created by sega31098 on 23/12/2024 at 07:09 UTC
12 upvotes, 12 top-level comments (showing 12)
I'm in 100% agreement that Elon Musk has been detrimental to Twitter, from the way he gutted moderation and let hateful content and all other sorts of horrific stuff like illegal and violent content fester there. That said, I find it a bit surprising how so many Redditors now seem to paint the Twitter of like 5 years ago as some healthy non-toxic place when its reputation years ago was polar opposite.
Even like 2 years ago the general consensus across the political spectrum on Reddit was that Twitter was a dumpster fire and perhaps the worst of social media (except maybe TikTok as Reddit's userbase has had a long-standing hatred of it), but now I see a lot of people on Reddit treating pre-Musk Twitter as some kind of safe utopia, and people pointing out how it was toxic a long time often get blasted with downvotes. I don't deny that objectively speaking Twitter used to be less toxic and it did have a lot of good uses back then (like for artists, transit updates, legitimate journalists, customer service, etc.), and I know many people who left because of Musk are decent and well-adjusted people who used Twitter (like any social media) in a healthy manner. That said, saying that the overall discourse climate on the site pre-Musk was anything close to safe and healthy is utterly ludicrous to me. My sense is that Reddit has also become kind of a hub of former Twitter junkies much like Tumblr (where the presence of ex-Twitter users is well-documented), and they came in large enough numbers that they now commandeer many such discussions.
Has anyone noticed this on Reddit recently?
Comment by BrightLuchr at 23/12/2024 at 12:06 UTC
15 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Here's a nostalgic thought: I remember seeing it around 2007 when it was very new. It was still SMS based and it was demonstrated to me in a bar on a primitive cell phone. The API was completely open and the framework was being used by interesting 3rd party apps... all of which got later banned.
Now, it's 2024. It's not even in the top 10 of social platforms. We should stop talking about Twitter and ignore the thing.
Comment by Das_Mime at 23/12/2024 at 09:10 UTC
40 upvotes, 2 direct replies
so many Redditors now seem to paint the Twitter of like 5 years ago as some healthy non-toxic place
now I see a lot of people on Reddit treating pre-Musk Twitter as some kind of safe utopia, and people pointing out how it was toxic a long time often get blasted with downvotes.
Can't say I've noticed even a single person saying that Twitter was healthy, just that it was better than it is now under Musk. Do you have examples of people saying this type of thing?
Comment by iwannaddr2afi at 23/12/2024 at 13:58 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Twitter definitely had a sparkling little peak period, but I agree it was never without toxicity.
I think people (some at least) are missing the moments we all were "in it together" for, on Twitter. Just my guess. I quit the moment I heard musk acquired it, and I've felt very justified in that decision since lol
Comment by elmanchosdiablos at 23/12/2024 at 11:08 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I guess the only thing worse than an omni-directional bullying engine is one that's being deliberately wielded by a politically-motivated billionaire. The only regret I have at the death of Twitter is that Bluesky is probably doomed to become the exact same over the next ten years.
Comment by bgaesop at 23/12/2024 at 08:01 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Definitely. I wonder if it's being driven by twitter refugees fleeing here? Twitter has always been awful
Comment by mfb- at 23/12/2024 at 12:50 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
People will always tell you how great things were in the past, especially (but not only) if they have objectively become worse. Musk being involved only make that pattern even more appealing. Some people seem to lose any sense of nuance or realism when it's Musk-related. Everything must be interpreted in a "Musk=bad" way. Twitter is bad now with Musk therefore it must have been a paradise before. Otherwise one would need to evaluate *how* bad it was, and that's not allowed.
Comment by c74 at 23/12/2024 at 14:22 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
never heard anyone say twitter isnt toxic. my feed is better for **me** than it was before musk. old twitter seemed to give me more twitter pundits desperate for fame spewing their nonsense in clickbait. and i am not saying that they have all gone aaway, just i get more interest stuff as opposed to angry politics.
Comment by dt7cv at 30/12/2024 at 00:05 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
So 2 years ago there was more openly right wing content on this site and those users were just about to get suspended by Reddit admin but not yet because Reddit was still building their system
The reason we saw those voices in 2022 is because Reddit had come from a period where they were one of the most right wing online community in the English language. Even if Reddit had added the finishing touches to AEO there was no where for them to go that was viable.
There likely was some Twitter migration to Reddit in the wake of the Musk takeover but I doubt good numbers exist
Comment by [deleted] at 02/01/2025 at 11:16 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
[removed]
Comment by CallidoraBlack at 04/01/2025 at 07:03 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I think people mostly just miss the period of time where he didn't have the power to manipulate people en masse by direct manipulation of the system. As terrible as it was then, it's been so much worse since.
Comment by Training_Quarter_983 at 24/12/2024 at 00:54 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Want more Jack Dorsey? There's Bluesky.
Comment by lisajeanius at 23/12/2024 at 15:21 UTC
-1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The mods and admin of these social media platforms are unpaid, unseen, unknown, untrained, unqualified, and unsupervised employees. How is no one suspicious of this?
There is no Communications Act in cyberspace. We are not protected from foreign influence on this new and unregulated mass communication source.