[Technology] Has anybody come off of Twitter / X? How easy did you find it?

[ROSM]

A question to the hive mind of nsc

Since the ability to pay for blue ticks, promotion of those people and the use of ai/bots amplifying certain themes, I have posted on it less and less. I'm kind of thinking now is the time to drop off it altogether but am interested in whether others have and if so what alternatives people used.

It may be a FOMO but when it started the idea of being able to 'text' large groups of people seemed a good thing. It doesn't feel that way now

 

[Alba Badger]

I'm coming up for 1 year off Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The latter i missed loads when it came to #bhafc match day, after match and transfer time, but i don't miss the nonsense else where. They are time stealing sites. I'm glad I am glad i am off these things and do not want to ever go back. Get off that crap if you can would be my advice. DO you really want to know what some lad you when to school with is doing on a weekend? Or what Karen is having for dinner etc?

That said, i do run and use Strava... so i'm not off all social media

 

[AZ Gull]

I must admit, I don't really understand when people complain about all the garbage on twitter - if you don't want to see it, then...................don't look at it.

I use twitter to post about the Albion academy. I follow 104 different accounts - all football related. Each day I open up twitter and have it open all day - but on the "Following" tab. As such, I only see tweets by accounts I follow (plus ads here and there, which I ignore). I still find it an incredible useful source of information and nothing has come close to replacing it.

Of course, I also see the "What's happening" tab and if something takes my fancy I'll click on it - but that is a conscious decision.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

Glad I never joined it

 

[Peacehaven Wild Kids]

Repeating a story I’ve told a few times on here, a few years back I had quite an active account with a few thousand followers, it was a Peacehaven FC fan account with plenty of Non league action, fan talk, Albion stuff decent music and local issues, it was quite good natured and I rarely started a row.
One Saturday evening I was discussing a few non league results whilst using a few random emojis, referring to a pretty dull Clapton FC match, I used the water pistol one dunno why, it just sort of symbolised “meh”
I was reported and with an hour my account was blocked for threatening violence. Following the appeals process within a few weeks I was still having no luck activating it, I gave up, re named a different which was also subsequently blocked very quickly, in time I opened another account with my same phone number, within a day it was blocked. I gave up with Twitter after that.

I recall myself and others reporting an account that used the vile racist terms on a number of Premier League players, it took them over a week to remove them and lock the account.

Anyhoo, in answer to your question, just post a water pistol, a croissant or piece of birthday cake and Bobs yer Uncle

 

[Dibdab]

Ive come off all social media except NSC and Youtube. Its been great!

 

[Chicken Run]

The only Social Media i’m on is NSC, i worry that we seemed to have arrived at the point where people are thinking of stopping social media and asking for opinions on how others have got on

 

[nickbrighton]

try bluesky.com .
its twitter without the ads, algorithms, and elon musk, it looks almost identical (its the same basic app, different branding. Its much better than twitter-not so much hatred and confrontation

 

[Justice]

Facebook is useful all I do is join local Facebook pages in all the well to do areas say I’m new to the area if anyone needs an electrician message me.
Great form of free advertising.

People squabbling on the BHA pages is no different to here really so don’t see the point of joining in

 

[Weststander]

I’ve had a Twitter account for possibly 15 years? Used to look at it every year or so when other websites might mention that a footballer or his wife have posted house or holiday pictures eg Muzza’s wife. Being nosey.

That was it.

Then in summer 2023 I tried to use it more seriously following Ornstein, Alex Crook, Simon Calder and some gardeners I admire.

But the whole thing has been very deliberately swamped with ads / promoted accounts, as that c*nt Musk tries to get a return on the $44b he paid.

Very dull dealing with that before you get to read someone you follow. So now ignored forever.

 

[BN9 BHA]

I don’t post much but use it to find out information on local traffic, Albion info from the official account especially team news on a match day and non league football info.
I look at various other accounts that interest me. I don’t use Facebook so I’m not sure i would do away with X.

It’s very easy to avoid stuff that doesn’t interest me as explained by @AZ Gull on this thread.
I have many accounts blocked or muted and use muted words.

 

[tedebear]

After todays horrific result I've just deactivated twitter so I'll let you know how it goes, I'm a regular reader, and some times poster.

I'm now also planning to remove myself from facebook and instagram, I don't really post on there anyhow just peruse...I'll keep pinterest as there is no vile hatred. I don't do tik tok so thats easy...NSC I'll keep my account and check in every now and then but recently there seems to be a bit more vitriol and a few posters currently spamming the place and it winds me up so I'll probably give that a rest for a while too..

I need to find decent factual up to date websites to replace the above, just to keep up to date, so not sure how that will go, but needs must.

The next 4 years are going to get worse before they get better, and todays feeling is that I want to stick my head in the sand and ignore it for my own mental health. I need a few days break from it all.

 

[Gabbafella]

Ditched Facebook about 10 years ago and Twitter about 5 years ago, don't miss either.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I’ve had a Twitter account for possibly 15 years? Used to look at it every year or so when other websites might mention that a footballer or his wife have posted house or holiday pictures eg Muzza’s wife. Being nosey.

That was it.

Then in summer 2023 I tried to use it more seriously following Ornstein, Alex Crook, Simon Calder and some gardeners I admire.

But the whole thing has been very deliberately swamped with ads / promoted accounts, as that c*nt Musk tries to get a return on the $44b he paid.

Very dull dealing with that before you get to read someone you follow. So now ignored forever.

The $44b is now only worth $9b, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke.
I only look at the Following tab, but if something is trending I will take a look.

There’s no point in reporting anything now as it’s all allowed.

 

[5Ways Gull]

Never done Twitter, or any other social media apart from NSC.

 

[Badger]

I have never signed up to Twitter/X but I do occassionally read tweets which got sent to me by friends and family. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything and it would probably just make me angry.

I'm still on Facebook, although I very rarely post on it and have deleted the app from my phone. I discovered a way of just seeing the feed from people and pages I follow https://www.facebook.com/?filter=all&sk=h_chr which makes it much more usable.

Instagram is the only one I really post on, but it's usually just stories. I only signed up in 2020, so I have managed to keep my following list down to friends/family and organisations I am actually interested in.

I would ditch them both but I would probably miss some of the positive interactions and things which make me laugh.

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

try bluesky.com .
its twitter without the ads, algorithms, and elon musk, it looks almost identical (its the same basic app, different branding. Its much better than twitter-not so much hatred and confrontation

But then does it just become even more of an echo chamber sheltering people from views they don't like.

It's a tricky one. I try to follow a bit of everything but that fucks with the head as well. You can see why so many people end up completely brainwashed by various different campaigns that may or may not have some logic to them!

 

[Seasider78]

Never got into Facebook and once WhatsApp came along that was more than enough to keep in touch with friends and family without the world seeing and judging. Never got instagram feels like the home of narcissism so never joined but wife has it and seems to be nothing more than people posting highlight reels of their lives creating unrealistic and untruth reflections of their lives to make others feel like shit.

Twitter / X I use but as others mainly for quick easy to digest football related gossip and news and since crazed egomaniac musk took over I stick to the accounts I follow as the suggested tweets are a whole bunch of nonsense and musk driven right wing bullshit being forced onto the users.

 

[HeaviestTed]

I was a really heavy twitter user until musk took over with coincided with me wanting to cut down my usage - i changed my password to a random one so it i ever want to go back i would have to reset it - makes it hard to accidentally login.

ive been drawn into facebok, tiktok, and linkedin and need to cut down!

 

[elwheelio]

Yeah. I was a casual user but deleted it when Musk started reinstating white supremacist accounts and allowing (and in some cases endorsing) all sorts of horrible behaviour. Delete the app and you'll soon get past it. It's also worth reading "Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products". It's an interesting read about how companies design addictive technology. It's worth pointing out that it's not a cautionary tale, it's by someone explaining how to build them. It's a useful insight