The Breaker Times

Social networking has become more disconnected, to say the least. Two years ago, Elon Musk began transforming Twitter into what is now X, and the ensuing chaos drove a lot of former users elsewhere — elsewhere being several places, including Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and even Facebook or Instagram.

We were curious as to where our staff members were going for their social networking fix these days — or whether they had given up on it altogether. Here are some of their answers.

I primarily use microblogging social networks, and I bounce between many of them because 1) I need to for my job and 2) because none has really risen to become the One Central Place that Twitter used to be.

X is awful now, but I need to use it to keep tabs on Elon Musk and the various companies that still post news on the platform first. (Nintendo, please consider moving to another platform!) Threads has a lot of people that migrated from X, but I don’t like how much the service pushes the “For You” feed. Bluesky is my favorite microblogging app to actually use, but not enough of the people I care about post there regularly.

If I had to pick just one, it would be Bluesky. But I just don’t think any single platform is going to be the one-stop shop that Twitter once was, so for the foreseeable future, I’ll keep dabbling with them all.

The best social network, hands-down, is the trip reports section of the Washington Trails Association app. I am not kidding. The WTA app and website are amazing for helping you find hikes throughout the state, and there’s almost always a recent trip report for the hike you’re considering. This is how you find out critical information like if the bathrooms are gross and if the mosquitos are really bad on the trail. News I can use! Plus, people post images with their reports so you get to look at pictures of gorgeous mountains and sometimes dogs. Nobody is mean to anyone else, and you literally have to go outside and touch grass before you post. Is there a better framework for a social network? No.

I’m on way too many social networks right now because I haven’t found a favorite yet. I am still on Facebook. (I’m sorry, but many of my friends and family are there, and so that’s what I use to keep in touch.) I tend to use Threads more often than Bluesky or Mastodon because I’ve gotten into that habit, although I have a lot of writer friends and colleagues on Bluesky and should go there more often. And I really need to avoid the black hole that is TikTok — I’ve got too many things on my task list to spend that much time watching short videos of cute cats and angry activists.

I really miss what Twitter used to be; I was an extremely avid tweeter. But I also really missed what LiveJournal used to be and, before it, what AOL used to be. So here we are.

I’ve never been on Instagram so Threads was a nonstarter, but I’ve landed pretty happily on Bluesky, and all the social interaction I’m willing to do in public is over there. But honestly, it’s still too much trouble to have strong opinions (especially about something like a video game, haha) where everyone can read them — so the majority of my social media time is spent on a small handful of tightly personal Discord spaces. They’re friends and family-style servers; none has more than a hundred members, and the smallest has just five.

Do I miss the open social media era of the internet? So much. But I also really like not getting death threats for talking about nerd media, so Discord it is.

I’m with Barbara — I often use Facebook. After a very long period of trying to stay off social networks, it’s become an invaluable resource for me since moving to a new state. I’ve joined local groups so I can stay up-to-date on what’s going on around town and even meet new people (both of which would otherwise be a challenge while working from home). There are also a few Facebook pages that have become my go-to sources for updates on local weather, helping me navigate this year’s tumultuous hurricane season.

Other than that, I still use X to get real-time updates on breaking news, but I’m trying to fold Threads and Bluesky into my routine, too.

Twitter (RIP) was my only professional social network for a long time, and after a stint at Mastodon, I’ve settled pretty squarely on Bluesky for now. I love the fact that we’ve got multiple microblogging platforms, and I’m happy for everyone who’s having a good time on Mastodon, but a lot of my old Twitter faves settled on Bluesky and it feels low-stakes and low-pressure in a way Mastodon didn’t for me.

I’d also like to put in a good word for Tumblr, which, yes, is still around — and has a user base that’s uniquely weird, cohesive, and largely indifferent to clout and monetization. Its feature set has somehow coalesced into the perfect system for collaborative culture-making and lightly absurdist microfiction. You’re not gonna get stuff like Goncharov, Second Century Warlord, or the Destiel News Delivery System anywhere else. 

As has been said more eloquently by my colleagues, I miss Twitter. I still use X, despite my better judgment, but it’s increasingly becoming unusable, and I’ve yet to find a viable alternative. Threads has too little news and is far too worthy (those earnest “story Threads” are unbearable), Mastodon is too boring, and I just haven’t found my community on Bluesky. I do enjoy a good Discord, which is where many of my smart home tribes have migrated to and is probably where I’ll spend more of my work-related social media time.

But if I’m honest, I think I’m done with social media from a personal vantage. I’ve been an avid user for nearly two decades, since the early Facebook days, largely to stay in touch with friends and family after moving halfway across the world. But as its value in my work diminishes and fewer social networks retain that social feel, it’s time to move on. My digital social networks are now mostly iMessage and WhatsApp chat groups, and that’s fine with me.

I stepped away from social media almost entirely after the death of Twitter — but I’m back on Threads for one reason and one reason alone. I want to share videos of the coolest and most gadgety toys with you, and Meta / Facebook / Instagram’s Threads is the only platform that lets me build an endless stream of those sweet Verge videos just by embedding them. Plus, they natively play in a browser window without requiring you to log in. If Meta ever changes those things (or blows up Threads with ads), I’ll probably have to find a new home. 

I’ve also dabbled with Mastodon (both solo and by federating my Threads account), and I technically haven’t deleted my X account yet since I kept it around for DMs… but it’s been a while since I got a message there. Perhaps it’s time.