X is X #AtoZChallenge
My 2025 A to Z Challenge theme is activism. I’ve been a Black Lives Matter activist for over a decade. I’m not an expert. I do have experience to share and I’m hoping to learn from your experiences, too. We’re all in this together.
Let’s talk about social media. I’m as much looking for advice as I am prepared to give it.
When I deleted my X (formerly known as Twitter) account, I had over 12,000 followers. Well, in theory. I don’t think they would have followed me anywhere.
I was an early user of Twitter. In the early days, I joined with a bunch of other librarians and it was a useful way to exchange everything from news to how our days were going.
As Twitter grew, it became a good place to share the links to my blog posts and to follow other bloggers’ links. Eventually, though, it got too big and messy and I didn’t have a use for it anymore. I had barely looked at it in years when I deleted my account as a protest for how its owner was behaving.
I have heard that there are people who are wading into what they describe as the “toxic stew” of X as a way to bring voices of reason to people who are lost in conspiracy theories. My skill set isn’t well-suited to that work, so I’ll cheer on anyone who is able to do it well and without wrecking their own self-care.
I signed up for Bluesky as an alternative to Twitter. But since I wasn’t using Twitter, it hasn’t slotted well into my life. I did follow a bunch of journalists and writers who seem to use it well. When I remember to check Bluesky it’s informative, to a point. It’s also a bit of an echo chamber. Does anyone have advice about how to use Bluesky? Do you use a different microblogging site?
Facebook is an addiction for me. It’s also owned by a person and company who behave badly. Facebook is a force that could be doing good in the world but too often chooses to do the opposite.
However, I’m not quite sure how to function without Facebook. That’s how I learn about local events and opportunities. It’s even how I organize some of those local events and opportunities.
To keep it a little bit under control, I’ve been taking long chunks of time off of Facebook — all day on some Sundays and the hours between 9am and 4pm, most week days.
Do you have good alternatives to Facebook and/or good tips for working with it while not being consumed by it?
YouTube is often an inspiration for me. Yesterday, that was how I learned that Senator Cory Booker and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries hosted a Sunday morning gathering on the Capitol steps.
The visual was such a contrast to what we saw on January 6, 2021. That day was about violence, chaos, and lawlessness. Yesterday was about stories. Stories of faith traditions. Stories of the impact of government programs on American people, children, and families. Stories of resilience and activism. I learned so much about my fellow Americans by listening to those stories.
I cheered when Sarah McBride made history as the first openly trans person elected to Congress. In the last week, YouTube brought me Sarah McBride twice so that I learned how inspiring she is as a person and public servant. She spoke on the Capitol steps at about 10:45 of the above video. During her introduction, Senator Booker called out the video below that truly introduced me to Representative Sarah McBride.
What social media do you boycott? What social media do you embrace? Why?
I found twitter very useful during the Arab Spring when I was able to follow along with what was happening from people who were actually participating in some cases. I quit when Trump began using it years ago.
At one time I found fb very useful for keeping up with far flung family and friends but gradually those I most wanted to follow, left. I ditched it once during covid, then went back and left it again a few months ago. It had become a big time waster for me.
I’m still on instagram where my daughters and I share info. I check in to see if they are sharing something with me several times a week and scroll less often.
I do use youtube. For exercise videos and when someone recommends something to me.
I use BS to keep informed since I stopped consuming mainstream news channels. Also Twitter was always toxic. I don’t mind it being an echo chamber. I want it to be one. It’s my reminder there are reasonable and normal people still out there.
Thanks for this review. I use FB the most. I read two newspapers every day, one very conservative and the other in the middle. On Sunday, I read the NYT. As for social media, I still check out X. There are many fighting for truth there, which is good. I need to get on Blue Sky more…Great post, Joy.
Thanks for the YouTube links. I’ve never been much of a social media user, and I really haven’t found anything that’s a right-fit for me. I long ago quit FB and Twitter, and Bluesky just doesn’t seem to work for me. I use IG solely for the visual content, but it’s not really a connection point.
I connect with cousins and friends on Facebook. I am on Twitter and Bluesky but do not find them useful.
Oh, this is such a good topic, though quite complicated. Back story… I dropped Twitter when CrazyPants first bought it. Dropped Facebook in ~2020 because it was so toxic for me. Stayed with Insta and wound up with three accounts (personal, farm, family history) despite Zuck’s policies and mind bending, until this January when he officially made his statement against the queer community. My accounts still exist (for now) but I don’t use them nor engage on them at all anymore. I also dropped TikTok in January when AngryMango started talking about purchasing it. So, Bluesky is it now. and blogging. And life is so much calmer for it.
Now, to your question about how to effectively use Bluesky. I wish I knew. Maybe I’m not glued to my phone enough to stay in my followers and mutuals feeds? It is a bit of an echo chamber, but it’s better than the rest right now and allows me to follow a large diversity of people and news sources.
I had almost 7k followers on Twitter.
But no, I’m not using X. I won’t even log on long enough to delete myself. It’s there, but I don’t use it anymore.
I do enjoy Bluesky. It reminds me of how Twitter once was, though there’s slightly less connection. (I had some good friends on that site, before it was ruined.)
I hope you’re enjoying the A to Z Challenge. Please check out the giveaway on my W post.
J Lenni Dorner (he/him
or 
they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZchallenge
I suspect that all of us are trying to figure out ways to navigate social media these days. I retained my Twitter and Instagram accounts, but I never go to these. I try to go to Facebook no more than once a day. I don’t know of any good alternatives.
I use Mastodon myself, but mostly I try not to be as deeply into anything as I was with Twitter at some point. I consciously focus on Litsy at times, since that’s all books all the time, and good for restorative chatter.