If you asked me about my earliest memory in the digital world, it probably would have to be either my grandma playing Mah-jong on that really chunky stationary PC in the early 2000s, Window’s XP opening sound and the desktop picture or maybe the first proper video game I played – Barbie’s Boutique (for the time being it truly was the greatest thing ever to me). However, this letter is not about that, simply because other than these words and maybe few sentences more would be all I could say about that. No, this letter is about one of my most prominent memories in the digital world.
This is a letter of appreciation and a goodbye simultaneously to what used to be the blue bird app.
I made my Twitter account in 2012, which for the time being, I guess was early, but not that early. Me and my friends used to share our random thoughts, food pictures, what we are currently listening to and retweeting funny things. Life was much simpler then, truly. After a while, I noticed that people were creating communities on the platform through being in a fandom for one thing or another. And that is how it started. I re-made my account in to a fan account for something I cannot remember anymore. Over the time, the person I was stanning, changed from actors to singers to youtubers to bands, but the idea stayed the same – the account was there for the feeling of a community. I supported whoever I was supporting, I learned how to make edits, I read a lot, which improved my English, I made genuine friendships and I also stayed on top of the relevant news in the world, because the information was just… there. A nice time to be part of the digital realm, in my opinion.
Fast forward few years and more and more people started to use the platform. More and more information was being shared, more and more politicisation of different topics could be seen.
I grew out of my fan girling phase quite naturally and it was time to move on, so I switched back to having a more, if you will, professional account. And instead of being embraced by a community, instead of experiencing the fun and love I experienced when I was 14, suddenly it was mostly politics and complaints. So many people should invest in private diaries, really. Surely the app was made to say whatever and whenever, but do we really need to know everything about everyone? People nowadays seem to create tight para-social relationships with others online, forgetting that: a) not everything you see is true and b) not everything needs a reply back. 4/5 times when I enter the app I see a sea of negative things and few bits of something nice. It is becoming impossible to use it for news as well, because it is getting harder and harder to distinguish between what is true and what is not and God forbid you have an opinion that opposes someone else’s.
But it has not been all that bad, the little blue bird still sometimes feels inviting and shows something nice or connects with cool people, whose words are interesting to read. Except, it is not a little blue bird anymore. It is an impersonal X, making the platform fall apart within it. And so I have decided to part my ways with the blue bird app and not look for a replacement. Too much of our lives have been transformed to the digital realm, and while in many cases it can be a beautiful thing… I really think people could benefit from having private diaries. Keyword: private.
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