So I'm really doing this then?
I was personally gutted when everyone left Tumblr for Twitter so many years ago, but ultimately, we go where the people are. We gave up the established communities we started here—for me, primarily queer- and music-related—and traded our nuanced conversations for quick snaps. Eventually, as images and video began taking over the timeline, Twitter tried to become more like Tumblr. But by then, the modes of discourse had changed: Just realize that the reason Donald Trump became such a popular figure on Twitter is because he spoke the language. It is a language where everything is shorthand, meaning is ambiguous, and the more you say, the less time anyone has to consider what you're saying. You know that game where you're given three truths and a lie? We are all playing that game on Twitter constantly.
New communities formed, and for that I was grateful. But I feel like there's a reason why I have more than twice as many followers on Instagram as I do on Twitter. I just never really loved the format. I never loved the implicit suggestion that all of your thoughts are worth sharing. I never loved the way it is truly so much easier to be a terrible person when you're given a word-budget. Mostly, I never felt like I was truly connecting on the platform, and maybe that's the worst thing of all.
When Elon Musk took over and essentially set the bird on fire, many of us were forced to reconsider our relationship with Twitter. As of this second, several of my music and journalist friends have begun flirting with Mastodon, while many of my queer friends have begun flirting on Hive. I set up accounts with both platforms this week, but as of right now, I haven't really used either.
It's possible I've been waiting to come back to Tumblr ever since I left it. Ultimately, we go where the people are—but someone has to go first.