Last night, shortly after I posted yesterday’s entry, I saw a link in the Twitter Alumni Slack for a Twitter Space featuring current and former Tweeps, and I reluctantly joined. I’m glad I did. In it were current and former Twitter employees sharing fond stories, favorite memories, and lots of honest, genuine admiration for each other and what we have built. One thing that stood out for me, though, was the intense sense of camaraderie.
We talked about Tea Times and One Team and the stories behind how we got certain celebrities back on the platform. And, as the night grew later, and the tales got more sentimental, one thing was clear: There is nothing like Twitter. And no matter who owns it, nobody can take those memories away.
One story that was shared happened at a Tea Time in 2018, right after most other platforms were booting a certain loud-mouthed Texan with a penchant for denying the reality of a massacre of 26 teachers and children. Twitter, and Jack specifically, had decided not to follow suit. There’s a lot more I want to share about this later — and I intend to — but it was a reminder that no matter how much we loved each other and this platform, we had to continually face, and respond to, almost each and every unpredictable event the globe could throw at us. While still building for the future. It’s no wonder why our bond is so strong.
I tried my best to go about my day today as normal, but it was simply impossible. Seeing new members join the Slack, hearing their histories, and reuniting with people I haven’t talked to in more than two years meant the world to me. And just being able to commune and commiserate with them did me some good as I watched news story after news story come to the same realization we had already reached: Twitter will never be the same.
Today exhausted me, and I didn’t even get laid off! But all of this news has definitely taken an emotional toll. I just hope I’m able to redirect this sadness and angst into something more productive, like finding these Tweeps new roles, and helping maintain the community that’s sprung up out of the decomposing body of what was a living, vibrant, beautiful organism, thoughtlessly buried by all this needless turmoil. Here’s hoping that all this decomposition leads to many new blooms very soon.
New Damage
04 November 2022
One time, one team, many memories.
Last night, shortly after I posted yesterday’s entry, I saw a link in the Twitter Alumni Slack for a Twitter Space featuring current and former Tweeps, and I reluctantly joined. I’m glad I did. In it were current and former Twitter employees sharing fond stories, favorite memories, and lots of honest, genuine admiration for each other and what we have built. One thing that stood out for me, though, was the intense sense of camaraderie.
We talked about Tea Times and One Team and the stories behind how we got certain celebrities back on the platform. And, as the night grew later, and the tales got more sentimental, one thing was clear: There is nothing like Twitter. And no matter who owns it, nobody can take those memories away.
One story that was shared happened at a Tea Time in 2018, right after most other platforms were booting a certain loud-mouthed Texan with a penchant for denying the reality of a massacre of 26 teachers and children. Twitter, and Jack specifically, had decided not to follow suit. There’s a lot more I want to share about this later — and I intend to — but it was a reminder that no matter how much we loved each other and this platform, we had to continually face, and respond to, almost each and every unpredictable event the globe could throw at us. While still building for the future. It’s no wonder why our bond is so strong.
I tried my best to go about my day today as normal, but it was simply impossible. Seeing new members join the Slack, hearing their histories, and reuniting with people I haven’t talked to in more than two years meant the world to me. And just being able to commune and commiserate with them did me some good as I watched news story after news story come to the same realization we had already reached: Twitter will never be the same.
Today exhausted me, and I didn’t even get laid off! But all of this news has definitely taken an emotional toll. I just hope I’m able to redirect this sadness and angst into something more productive, like finding these Tweeps new roles, and helping maintain the community that’s sprung up out of the decomposing body of what was a living, vibrant, beautiful organism, thoughtlessly buried by all this needless turmoil. Here’s hoping that all this decomposition leads to many new blooms very soon.
See you tomorrow?