17 Feb 2026
After early enthusiasm and then years of disregard—sometimes deliberate avoidance—I recently decided to explore, and even engage again with Twitter. I mean X.
I knew the “For You” tab would be a hot mess, so I planned to stick to the people (er, “accounts”) I follow. Even then, I expected an algorithmically-enhanced stream of “content” and ads that don’t interest me in ways I understand, but are nevertheless calibrated to appeal to people like me. And since there’s no one more “like me” than me, I’d be tempted to click on them the way I slow down to look at a traffic accident. Still, I figured I could manage it. I assumed the signal would be worth the noise. I thought there were important people saying important things, and that I could curate my experience enough to make it worthwhile.
I was wrong.
The accounts I follow for their wisdom on particular topics tend, over time, to drift. In pursuit of a wider audience, they stray beyond their expertise and begin opining on matters far removed from their credibility. Occasionally this yields a fresh perspective. More often it dilutes the quality of their work as they gravitate toward whatever drives views, clicks, and replies. At the margins of that shift, trolls, pedants, and bots seep in, inserting drivel into the discussion. Add the many angry, reactive, and careless voices, and the noise becomes deafening. Perhaps I’m sensitive or simply unwilling, but I find it hard even to check in.
I’m mildly troubled by my reluctance to “fight the fight,” to stand up for intelligent discourse and weigh in on issues I care about. I have a few hundred followers and could likely gather more. But I’m not seeking a job, and I can reach those I want to reach directly, pointing them to my work here or elsewhere. The value of slogging through someone else’s fetid platform feels low, and I resent contributing even a marginal benefit to it.
I’m increasingly convinced that the better response is simply to write, on my own site, about the things I care about. If a real conversation is to happen, it will happen the way it always has, without algorithmic assistance. The tools for this have long existed. The newer ones rarely improve our ability to think or work together, except in narrow cases. Making media more “social” is not one of them.
This is no way to drive revenue. But then again, for almost everyone, neither is social media.