Quitting X can allow malign actors to dominate, but the platform is described as beyond redemption. X is characterized as promoting misinformation, anger, and argumentativeness through algorithms that prioritize abuse over accuracy. The piece connects sports examples to broader political and social dynamics. The proposed remedy is a balanced, informed media diet and direct engagement with real people. It also calls for “X-shaming,” arguing that progressives’ presence on X sustains the platform by creating an illusion of balance and multipolarity. The message emphasizes that users are not immune to fake news or delusion and that time spent on X contributes to making the world worse.
"Some argue that quitting the platform formerly known as Twitter cedes the space to malign actors. But it's an open sewer, beyond redemption. Misinformation. Anger-inducing argumentativeness. Algorithms designed to promote anger and abuse, rather than accuracy and insight. If you are reading here at Emptywheel, you've probably seen similar pieces from Marcy, Rayne, and others around Xitter and politics, science, international relations, or other subjects."
"The only reliable disinfectant for a surfeit of lies and white supremacism is a balanced, informed media diet, actual engagement with actual real-life people. And the only real antidote to X-brain is X-shaming: an admission that the continuing presence of progressives on X helps prop up the entire enterprise, offers the illusion of balance and multipolarity that allows mainstream media and politicians to continue mining it as a proxy for public opinion."
"Above all, we should start to stigmatise X usage for what it really is: a small and selfish part in making the world measurably worse. You are not special. You are not immune to fake news, delusion, anti-reality. You do not have a unique ability to maintain your critical faculties in an ecosystem where everyone else is losing theirs."
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