Goodbye Twitter/X

Yesterday I signed into my Twitter/X account, selected “Settings and Privacy”, selected “Deactivate your account”, clicked on “Deactivate” and then confirmed my actions.

Twitter/X is deactivated and will soon be fully deleted.

A few weeks ago, I removed the Twitter/X app from all my devices and logged out of Twitter/X in the places where I use a browser. I took this first step because I wasn’t sure that I’d really reached the end of the Twitter/X road

The break confirmed to me that the road was at an end.

Some of you may be wondering about my reasoning for leaving a platform I’ve used for many years. Perhaps you are wondering whether it’s a response to the current direction of Twitter/X or the current leadership team. Perhaps you are wondering whether I was becoming frustrated by the algorithms. Perhaps you think that I may be getting increasingly frustrated with the need for a paid subscription. There are aspects and elements of these reasons in my decision, but they aren’t the root cause.

My underlying reason can be summarised in one word – boredom.

I found myself asking the Marie Kondo question: “Does this spark joy?” I found it difficult to answer with anything more joyful than a “meh.”

What about all those connections built over the years, did they spark joy? Not really. All the connections that sparked joy are friends who I’m far more likely to connect with over WhatsApp or in-person.

Was there something that I had recently read that had sparked joy? Not that I could think of.

Following through with Marie Kondo, the conclusion had to be that it was time that I decluttered my online life and that Twitter/X was first to go.

Deactivating Twitter/X feels good.

Others may follow.

Header Image: A recent sunrise in the Lake District overlooked the Eastern Fells from somewhere near Dacre.