This weekend on social media was the hottest of hot messes, of the kind that feel exceedingly rare in the modern day. It was a weekend that started with an account tracking Elon’s flights getting banned on Twitter, and ended with Elon Musk putting up a poll asking whether or not he should step down from his role as the guy in charge of Twitter. (We collectively voted yes, by a fairly wide margin. Vox populi, vox dei.)
Along the way, there were moments of joy (the many memes around John Mastodon, the superhero of sorts created by a Mediaite writer who failed to comprehend the word “join”) and moments of anger (the creation of a rule against sharing links to profiles on third-party networks via Twitter, since removed). And it just felt like constant chaos, a constant make-it-up-as-we-go-along situation that might make you feel like there’s no stability to be found on social media these days.
And honestly, it’s a bit mind-shattering. It’s like watching car crash after car crash, watching the chips fall where they may, and just accepting that there is no longer a a state of calm.
Even Jack Dorsey, the guy who set the Twitter deal in motion, was left wondering, “Why?”
I don’t know about you, but I to some degree felt like my ability to properly compartmentalize this nonstop chaos was impossible. Given that this saga led to famous journalists and iconic tech-industry figures alike having their Twitter accounts permanently banned, only to be online again within 12 hours, it always felt like there was some other example of chaos around the corner.
As a creative person, I have things I want to work on and do, but I to some degree feel my creativity shattered by choppy waters of social media. Focus feels like it’s impossible when there’s always some other kind of BS around the corner.
I’m trying all the tricks. My Twitter profile is locked, preventing virality. I read these sites in grayscale. And yet, the ADHDness of it all just seems to keep causing problems. I am in fact writing this using a pomodoro tool, the same one that I always do, but with a bunch of blocks set up to discourage me from clicking on basically any social media link.
I honestly at some point just want Elon to take a day off from his schtick as the guy who just bought a boat because his chaos merchant vibes are making it impossible to focus.
At some point I feel like I might just disable my Twitter account entirely just because I want to get something done. That’s not how it should be. It should be at service of its users, but over the last two months, it appears to have broken its contract. And at some point, I am going to want my brain cells to stop getting divided just because it makes an already rich guy more money.
Time limit given ⏲: 30 minutes
Time left on clock ⏲: 7 minutes, 5 seconds
