I don't want it to lose what makes it special. It feels like the one social network I have ever truly enjoyed using is about to become very different, and potentially far less meaningful in my life. It makes me sad, and I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one.
This isn't a rallying cry to stick around or an obituary, but a story about what a lot of other people are thinking today.
Some who are concerned about the future of the platform are now considering leaving. I am one of them.
I don't really want to leave because there is nowhere else to go. I've spent more than a decade on the social networking site, and it has become a source of happiness, friendship, and companionship.
Why don't I want to leave? It has made me somewhat recognizable over the years, both personally and professionally, because of my use of social media. I've made friends there, opportunities for all kinds of things have emerged, and I've felt part of a movement.
I have met people I know only through social media, and have done some amazing things with them, because of it. I have been able to converse with a hero of mine through the platform, and have also been able to meet and spend time with singers who I only got to know through social media.
I have connected with people through a shared love of the K-pop group Iz*one, and it has been amazing to share joy and sadness with them, and to truly feel part of something special.
During my working day, I use a tab in the browser called Chrome to open and view the micro-blogging site. I try and make my contributions vaguely interesting by regularly posting on my social media accounts. I hope this shows how important it is to me and how it has improved my life. It goes deeper than that, and the thought of leaving or the platform changing really concerns me.
My life has changed a lot since the beginning of the Pandemic in 2020. It emphasized how few people I know that live near me, and how small that has made my social circle. Without travel and regular events connected to work, I see very few people.
I keep up with those who I don't get to meet in person. It's the home of the journalist and even the vaguest of acquaintances I've made have some kind of presence there. It's the only place I know I can talk to all of them at the same time. I'm not the only one. A journalist friend sent me a message on the social networking site to meet up before I went to one of the few events I have been to this year. This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for social media.
It made me realize how attached I am to it, and how much it has affected me. I would almost certainly lose contact with many people if I left because I don't have the chance to see them in real life, and our only source of interaction until this point has been social media.
I believe fewer new things would come my way if I hadn't been active on social media. I would become even more socially isolated.
I have made a story about me. It's not something I like doing, but because it's about a social network, it seemed fitting. It is the only true way to show what makes it special. It is about me, not in an egotistical sense, but because it is a space built around the things and people I like.
As with everything Musk-related, my carefully-curated Twitter world is becoming all about him. As he pushes his own agenda, I fear this will become more difficult to avoid. His fans will be quick to share his every word and claim each step as a victory, even more so than they already are. I don't blame anyone for wanting to leave because of his influence and the upheaval it will generate.
It feels like the end of something unique is coming because of how important it is to my life.
I don't know what Musk wants to do with the platform, but I don't trust him. The lack of trust, the uncertainly over his plans, and an unwillingness to indulge what could be the narcissistic whim of the world's richest man makes me question how much longer I'll want to use it.
It's an incredibly hard decision and one that makes me sad, given how important it is to my life.
I hope I am mistaken. It is nothing more than the usual fear of change that accompanies many major alterations to our lives. I don't want to look back at this article in a year and think I was right. I don't want to write a follow up. One of the key connections to my own wider world is still intact, and I want to tell you that I was wrong. I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one thinking the same thing.
Whether there are fake accounts or real ones, or one person's interpretation of free speech, what makes Twitter special isn't the meme. If we leave because of this takeover, the platform will be worse for it, and someone else's life will be as well.
That is the way it will be for me.
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