When I was at university I spent a lot of time on Twitter. In fact, I think I used it more than Facebook and Instagram. How times have changed in five years, where I find myself neglecting Twitter and regularly using Instagram and Facebook to engage and interact with friends, family and former work colleagues. It was a place where I could share my opinions instantaneously, and could engage with the thoughts of other people who had similar interests to me. For 21-year-old me, who was then an aspiring journalist, it was also a great tool to interact with journalists and hear of new work experience or job opportunities within the sector.
Around 2015 though, I ‘fell out of love’ with Twitter. Where in previous years the sharing of views had been done in a respectful, considerate manner (from what I saw on my daily use of the site anyway), I now found myself surrounded by some users who were locked in bitter wars of words around who was ‘right’ and who was ‘wrong’. People from either side of the political spectrum, feuding through their screens and keyboards about why their opinion was right and the other subsequently wrong all became a bit too much. And so, I never logged into Twitter again.
For some reason, unbeknownst even to me, I never deleted my account. Until I logged in a few weeks ago for the first time in almost three years, my Twitter account had remained completely dormant. And from the content I saw during my brief half an hour on the site, I think it will be remaining that way. With subjects of Brexit and Trump rolling around, a number of people across the political spectrum are continuing to bash one another’s opinions, claiming they’re right and everyone who thinks differently to them is wrong, and I just don’t have the patience for it.
I used to enjoy being able to share my views, and to read other people’s, without seeing a barrage of abuse being hurtled at people simply for expressing a different opinion. I’m all for everyone being entitled to their own opinion, and I used to enjoy discussing views with people on sites like Twitter. It would seem though that, largely, these days are over, with an increasing number of people of various political views claiming to have the correct solution and slamming anyone who dares to think differently.
My Corner of the Internet 