X is X #AtoZChallenge
My 2025 A to Z Challenge theme is activism. I’ve been a Black Lives Matter activist for over a decade. I’m not an expert. I do have experience to share and I’m hoping to learn from your experiences, too. We’re all in this together.
Let’s talk about social media. I’m as much looking for advice as I am prepared to give it.
When I deleted my X (formerly known as Twitter) account, I had over 12,000 followers. Well, in theory. I don’t think they would have followed me anywhere.
I was an early user of Twitter. In the early days, I joined with a bunch of other librarians and it was a useful way to exchange everything from news to how our days were going.
As Twitter grew, it became a good place to share the links to my blog posts and to follow other bloggers’ links. Eventually, though, it got too big and messy and I didn’t have a use for it anymore. I had barely looked at it in years when I deleted my account as a protest for how its owner was behaving.
I have heard that there are people who are wading into what they describe as the “toxic stew” of X as a way to bring voices of reason to people who are lost in conspiracy theories. My skill set isn’t well-suited to that work, so I’ll cheer on anyone who is able to do it well and without wrecking their own self-care.
I signed up for Bluesky as an alternative to Twitter. But since I wasn’t using Twitter, it hasn’t slotted well into my life. I did follow a bunch of journalists and writers who seem to use it well. When I remember to check Bluesky it’s informative, to a point. It’s also a bit of an echo chamber. Does anyone have advice about how to use Bluesky? Do you use a different microblogging site?
Facebook is an addiction for me. It’s also owned by a person and company who behave badly. Facebook is a force that could be doing good in the world but too often chooses to do the opposite.
However, I’m not quite sure how to function without Facebook. That’s how I learn about local events and opportunities. It’s even how I organize some of those local events and opportunities.
To keep it a little bit under control, I’ve been taking long chunks of time off of Facebook — all day on some Sundays and the hours between 9am and 4pm, most week days.
Do you have good alternatives to Facebook and/or good tips for working with it while not being consumed by it?
YouTube is often an inspiration for me. Yesterday, that was how I learned that Senator Cory Booker and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries hosted a Sunday morning gathering on the Capitol steps.
The visual was such a contrast to what we saw on January 6, 2021. That day was about violence, chaos, and lawlessness. Yesterday was about stories. Stories of faith traditions. Stories of the impact of government programs on American people, children, and families. Stories of resilience and activism. I learned so much about my fellow Americans by listening to those stories.
I cheered when Sarah McBride made history as the first openly trans person elected to Congress. In the last week, YouTube brought me Sarah McBride twice so that I learned how inspiring she is as a person and public servant. She spoke on the Capitol steps at about 10:45 of the above video. During her introduction, Senator Booker called out the video below that truly introduced me to Representative Sarah McBride.
What social media do you boycott? What social media do you embrace? Why?