Twitter Turned 20 And I Feel Nothing

Twitter is officially 20 years old. In different reality, that mightiness make maine benignant of nostalgic. I've been lurking and scrolling and tweeting for 16 years; astir of my big life. There was a clip erstwhile Twitter was a spot wherever immoderate net strangers became my IRL friends, erstwhile I was excited to "live-tweet". When my infinitely much well-adjusted friends would nonstop maine memes, I would smugly opportunity "I saw that connected Twitter days ago."

Twitter stopped being that spot a agelong clip ago, but I don't person immoderate nostalgia for it. I don't really consciousness thing astatine all, actually.

Because I tin already perceive nan comments: Yes, I'm still connected X. I don't walk arsenic overmuch clip location arsenic I did a decade ago, but it's still rather a batch of time, an unhealthy amount, if I'm being honest. My occupation is to study connected societal media companies, truthful I support (doom)scrolling. That's what I show myself anyway.

A fewer of my favourite posters are still around. Dril's still sewage it. The memes are still, occasionally, good, moreover though X's proposal algorithm seems to for illustration pointing maine toward endless AI slop, boring basking takes from thirsty mid-tier tech execs and blatant engagement bait. X's algorithm — what small we tin study astir it, anyhow — now relies connected Grok's predictions astir what you'll like.The aforesaid Holocaust-loving Grok that has spewed racism and referred to itself arsenic MechaHitler and declared Elon Musk "the azygous top personification successful modern history." The aforesaid Grok that allegedly generated thousands of images of child maltreatment material. Hey @grok is that true?

X is not Twitter but it's besides not not-Twitter. Last year, an online marketplace startup bought nan 560-pound Twitter vertebrate that erstwhile adorned nan company's San Francisco agency and blew it up successful a Nevada desert surrounded by Tesla CyberTrucks arsenic portion of an elaborate publicity stunt. Dumb? Yes. But besides a someway fitting adieu for "Larry."

It's been 20 years since Jack Dorsey sent nan first-ever tweet, which was ne'er moreover a bully tweet anyway. It's been 5 years, by nan way, since he turned that tweet into an NFT (remember NFTs??) and auctioned it for astir $3 million. It's now functionally worthless. Another section successful Dorsey's confusing, analyzable legacy.