insults are as valueless as a German banknote in the 1920s crash. Anyway, much of the abuse is forged and falsified.
Someone asked me recently why I had called a well-known actress “ugly” during an interview, accused her of drug abuse, and demanded to know how much she was worth.
As if. (And I’ve never even met the actress, let alone interviewed her.) “I read it on Twitter,” I was told. When I explained it was a completely concocted, malicious fantasy, he nodded sagely.
“Yeah, didn’t think it could be true.” But he felt he had to ask me, didn’t he? That’s how pernicious Twitter has become. So as I say, I’m off. Bluesky seems to be a decent alternative. I’ll report back.