(last updated 11/22/2024)
Under Elon Musk, Twitter...err X was rapidly going downhill. It became "MuskyTwitter" and stopped being an open social media system. I quit Twitter on 11/6/2024 because Musk's impact on the election was abhorent. Here's my Twitter archive, less DMs.
You can find me mostly on BlueSky or on Spoutible.
A typical post from me
Under Elon Musk, Twitter...err X was rapidly going downhill. It became "MuskyTwitter" and stopped being an open social media system. I quit Twitter on 11/6/2024 because Musk's impact on the election was abhorent. Here's my Twitter archive, less DMs.
You can find me mostly on BlueSky or on Spoutible.
A typical post from me
I periodically take social media vacations, but I'm likely to be back in a couple of weeks.
I like real followers. I regularly purge bots and inactive followers except for a few friends who like to read but not participate.
I was delighted when Twitter finally started to deal with its bot problems. On 2/20/2018, they started to delete accounts from bot farms. The grief the far right expressed over losing their bots was very funny. Maybe they got too many complaints from Republicans, who have been the big beneficiaries of bot farms.
There aren't reliable tools for finding bots unless you have their IP addresses (which X does). There are some tools you can use once or twice but then they demand payments. X was getting better at identifying/purging certain kinds of spambots, like these:
I do not intend to share pic on Twitter however you can add my snapchat: XXXX so I am able to send you my pictures etc.or
Goт мy ғιrѕт oғғer тodαy ғroм 100ĸғollowerѕ INC, GET 10,000 Twιттer Followerѕ ғor $39, αт http://bit.ly/XXXXXXX
While pro-Republican bots are easier to identify, there are pro-Democratic bots as well, and I'll block them as readily as any other bots. There are some people who are trying so hard to conceal their identities so their accounts look like bot accounts. When I see an account with a string of numbers in its account name, I almost always block it as a possible bot. So if you're a real person but I've blocked you anyway, that's why - your account looks too much like a bot account. If you use words like "humble" "cryptocurrency" or phrases like "looking for love" in your profile, that screams "likely bot" & is an instant block
I'm not the kind to follow back everyone. Here are the kinds of accounts I avoided on X, but, so far, I rarely find them on Spoutible. Now that BlueSky is has more accounts, I am finding them more often on BlueSky and now block several accounts per day:
- Accounts that are sexist, racist, religiously fanatical, gun-loving, #MAGA (RightWingNutJob), #GamerGate (if you don't know about this, you really don't want to know about this), pro-puppy (ditto), political bots (people obviously only trying to make trouble).
- Any account with a gun in their profile or background picture or that posts obscene pictures (particularly of Melania - the problem is DON not her) or disrespectful graphics of people, with the exception of Trump who's gone out of his way to earn our disrespect.
- Commercial-only accounts (except for those related to interesting books, movies, restaurants or places to visit), or accounts by individuals that seem only to link to "special deals." Some of these individual accounts have perfectly-reasonable bios, but when you read the tweets, it's clear these "individuals" have nothing real to say and are only trying to sell you something.
- Anyone pushing scams, like "I want to pay to use your photo" (which was apparently a common scam on Instagram & definitely happens on BlueSky) and the ever-popular cryptocurrency (which may some day be more legitimate but is still pretty dicey) are both instant #BlockAndMoveOn
- Men (or women for that matter) whose profiles say something like "I'm sincere and looking for love." Please, there's got to be more to your life than "looking for love" (unless the account really is just a bot as that's a common bot tactic).
- Any profile with the word "expert" or "influencer" in it (and most with the word "marketing" in it), though I make an exception if the person posts interesting tweets (most self-proclaimed experts/influencers do not).
- Accounts with an "egg" icon, a fish-face photo, a porn-like photo or no biographical info. I want to know something about the people I'm following. If you can't say something about yourself or upload a photo, how do I know you're not just a bot? Social media should be interactive - why should we interact? Occasionally, I do follow egg/no bio accounts when they've made some interesting tweets.
- Trolls (and, yes, sometimes even accounts I'd agree with on paper are trolls who are only there to stir things up).
- Any tweet that's just a link gets its account blocked because often these are links to viruses.
- People I know IRL and would rather not engage with on social media. It's a free country.
- I want to be able to read some of your social media posts before I follow you. Any bot can have a half-way "real" profile constructed for it, but seeing some of the posts can also help show whether it's a real person or a bot.
- Anyone who posts the proported name of any alleged anonymous whistleblower. I'm sure that will happen more often during a second Trump presidency
I also think demanding a follow back or visiting a link is silly. I appreciate follow backs but don't demand them. I might be too outspoken for many and that's fine.
Basically, when I run into people I'd rather not follow, I #blockandmoveon.
I do not read Messages. They are a horrific waste of time. With only a few exceptions, they've been spam or harassment.
