(Musk, obviously).
Twitter is an interesting place, and I am saying this authoritatively as a man who has been there, like a man who has been to Mombasa will tell a layman like me who has not gone there.
I find it interesting because I love stories, and mchongoano (this one should go to the dictionary) and, as any normal human being, the sense of belonging - of being in there - not just with the cool guys, but There in the kitchen where the hot chapatis are being made.
I, again like many other human beings, thought I was exceptional - that the normal weaknesses of other human beings would not affect me, but jokes on me! I am not exceptional, after all.
Regardless (comma) I thought my powers of concentration were infinite and my ability to stay interested in something that catches my interest rock solid, my curiosity unquenchable and my will impregnable, but little by little the shots of dopamine I got from Facebook and Twitter introduced cracks into my mind, from which great chunks of rock fell (or fall? I do not know) off.
I had to leave.
It was HARD!
Anyway, I managed to leave both Facebook and Twitter by changing my recovery emails into something throwaway and changing my passwords into something more complex that would take more time than my laziness would allow me to memorize. I have accounts whose passwords are complex enough that I can fairly say, "sijui password yangu." Hehehe.
Before you jump here and start lecturing me on hardware authentication and I don't know passwordless verification, I have thought about it and it is stupider than EVs. But that is not the point of this essay.
I was thanking Elon, yes.
While joining Twitter made me a part of the crowd and one of the cool guys and was very entertaining, it also fed the hyena in my heart but most importantly, made me angry. Someone was always saying or doing some stupid shit which infuriated me enough that I could have become a keyboard warrior and killed a few people online, maybe even off. This anger was too much for me to bear.
I had to leave.
After leaving, there was one way for me to still keep up with the crowd while keeping my sanity intact - through the uri twitter.com/i/trends, I could see what was going on and follow a few conversations or threads, see some tweets and profiles without having to log in. To reply, I had to log in which wouldn't happen, obviously.
While, yes, I still encountered some stupid shit there, I could remain neutral because now, it was none of my business. I am no longer a part of the market.
So, what am I thanking him for? Locking down the url above to only show trends while requiring me to log in or sign up to navigate them or "be a part of the conversation". That is not going to happen. Thank you for closing the prison doors behind me, Elon. May your billions increase.