Twitter can be a powerful communication tool, one that offers a platform to the famous and non-famous alike, the humorous and not-so-funny, as well as the hinged and unhinged. At its best, the social media site has been instrumental in grassroots activism, signal boosting for charitable and arts organizations, as well as the sharing photos of dogs and cats. But Twitter can also be an awfully vicious place because, despite the many bots that follow the president, it’s made up of real people who can be awful and/or vicious. Even if you use the platform’s anti-trolling techniques, you’re still wading into a cesspool every time you load the app, which is why so many people have just ditched it altogether. Comedian Joe Mande recently decided he’d had enough of the slurs and other bullshit of Twitter, which he called both a “malignancy” and a “fucking hellscape” in his farewell tweet.
He points out that the social media site’s algorithm takes greater exception with a profane response than targeted abuse, as he was repeatedly suspended for repeatedly telling bigots to “suck [his] dick,” all while white supremacists continue to hold court online. So he’s out, as will all right-minded people be once Twitter’s out of dog and cat photos.