What to do about X
John Gruber blogged about X and using XCancel:
I understand not wanting to visit Twitter/X. But if you feel that way, I do sympathize, but that’s your decision, and you should use tools to redirect Twitter/X links automatically. And if you’re wondering why I don’t just refuse to link to anything on Twitter/X, that just isn’t practical. I wish it weren’t so, but many people, including senior Apple executives, and many organizations post interesting content exclusively to Twitter/X.
I’ve switched all my links to XCancel.com because the signed-out experience on X is so user-hostile. I think about this because I know I’ve been linking to X more this year than in previous years. As John says, there is too much exclusive content over there. For me, it’s all the AI company employees. (To minimize visits to X, I let ChatGPT research posts and send me a summary.)
I think we’re entering a new phase for X as a platform. It’s a good time to reflect on what that means and how the open web and IndieWeb communities should respond. I would break down the various phases roughly like this:
- 2006-2011: Web 2.0, everything is amazing. Twitter was a great way to connect and we didn’t worry much about silos.
- 2012-2021: Developer lockdown, API limitations. This is when I stopped using Twitter. Documented at length in my book.
- 2022-2025: Elon Musk. Chaos. Right-wing shift. Many people leaving for Bluesky and Mastodon.
- 2026: X has survived the upheaval. Some communities are still active there: sports, tech folks, governments.
Convincing people to leave X is difficult. What is easier, and what I tried to convey in my blog post about bringing back X cross-posting in Micro.blog, is a progression like this:
- User posts exclusively to X.
- User posts to both their own blog and X.
- User posts to their own blog, Bluesky, and X.
- User posts only to their own blog and Bluesky.
Every step makes the web a little better, even if someone doesn’t make it all the way through every step.
This takes time. It won’t help to shame people when they link to X or when they try to build tools to use X simultaneously with other platforms. It won’t help to assume the worst about everyone who remains on X. It only alienates people who could otherwise eventually support more open platforms.
