November 14, 2024
This post is part of my 30in30 challenge, where I write 30 minutes every day for 30 working days. Due to my limited time for this challenge, the content will be only very lightly researched and edited. The idea is to just write. Find my voice, and find the courage to publish. To follow my curiosity wherever it may take me.
It's been nearly two weeks since I started this Write 30in30 challenge, and it's been going well.
I started this challenge because I would get paralyzed by fear before pushing my content. I would overthink, edit, research, and research some more, then edit even more. And, more often than not, I still wouldn't hit the publish button.
I hoped writing a little daily would keep me too busy to overthink, helping me overcome the fear. And to an extent - it has worked. I publish pretty easily now.
Interestingly, this new habit has also led me to explore other platforms. I post on Bsky a lot these days, and I enjoy the interactions with people there. I try not to take it too seriously, have fun, meet new people, see what everyone is up to, what is driving the industry forward.
Just like Twitter used to be. Yes, I refuse to call it X, even though I hardly recognize the platform now.
I have been on Twitter for over 14 years. It has seen me through my psychology degree when I followed people working in the field. It was there when I was considering doing a PhD, reading about people's experiences. I was there when I switched to technology, eager to find people to learn from. The initial success of Larabelles was due to Twitter and the response and support I got from the followers there. And last but not least, I found most of my jobs through people I met on Twitter.
Safe to say I owe it a lot. I owe it my living.
But it's not what it used to be anymore. It has become a dark place. I don't see posts from people I follow; I see some really disturbing stuff instead. It doesn't matter how many people I block or how many words I mute. Things get through, and I have no control over what I'm exposed to. Most followers appear to be bots and the chance to have some real conversation is very limited. I'm not surprised that people don't reply to my tweets - I don't respond to theirs because unless I check individual profiles, I simply don't see what people share.
And so I moved to Bsky.
Bsky is what Twitter used to be. Friendly, light, fun. The UI is very similar, but the users seem to have more control over the content they see on their timeline. Interestingly, Bsky doesn't have any content analytics tools for users. It's strange not to see how "well" a post is doing, but at the same time, not knowing is freeing. And there are no paid ads at the moment.
As Bsky is moving up in ratings, Twitter is dropping down.
But I do wonder: Is Bsky going to stay the way it is at the moment? How is it going to change as it grows? What will be the price to pay for the increase in user base and popularity? Because I'm sure there will be one, things will change. This is the nature of things. Nothing ever stays the same.
This begs the question: Was the downfall of Twitter due to the change in management or simply because it got too big?
Food for thought.