[2024-09-29 note: This was previously posted on Cohost, on 2022-11-07 at https://cohost.org/ireneista/post/218342-twitter-and-feelings but the irenes.space URL is the permanent one.]
[Cohost publication note: this is ported over verbatim from the other site, so we're going to break with our usual practice and say the name of that site]
so, a lot of people we admire have left Twitter over the past year. some have come back in reduced capacities; some have not. we've had feelings about it, which we've been processing, and we're finally ready to put those feelings in words for all y'all.
we are NOT going to leave Twitter.
not because we don't want to, but because that would be ceding territory. we'll wait to be forced out.
however, our ATTENTION will be elsewhere, to a growing degree.
we practice being aware of our emotions, and in particular when we are having some sort of heavily packaged experience, whether it's from Silicon Valley or from Hollywood, we make it a point to notice how our heartstrings are being tugged at.
because of that awareness, we know that no other site will ever give us the exact mix of fear for our life, ADHD-shaped dopamine bursts, and the temptation to feel superior for being in the know about everything, that Twitter is offering.
there's a level of abstraction at which this is just another version of the same phenomenon where Amazon Prime is a lot like HBO in that both offer graphic violence and a steady dose of adrenaline, but Prime offers it with a jaded world view and HBO offers it with militarism.
anyway, we think it's probably a good thing that no other site will exactly scratch the itch that Twitter taught us to feel. we'd like very much to let go of that itch, gradually over time.
for the moment, our attention is on Cohost. there's not much discussion of politics or public policy there, and that's almost certainly a good thing for our well-being. we are not the only privacy-beings who are on there, and we're *definitely* not the only anarchists.
letting go of these platforms, truly moving on, requires this level of awareness, we think. nothing else is useful for the same things, nothing else plays on the same emotions, and that's just fine.
just linking up this side thread because someone asked us about http://counter.social, which we have no interest in
[counter.social side thread starts here]
thanks for asking. that one positions itself within the security mindset, which, whether the site owners intend it or not, is heavily driven by law enforcement and by the industry that builds tech catering to law enforcement.
we're opposed to that kind of thinking in our work, we see it as contrary to the kind of world we want to build. putting walls around ourselves is not the answer to anything.
we have an entire thread about why we reject that kind of thinking. Vulnerability
given that the site is specifically advertising itself for people who buy into that idea, we don't want anything to do with it, it's uninteresting to us. we're a punk, an activist, an anarchist, a privacy expert... *before* we're a security person.
this is a half-formed thought so take it for what it's worth, but we think security is a hard art, it's about countering force with force, while privacy is a soft art, it's about being where your opponent's blows aren't.
anyway! thanks for asking and we hope you like it there, just because something isn't for us doesn't mean we don't want it to succeed <3
anyway! as a treat, we went and posted a link we really adore, to a very thoughtful essay, over at https://cohost.org/ireneista/
we will not be posting it here. you have to go do look if you want to know.
(please notice us gently teasing your curiosity <3)
if you liked this thread about the feelings side of social media, you may also enjoy our thread from a few days earlier about the practical uses of Twitter and why it's not fully replaceable yet