I’ve been a Twitter user since 2008. I think it was still in Beta when I got my account. I have 3000 tweets and 1300 followers and I’ve had to walk away since Elon Musk took over.
It’s been difficult because Twitter is where all my digital buddies are. In the two weeks I’ve been off Twitter, all my social media traction with regard to digital art has disappeared. It highlights a couple of things for me.
One: Keeping the traction going and the drip of brain chemicals coming is a lot of work.
Two: I’m not sure I GAF any more about traction. No one is going to hire me for a job. I might pick up some kind of work or odd commission for a VR space, but I am pretty sure my days of being employable are zero.
No one from my list of friends has reached out to say I am missed. It’s harsh, but no one cares. I can’t think of any reason to keep doing something except to hope that when you quit doing it, you are missed. Think of life and death in the same way. It is impossible to care about a whole ecosystem that needs itself in order to perpetuate itself.
So it’s like a snake eating its own tail. I have to stay engaged on Twitter to maintain the illusion that any of those fuckers care about me or my work, let alone how I feel about being included or excluded from this or that clique of other scrappers. Since they don’t really care about anyone other than themselves (the grind! the shill!) they don’t care about you no matter how high you hold up that sign that says, “Look what I did! Isn’t it grand?” So isn’t it better to put away the sign and get back to work — if that is what you’re comfortable doing?
So that is what I am doing. I keep my profile and account there so that no one can replace me or assume the profile, and maybe if Musk runs out of money and his controllers whistle and call him home, I’ll come back. But there’s a big hole in my day now. This hole used to be filled with FOMO, audio Twitter, shitposting, and caring about what The Syndicate was doing at the moment (The Syndicate was a little group of young smarty pants I thought were friends but, nah).
It’s a little like getting my life back but since no one in my physical world is doing VR and 3D work, I find myself alone again, drifting in the digital world, faceless and without any context. But I can’t stop doing it. It’s the kind of work I dreamed of doing when I first started out in the mid-1980s. OG that I am I look and look for my digital tribe.
Where? Who? Is it just me again?
I do have a Discord server. I’d post a link but since they only work for a week, I’d say hit me up on Facebook for a link. I’m sure you’re more than welcome to join.
M. Elwell Romancito 