… should I jump from the apparently-sinking ship that is Twitter? A lot of people seem to be asking that question. A lot more have already answered it, judging from the dwindling number of names I recognize on my feed.

I don’t think there’s an easy answer. It was already a Dumpster fire much of the time. But it was also a place for me to cheer on my writer friends and learn about agents opening to queries or about short fiction submission opportunities. It was people who don’t know each other IRL perpetually fighting each other because one of them had an opinion on something. It was a place to learn about life experiences and viewpoints I might not have gotten exposed to otherwise. It was frequently racist, sexist, antisemitic and awful, but still somehow a requirement for creatives looking to “build their platforms.” It was a way for small businesses and entrepreneurs to get their work seen and boost their profiles.

Plus, cat photos.

I probably won’t actively quit. I’ll keep checking in on the people I know until the day I try to open the site and it’s not there. But I really, really would like if there were another place to have these conversations, minus (at least some of) the hatred. I’m not sure Mastodon is it (convince me otherwise). I’m dubious about Tumblr. If I fully switch to Instagram, it’ll be all cat photos all the time. Which is maybe not super professional.

Some cranky part of me wishes we didn’t need to rely on social media at all. It seems to amplify the negative and bury the positive, and I think that’s a feature, not a bug.

Aaannnddd speaking of antisemitism because it’s increasingly unavoidable, the Forward generally has a more informed, nuanced take on such incidents than other outlets. For instance, this column about Dave Chappelle’s SNL monologue. But look, I get way more worried when politicians spread antisemitic tropes than when celebrities do it. Celebrities don’t make policy.

So, see you on Twitter, maybe, and if not, stay safe.