In its decade of existence, Twitter has become many things to many, many people. Some people lurk on it without posting, just to see what's happening. Others use it for self-promotion. Others like to follow comedians and keep up with the latest memes. And others use it to connect with the like-minded, and the not-so-like-minded, around the world.
Still others prefer to use it as a weapon to hurt people and spread lies, hatred and abuse like wildfire. And as we all know, because we've been talking about it for literal years now to zero effect, these trolls and abusers of Twitter are killing the platform. They're doing this by making it simply unbearable for those chosen as targets; and by turning potentially fertile ground for conversations that deepen our understanding of the world into a toxic swamp.
And it's time we did something about it – or else resign ourselves to the reality of the swamp, and flee to higher ground.
Yesterday, Shrill author and Guardian columnist Lindy West announced her decision to pack up and get out; declaring Twitter "unusable for anyone but trolls, robots and dictators."
Related Content
She joins the ranks of Ghostbusters star Leslie Jones and fellow Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti, who both deactivated their accounts (albeit temporarily) last year after copping a torrent of violent, hateful abuse.
But West's decision to leave was not a reaction to an immediate threat like Valenti's (whose final straw was a threat to her daughter); nor was it in response to a particular virulent deluge of hate like that experienced by Jones last year. West, like so many women, has become accustomed to the lose-lose situation of dealing with trolls.
Writing in The Guardian, West explains that her decision wasn't so much about the trolls themselves, but "the global repercussions of Twitter's refusal to stop them". In the era of President-elect Donald Trump using the platform to silence journalists, spread blatant lies and "set hate mobs on private citizens", West wrote "it feels unconscionable to be a part of it – to generate revenue for it, participate in its profoundly broken culture and lend my name to its legitimacy."
She's right, of course. But there is an obvious conundrum here, in that Twitter has become something of an essential communication service. Although West suggests people move on and "do good elsewhere", that elsewhere doesn't really exist right now – not for journalists, writers, entertainers, activists. Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook? None of these platforms offer the possibilities for connection and immediate, global, viral communication that Twitter does.
So perhaps instead of individually rage-quitting and then crawling back in a few months, it may be time for those of us who find Twitter beneficial (or at least, potentially beneficial) to actually organise and place some serious pressure on the company executives to fix their Nazi/troll/robot/abuser problem.
We've seen the power of women taking collective action in recent months. The mass protests in Poland were exhilarating to watch: proof that when women walk out we get shit done. Later this month 200,000 women are expected to march on Washington against Donald Trump at his inauguration - and thousands in cities across the world will join them in solidarity.
Surely women – especially those of us who use the platform daily for our work – can do more to pressure Twitter into acknowledging our value and make it worth our while to stick around. Without us, what even is Twitter? Seriously.
Let's set a date. Friday the 13th, perhaps. And on that day, we collectively deactivate. (At dawn – for extra dramatic effect – if you like.)
It's time to hold a strike until Twitter drains its swamp. Who's with me?
0 comments
New User? Sign up