On August 30, 2007, I started my Twitter account using my social media name @ajwms. I’ve written about my journey with it here and in other places at my work (that have been lost…thanks ransomware)
My first tweets were…um, excited? Cute? Mostly about installing software on my new Apple devices..I guess 2007 was when I got a new iMac and the first iPod touch (still in service in my car, btw).
But, my most recent posts have been about a year apart and were about a cornhole tournament so…
Today, I pulled the plug.
And, now I find myself thinking about my experience with Twitter and how it is surprisingly hard to say good-bye to something I have been using for so long. Recent months have seen my usage plummet, which predicted my decision to leave the platform. So, logically, it makes sense.
I was a slow start on Twitter. Back then, it was 160 characters and I couldn’t find my reason “why” to use such a strange and new platform. I mean, c’mon, Facebook and RSS feeds weren’t enough? They were for a good bit. I just couldn’t figure out what Twitter could give me that those platforms weren’t already.
But, after about 18 months, I figured out my “critical mass” as I called it. I followed enough people who also followed me back that we could have conversations, share useful edtech (and other) information and links. I built an If This Then That automation to take all the links I shared and write them to delicio.us (oh, remember that??) and then to Pinboard. Because, I JUST KNEW I would go back to those links at some point.
Oops, I might have forgot to do that.
But, I connected to some great folks…some I met IRL and some I never did. Those connections provided me plenty of things to think about, technology to explore, photos to admire, movies to watch and so much more. I am so glad I had that community on Twitter during the my time in edtech. It was an amazingly wonderful community and I’m grateful for the friends and colleagues for all of the sharing and caring that happened.
But, things have changed. The platform is becoming more and more monetized and it is harder and harder to find useful content. I watched it go downhill hoping something would change. It didn’t. I am guessing that it won’t.
So, I requested my data archive. Downloaded it and then…good-bye.
I hope it is good riddance. It is riddance, nonetheless. Find me over at Bluesky, if you want!
