Grieving The Loss of a Community
As some of you may know, I’ve deactivated both my business/personal Twitter account and my gamer Twitter account. I think it’s been two weeks? My sense of time is a blur: one day melding into the next, one week merging with the former week.
Twitter was my home for just under 14 years. 14 YEARS! It was my stability throughout the last six years of Hell we’ve all been in with the former administration and now his continuing efforts (rallies-ugh) to undermine our nation, our very lives. The last two years has had bright spots due to our current President Biden, though. Thank heavens!
But, I’m not going to lie, I am grieving the loss. Twitter helped me connect with people I normally would never meet in real life: attorneys, CIA/FBI agents, astrophysicists, astronomers, game developers, streamers, journalists, activists, professors, and more…from all over the United States, England, Canada and the rest of the world!
I had brief discussions with a few of them, and I hope they relocate to Post. I know a few are already here, thank heavens. Even if they don’t know me, I looked forward to seeing them every day or whenever I needed to witness their lives, their expertise, their existence. Even if 99.9% of them didn’t acknowledge mine. That’s ok. They were there for me.
Since TFG’s 2016 election to POTUS coincided with my husband’s death, I honestly didn’t think I’d make it through those four years of TFG’s reign of power. There is still such an undercurrent of hatred and gaslighting amongst far too many people in positions of power both statewide and nationally — far too many for my liking and I’m sure for yours, too.
Losing the stability of my community on Twitter has shaken me, activating my grief once more of the loss of my beloved husband six years ago. He was my rock: he gave me stability, certainty in my life. He was my greatest love, my best friend, and my greatest supporter. When anything went wrong, he was here to hold me, to stand with me, to encourage me. He was here.
Update: Now that it’s been a couple of weeks on Post, I must say, my grief in losing Twitter has dissipated remarkably quickly! The times when I’ve gone back, I’m appalled at the level of hatred and blatant racism, and every kind of bigotry you can imagine on it now. I get anxious, fearful, and I leave as quickly as I can.
I now rarely go over to the bird site, and I’ve noticed and have been delighted at how my Postmates are interacting with each other on such a respectful level. The comments are lovely to read. So much support. I dare say, Noam Bardin (creator of Post) and his team are getting the platform right and I’m looking forward to creating a new community there. We’re all in this together. We’re setting the tone. We’re helping Post with the beta version of a platform that is already incredibly user-friendly, working the kinks out and making it the best it can be. I’m here for it! Are you?