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Hilda Bastian

Kicked my Twitter account to the kerb. Very satisfying. Can recommend.

The Twitter Law of Plunging Returns....

I'd forgotten about this old cartoon of mine! When the reputational damage of having a Twitter account dramatically wipes out the diminishing benefits.

@hildabast It must feel good to be off of twitter considering it is now the official mouthpiece for fascism.

@housepanther I left when he took it over, as it was so clear that was coming. The urge to express more disgust finally overcome the archivist urge to preserve a record!

@hildabast
That’s when I left too. Never missed it at all.

@hildabast

Thank you for making it easier for people to de-Twitter! 🙏

@hildabast All those contacts made, friendships forged... It must have been really difficult to let go, but you've done well. I'm super proud of you.

Welcome to Mastodon and the greater Fediverse. 😁

@adrianmorales Thanks, but it was only hard back at the beginning - going cold turkey and starting over was indeed hard. It was disappointing that more of Science Twitter didn't come along, too.

But it's so far behind now, I couldn't even remember my password when it asked me before letting me pull the plug!

@hildabast You inspired me to do the same. It was well past time.

@hildabast

Probably a useless gesture, but same. Also avoiding Amazon.

@BorisBarbour It's not useless if enough people do it. And even though I hadn't tweeted and my banner was a "gone to Mastodon" sketch, imagine people thinking you're still "on Twitter"? Shudder!

@hildabast

I have little hope of a mass movement. It's just a question of living with oneself.

@BorisBarbour @hildabast

I don't have much hope for a mass movement either but ...

I was intending on exiting twitter, the final impetus to do so was Hilda. Perhaps that should be Dr Bastian but she kinda seems like a mate (to use the aussie expression). She jumped ship, and i followed.

The lack of mass movement to mastodon has positives and negatives. There are topics that aren't really covered here, which is obviously not great, but there is also far less abject nonsense.

@hitsuyonai @BorisBarbour 😊 I don't mind so much that they're going to Bluesky, though I don't think it makes sense. (The crypto bros seem likely to eventually ruin Bluesky too.)

If people would kill off their accounts, instead of "quiet quitting" to another platform, I think it would be quite substantial. The higher the proportion of so-called "users" over at X are estimated to be just bots, the better.

@hildabast
Hanging out at the Nazi bar should have consequences. Tell the press.

@hildabast

So fitting!

Only that Twitter doesn't exist any more and people still calling the Nazi Chatroom "Twitter" contribute to the delusion that there is an alternate reality where Musk never bought the platform.

Personally, it creeps me out when colleagues do that: what other unpleasant realities are they willing to deny? Maybe the falsification of their beloved theory by an ugly experiment?

@brembs It's at least partly habit. But people who have a choice about whether or not to stay sure are deluding themselves - or it's all just not a dealbreaker. Either of those is bad.

Even when Twitter was at its best, many academics were pretty judgmental about those of us who were there . (Kardashian Index etc.) I think now it's a very small proportion of the science community, and they ones who are still there are also deluding themselves if they think they're not being judged for it.

@hildabast

Yes, exactly.

It's what you put into words there, that creeps me out. I personally know people like that. If some of our colleagues fit your description, what hope is left for the rest of humanity that was not trained to "not fool oneself" as Feynman called it?

@brembs I think it's a bit complicated when it's a critical social or personal community. I'm sure there are people who feel the same about Facebook. But Facebook is a family connection that's vital to me - especially now, that the memories it serves up almost every day include connections with my deceased son, which I cherish.

@hildabast

Yes, there are those for sure, either belonging to or studying certain, often marginalized groups. It is especially infuriating when the only place these groups can interact is on a hostile platform.

I did not know about your son, I'm so sorry. I can't even begin to imagine the horror and unspeakable grief I would feel if something would happen to our daughter.

@ncdave4life I have no account on X.

Twitter no longer exists - there's only X, and I want no connection with it.

I'm a big fan of Mastodon, though.

@hildabast, I much prefer Twitter/X, since Musk has reduced the censorship there. But Mastadon is at least better than Bluesky,.