John Gruber on X

Over the weekend, John Gruber posted a piece titled “X Once Again Marks the Spot”. He announced this on Mastodon by saying “I’m sure this one won’t make anyone angry.” I’m not angry, John, I’m just so very tired.

Others have written about this with more gusto than I can muster. Ernie Smith’s piece matches many of my feelings. Even if X is great now (which I sincerely doubt), I definitely don’t need another social feed to follow. I stopped posting to Twitter in late 2022, and gave up on it completely in early 2023. I then slowly started posting more to my own website. Being on social media less has made me happier overall, and building up my own web presence again has been a lot of fun.

Lex Friedman wrote an initial piece and a follow-up which mirror my disappointment. Yes, we’re probably too divided as a society. We should do more to reach out to people we disagree with and find common ground… but there have to be lines somewhere. Friedman lists some great reasons why someone might choose not to engage with X. Here’s one more: Elon Musk is advocating for the separation of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Quebec from Canada. I don’t need to reward him with my attention or put my eyeballs on his ads.

Dan Sinker also penned an eloquent article that 100% matches my initial feelings after reading Gruber’s piece.

But who cares, right? Gruber’s gonna Gruber. He’s a news fiend, and he’s not wrong that X has more news on it. He’s also correct that even the slightest positivity about LLMs on Bluesky or Mastodon will result in random pile-ons. People can feel how they want about LLMs, but the lack of subtlety on the subject — especially on Bluesky — can be a lot. Gruber could have spent more time on X quietly, but instead he decided to make a thing of it. Whatever.

But the bit that stood out to me was this passage:

The culture on X today is remarkably friendly and inclusive. It is a cheerful place.

This is what makes me tired. I’m sure X is friendly and welcoming to John Gruber, a straight white man who’s well-regarded in the tech space. I’m pretty certain it’s not true for many others.

Reading responses to Gruber’s post on Techmeme, I saw this:

Have fun on X, John.