"Disruption happens slowly. And then, all at once!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Long live Twitter.
Good riddance X.
Lots of people have finally had enough of Twitter. Whether it's the toxic environment, personal revulsion with the owner, the relentless anti-Semitism that is pervasive in the network, or the fact that it has simply become unusable for anything useful, lots of people have had enough.
And as of this week, they're going to Bluesky.
You might not be a social media user and might not care about this, but you are impacted. A global meeting space for people of science, research, healthcare, business ideas, and technological concept development - when there is a public town square in which people find value in the sharing of ideas, the future happens.
For the last two years, that reality slowly started to disappear on Twitter, and people began to leave, seeking a new home by which to share and collaborate. They tried Threadsl, explored Mastodon, and examined other alternatives, but none seemed to become a home for the future. And then, in the last week, they found such a home. The future has happened all at once as a massive migration suddenly began with people signing up to Bluesky. It's still accelerating - check the graph.
Technological shifts, when they happen, are often sudden and dramatic.
“How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asked.
“Two ways,” Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway’s
Kevin Kelly, the co-founder of Wired, put an oft-used spin on Hemingways's observation, noting that "the future happens slowly, and then, all at once." Right now, at this very moment, it's all at once.
What has been happening in the last few days is simply remarkable - it seems that entire communities of people have finally decided they have had enough of the rage-baiting, Nazi-leaning, extreme right-wing toxic sludge that Twitter has become post-election. They've had enough of the current owner, who has adjusted the algorithm to promote his often incoherent, conspiracy-laden, somewhat mad thoughts on the state of the world. They've determined that if they are to chase and share the future of scientific discovery, they can't do so in a place where the new majority of people have come to think that science is a plot.
And it's fascinating to watch happen in real-time. For a long period, Twitter was the home of many major global scientific communities - involving healthcare, climate change, energy science, and more. And then, as the owner of X declared that 'free speech' would be 'absolute' on the platform, those communities found themselves under constant attack by conspiracy theorists, whack-a-doodle-wingnuts, and other fringe elements. Science was no longer possible, and most began to drift away from the platform, seeking a new home.
And then, suddenly and all at once, they found it on Bluesky.
Bluesky is the new gathering place for the scientific community. I've found 90% of my old ID community from X here in just 1 week of active use - @kakape.bsky.social
The money and investing class also seems to have had enough. There's a very telling article in Reuters that appeared yesterday about the current mindset for some.
One investor states it quite simply:
Q: Are you still an owner of X?
A: Yes. I'm kind of done with X. Over the last three or four months I've pretty much realized that most of the people I care about have left and most the information I was getting from Twitter (X) in the past with regard to stocks and breaking information, that was extremely valuable to me, it's gone.
Elon Musk investor Gerber says he is 'kind of done with X'
Reuters, November 20, 2024
Consider this - banks loaned $13 billion to the founder when he bought Twitter, and most now consider their loans to be practically worthless. Why? It's pretty simple.
Q: Do you think it's that they have all left? Or do you think the algorithms have somehow stopped surfacing your questions?
A: They've left. The algorithm certainly is part of it because the algorithm is now rigged to give you the most offensive things you could possibly want. All I get is anti-semitism now and I get Trump.
Elon Musk investor Gerber says he is 'kind of done with X'
Reuters, November 20, 2024
Does all of this matter to you? Should you care?
Yes and yes.
One of the most profound aspects of the acceleration of our world over the last many years has been the acceleration of scientific knowledge and discovery. Much of that has happened as a result of the collective consciousness that has developed in the online world.
For a time, that was lost.
And now, it's actively rebuilding itself on Bluesky
If you haven't yet, as they say, 'get your ass over there and get an account.'
You'll find me at the Bluesky ID @jimcarroll.com - since I've linked my name to my domain name. You can look me up at https://bsky.app/profile/jimcarroll.com
Science, and the future, have a new home, and it's over on Bluesky.
Come and join us.
Futurist Jim Carroll has been online since 1982., and has seen a lot of networks come and go. He recognizes the signs of when a major shift suddenly happens.