Goodbye Twitter/X-A Letter

Dear Tweeple:

It’s with a heavy heart that I announce my departure from Twitter/X.

When I joined on December 2nd, 2011, I was excited at what the platform had to offer. After all, this was during ScrewAttack’s twilight years, and that site was a mess, so having a presence outside of that was a great way to expand my reach. I remember posting regularly and hanging out with g1s, getting to know their interests and interacting in live-time. Call it naïve optimism from a 21 year-old Jewish Canadian in the thick of his university education.

My early years on Twitter/X were standard: I shared my work, opined occasionally and grew my Followers. I even managed to occasionally attract the attention of bigger names, including my then-favourite anime reviewer. While I rarely shared my political opinions, I had a unique enough base that they rubbed off anyway. I credit Twitter/X with helping me gain a socially-active conscience. It’d help me later on.

My first red flag came in the form of GamerGate in 2014. I’ve written extensively about it, but GamerGate was when I realized there were cracks in the platform’s moderation. While uttering the term led to squabbles with people who didn’t have my best interests at heart, the Block tool alleviated much of my anxiety. To this day, I don’t regret it, since my Followers kept growing.

The last year of enjoyment on Twitter/X was 2015. That was the year SCOTUS legalized gay marriage, as well as when I started this Blog. It was also when Donald Trump announced his presidency, something that worried me, but was on the back-burner. For the time being, I was enjoying promoting my work, engaging with fans and growing my base. Even with GamerGate fading into irrelevancy, 2015 was the last year I’d consider Twitter/X a beneficial investment.

Everything really began to crash with Trump’s presidency in 2016. The next few years revealed the façade that was Twitter. It didn’t help that my Followers peaked in early-2017 at 575, a number I’ve never returned to since. Twitter/X began to enrage and annoy me, with many friendships fully-dissolving and others being tested. My social conscience was now refined by a sense of Jewish pride, and the two felt in conflict over certain topics. It wasn’t pleasant being there anymore, but I kept at it.

2020 was when everything hit rock-bottom. On one hand, Trumpian politics were weighing on my mind. On the other hand, the populist left was pushing me in, their idealism forcing my sensibilities into a box. What was it that I wanted? Who could I trust? My Blocks got an intense workout, and the site was no longer enjoyable. Especially with COVID paranoia causing extremes to meet.

Following January 6th, 2021, it was clear I had to make a decision. But I was hesitant to leave. I liked the accessibility of Twitter/X’s user-face, and I didn’t want to give up the friendships I’d made. It was making me anxious, made worse by Elon Musk’s purchase of the site the following year. All the trolling and hate under the surface was now bubbling up. Which leads to 2023, particularly the last month or so. I could withstand GamerGate and Trump on Twitter/X. It was annoying, but I knew who I could fall back on and trust.

What I couldn’t withstand, however, was those same people turning on me and other Jews over something no one wanted: October 7th. Violence in Israel was nothing new, but I’d lost over 1400 brothers and sisters to an enemy who wasn’t hiding their intentions. That alone was traumatic, but even more traumatic was the world’s response: they were praising it. Considering I’d often fought alongside and for many of these individuals in the past, to have them then turn around and not reciprocate was alarming.

But I guess that’s expected. Horseshoe Theory’s a real concept, and extremists on the far-left harbour similar views to those on the far-right. These views include Antisemitism and attitudes over the Jewish state, and while Antisemitism’s open on the far-right and blatantly-transparent, to have the far-left embrace similar tactics, while not surprising, is upsetting and disappointing. It’s as if they refuse to acknowledge Jews, or “Zionists”, as individuals, and the walls and straw-men they make up to avoid confronting their own problems speaks volumes. It’s as if the bigoted boogeyman never disappeared, but merely changed stripes and blended in better.

So yes, you’ve beaten me. You’ve won. You’ve gotten me to abandon my future on Twitter/X in favour of your petty, partisan politics not rooted in logic or compassion. I was hoping Elon Musk would break Twitter/X completely before leaving, but I guess he wasn’t my biggest concern after all. I hope you’re proud.

Sincerely;

Whitly, aka Captain Raccoon.

P.S. Rest in Piss.