Finally, something to thank Elon for...
Nearly two years ago I took an indefinite break from my Twitter personal (@saardrimer) and professional (@boldport) accounts. I haven’t posted anything since but kept checking the accounts of a handful of journalists whilst not being logged-in. This was the only way for me to get the kind of information I felt I wanted, but with minimal contribution to the platform.
When Elon took over Twitter I became certain that I won’t be going back to my accounts, although I still checked a few feeds regularly.
About two weeks ago Elon decided to restrict reading access of feeds only to those who are signed-in. I haven’t checked my regulars since, and I’m fairly confident that I’ve now weaned myself off of Twitter, something I’ve failed at for a long while. I am set to never go back, even if the policy reverts in order to pick up lost traffic. So… thanks Elon for improving my life, unintentionally.
Threads? Yeah, no. Notes? Maybe.
Following up, I've landed on BlueSky now. It's closer to where Twitter used to be a decade ago. Not perfect, but so far it's not riddled with auto-reply bots trying to create division. It has critical mass, but not quite the diversity of subcultures. The killer feature for it is you can create your own algorithm/filter for the main "firehose". I've created a Semiconductor feed that has been fun to craft.
So what do you do with all your extra free time now? I tried to quit Twitter, but I still find it one of the only spot I can connect with the hardware making folks, or have a slight sense of community. FB, Reddit, IG have all died on a community level.