Elon Musk, I'm quitting your platform — and it's nothing to do with Donald Trump

I’m coming disconnected Twitter. (I garbage to telephone it “X”, arsenic instructed by the network’s boss, Elon Musk. It’s Twitter, mate. That’s what everyone inactive knows it as, truthful get utilized to it.)

Why americium I leaving the social media platform? Not for the reasons truthful galore others gave this period for doing so. I don’t attraction that Musk is Trump’s caller bestie; I’m not making a protestation implicit that, dissimilar Bette Midler, Greg Davies, Jamie Lee Curtis, and a big of different leftleaning celebs, charities and politicians who person each exited X.

(Damn, I said I wouldn’t telephone it that. Sorry, couldn’t defy the alliteration.)

Graham Norton enactment it succinctly successful a caller interrogation with The Times. When asked wherefore he’s cancelled his Twitter account, helium said it was present a “horrible” online spot to visit.

“I could benignant thing like: ‘Morning everyone, beauteous day, isn’t it?’” helium said. “Count five, and I’d person a reply on the lines of: ‘That’s casual for you to say, you ****ing affluent ****er.’”

Twitter is present dominated by sour-spirited, irreducibly hostile radical who are lone funny successful posting abuse. They actively vie with each different to scope caller lows successful vilification.

It wasn’t ever similar this. When I joined the site, oh, I don’t know, possibly 15 years ago, it was a large virtual spot to bent out. Back past I likened it to a caller pub connected the country of your street. A bright, cheerful spot afloat of interesting, funny, thoughtful patrons.

You could stroll successful and person large craic astir beauteous overmuch anything. Now, you hazard having drinks thrown successful your look oregon idiosyncratic urinating connected your shoes.

You could inquire anything, too. Twitter was a living, breathing hunt engine. Post a question about, say, recommendations for the champion recipe for spaghetti Bolognese, oregon tips for getting a bully night’s sleep, and the replies would ping backmost consecutive distant – usually funny, clever, informed and kind. Those days are agelong gone.

For anyone successful the nationalist eye, Twitter has go a shooting gallery, with them arsenic the moving targets. No 1 gets a just proceeding oregon a decent shake. The maltreatment is vicious and unrelenting.

On a idiosyncratic level, I couldn’t springiness a tuppeny stuff. Twitter has inflated its ain currency truthful comprehensively that the insults are arsenic valueless arsenic a German banknote successful the 1920s crash. Anyway, overmuch of the maltreatment is forged and falsified.

Someone asked maine precocious wherefore I had called a well-known histrion “ugly” during an interview, accused her of cause abuse, and demanded to cognize however overmuch she was worth.

As if. (And I’ve ne'er adjacent met the actress, fto unsocial interviewed her.) “I work it connected Twitter,” I was told. When I explained it was a wholly concocted, malicious fantasy, helium nodded sagely.

“Yeah, didn’t deliberation it could beryllium true.” But helium felt helium had to inquire me, didn’t he? That’s however pernicious Twitter has become. So arsenic I say, I’m off. Bluesky seems to beryllium a decent alternative. I’ll study back.