What to Do if Twitter Goes Tits Up

It has finally happened: Elon Musk has taken over Twitter today.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens next. Some expect chaos others think it continues to be a necessary evil. Maybe a right-wing mob equipped with pitchforks and torches will overrun and force out all remaining humble and honest people from the platform. Perhaps not; who knows?

Whatever happens, may I interest you in a couple of alternatives, just in case:

• micro.blog is a, well, micro-blogging service built on top of open APIs. It’s not free but has no ads, and you own your content, which you can syndicate to other platforms.
• The distributed social network Mastodon has been around for some time but has yet to take off. Maybe its time will come (Remember the pitchforks). Different communities run Mastodon nodes; you can pick one that fits your interests.
• Blogs are still a thing. You can write your own; it’s fun. 

You can also do what old people generally do and spend less time online. Because the decontextualised arguments, the self-aggrandisement, and the flat memes — you’ll find them anywhere online. Read a book, go for a walk, start taking photos, or cook yourself dinner, instead of having it delivered by a bloke on a scooter.