Back before Elon Musk bought what was then called Twitter, I was a regular user. At one time, I had three separate accounts on the platform. I deleted one accounts because it was for a blog I had closed, but I continued to use the other two. I had about 1,300 followers on one and a little over 19,000 on the other. I enjoyed using these accounts to connect with others.
When Musk took over, my use of Twitter plummeted. I didn't notice any big differences with the platform at first. My use dropped because I wasn't interested in doing anything that could support him in any way. I saw him bring about one negative change after another. By the time Twitter became X, my accounts were dormant. I changed my bios on both accounts to point to my new homes on Mastodon.
I deleted both of my dormant X accounts after the 2024 U.S. presidential election. I knew I wouldn't use them again, and the messages pointing people to Mastodon had been up for long enough. I didn't try to export my old tweets, follower lists, or anything else. Good riddance to it all!
On one of my Mastodon accounts, I mentioned that I had deleted my X account and was there to stay. The backlash from other Mastodon users was swift. They criticized me for not doing it far sooner than I did. Someone would have to be an idiot, they said, to wait this long. One suggested that my unused X account had helped Trump win the election. I observed similar reactions when others shared that they had left X and moved to Mastodon.
The strongest negative reactions were reserved for those had chosen to move to from X to Bluesky. I saw lots of predictions that the same thing that happened to Twitter/X would happen to Bluesky. "Have these idiots learned nothing?"
I decided to create an account on Bluesky so I could see what it was all about. It has many advantages over Mastodon, doing some things better and many things easier. It also has some important disadvantages over Mastodon. It seems far more vulnerable to the sort of threat that took down Twitter. It is easy to see why many people would prefer one platform to the other. I found things to like about both.
If you have an account on Bluesky or Mastodon and are happy there, you might want to check out Bridgy Fed. By following their account, it will create a bridged account for you on the other platform. I used it to create a bridge of my Mastodon account on Bluesky. This allows Bluesky users to follow my Mastodon account without leaving Bluesky. Public posts I make on my Mastodon account show up on the bridged Bluesky account. It can work in the reverse direction too (i.e., Bluesky --> Mastodon).
I mention this because there have been 3 recent exoduses from X, and I expect more. The first was a result of Musk's support for Trump. Why stay on a platform that enriches a vocal Trump supporter? The second involved many scientists and academics deciding they could no longer associate themselves with a platform spreading misinformation. This seems understandable to me. The third was the result on the new terms of service that took effect on November 15. Among other things, users are consenting to AI training on their content.
Both Bluesky and Mastodon are now growing as people flee X. It is great that there are alternatives. I expect they will continue to grow, and it will be interesting to see what developments await us.
Image by Iván Jesus Rojas from Pixabay
