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Twitter sucks. Gamers, you should switch to Bluesky now

Twitter sucks. Gamers, you should switch to Bluesky now

The social network is ready for prime time.

I’ve been on Twitter for a week long Shit time, I actually signed up for the first time back in December 2007 – back when you could still send a tweet via SMS. In gaming terms, this is before things like this GTA IV, left 4 Dead, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Persona 4, Fallout 3, LittleBigPlanet or Mario Kart Wii had arrived on store shelves.

In the approximately 17 (Yikes) Years I’ve spent on the social media site, Twitter has become more and more powerful to… shit.

It quickly gained notoriety The De facto water cooler for the internet in general (surpassed only by Reddit), enjoying a near-ubiquitous presence in the news media. Twitter became The A place where not only news was spread, but also related commentary and conversations took place – at an almost dopamine-inducing pace. It was, and for many, is an addictive service for any news junkie.

I couldn’t escape this addictive nature. I would often tap the little blue bird first thing in the morning, before my eyes were fully open, excited to see what the world was talking about. Certainly it’s not always a healthy relationship.

Aside from the often depressing mix of politics and current events, I, like many others, used it to keep up with the latest gaming news. One could find trailers for upcoming releases, new software titles announced directly on the site, a million breaking news stories, comedic vistas galore, and developers sharing behind-the-scenes screenshots of their in-the-works projects, along with juicy leaks and many rumors.

This diverse mix made Twitter an extremely attractive third place for anyone who plays games and is interested in staying up to date with everything that surrounds them.

I based my habitual obsession with the service on the numerous contacts and friends I have made through using the service (and I am far from being alone in addition). Beyond the obvious news hook, Twitter provided a simple and immediate way to follow and engage with people who share more than just your interests (No matter how niche), but are also active in your industry. It’s never been easier to pull up a chair and follow what your colleagues are saying.

Yes, all of these perceived benefits still largely apply to the ministry today – but with one striking and troubling truth: Twitter sucks.

Well, of course, Twitter was never a perfect utopia, far from it. The site often shines a light on an ugly side of the internet – a place known for mass campaigning and hate campaigns. This grim reality has also only grown stronger.

There has long been a joke about Twitter that it is essentially a game that we all play as users – where the only task is not to become the main character of the day and not to incur the wrath of the evil mob .

Yet despite all of Twitter’s obvious evils, many (especially white men like me) found that the service largely provided a pleasant, positive net experience.

But Twitter’s once-accepted status as the internet’s water cooler may no longer be valid – the water has gone bad. It was Elon Musk’s troubled takeover of the service in October 2022 that marked a clear turning point. This decline of Twitter, now pointlessly known as X, has only gotten worse in recent months.

The pay-to-win benefits introduced by Musk (offered as once a sign of trust, now a chaotic sign of shame, the blue tick) have made the service so gamified that baiting people and posting shock jock shit works really well. The hatred is intensified. Trolls thrive. Unfavorable voices are amplified by a distorted algorithm. Conspiracy nonsense is inevitable. Bots are everywhere, randomly liking old tweets. The block function has been butchered. Spreading misinformation is a viable but amoral way to gain a content-starved audience. X is poisonous.

Yes, the water has has gone bad and it’s Elon who shit in it.

Twitter is extremely scary these days because 90% of replies are bots and it’s not entirely clear why. Usually it’s not even political, nothing is being sold, it’s just bots pretending to be people. The mood is like getting on a city bus and realizing that none of the passengers have a face

— Alex Blechman (@alexblechman.bsky.social) 2024-10-09T18:36:34.201Z

So when a site changes direction so blatantly and users’ well-being suffers as a result, we should probably try to find alternatives – rather than maintaining a relationship with a site that is now so clearly run by bad actors.

It feels like we’ve overcome some hurdles together over the last few years to find such a viable new goal. Be that Mastodon, Hive (Remember that), cohost or t2. Meta’s Threads has its own problems and the experience of using it seemed a little superficial me At least, especially because the algorithmic feed is the default – but overall it has had a decent amount of traction. However, it is Bluesky who did this really caught my attention.

I’ve mentioned in threads that I like Bluesky, and someone who tried it and then gave up asked me why I liked it. That was my answer.

— Katie Mack (@astrokatie.com) Sep 26, 2024T07:54:36.976Z

The young social network recently surpassed 10 million users, and I think it’s hosting more and more great, real and, above all, civil conversations and discourse. You simply follow people and then see what they say in a chronological feed – What a concept!

Bluesky is funny because I can’t think of another platform whose growth is explicitly linked to collective hatred of one person.

– RJ Palmer (@arvalis.bsky.social) 2024-10-17T03:45:00.783Z

Honestly, one of the best things about BlueSky is that I can say, “Holy shit, this hurricane is unprecedented, it looks like climate change is happening,” and I won’t have to deal with idiots who want to discuss it.

– Technology Connections (@techconnectify.bsky.social) 2024-10-07T21:46:48.412Z

I spoke to Bluesky’s Emily Liu about the potential increase in gaming chatter on the site, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by my new social network of choice.

Liu mentioned that the gaming-related discussion at Bluesky is actually “takes up some steam“And this is the Bluesky team.”particularly excited“This increase in gaming-related activity is partly due to the relatively recent addition of video support to the platform.

“We suspect that the release of videos influenced this, as game developers like to share clips of their games or works in progress.”

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber also acknowledged this.

Aftermath, a relatively new (and quite excellent), a worker-run website dedicated to video game culture, has also gained traction at Bluesky. The site, which is home to several former Kotaku writers, has been vocal about the real challenges facing journalism and new media in a time of increasing layoffs, unfavorable algorithms and artificial intelligence. Speaking to Aftermath co-founder Luke Plunkett, he highlighted how Bluesky helps them expand their audience.

It may surprise you to learn that the Aftermath page now has more followers on Bluesky than on Twitter. Plunkett says the team didn’t expect this when they first launched, but “shows the lengths certain parts of the gaming community have gone to to make the leap beyond the platform“However, this Bluesky following is described as a ‘win-win’ for the Aftermath team – Plunkett confirmed this.”Not only do we get better engagement in terms of raw numbers on Bluesky, but the call quality is also much more interesting (and polite).“.

So there’s a lot to like – and I’ve found that Bluesky offers a ton of great ways to discover people worth following or just keeping an eye on via its handy list and feed features.

Bluesky is commendable in that even though I’ve never been involved in the development of the entire game, I suddenly find myself interacting with so many game developer accounts as soon as I got here. I actually get things that are relevant to me!

— 🎃 aispooky 🎃 (@prolongedvertigo.bsky.social) 2024-10-01T15:47:37.642Z

For example, I’ve put together a list of Nintendo accounts I want to stay up to date on, and you can easily follow the list too (without the need to follow each individual account if you don’t want to – you simply pin it for easier access). Here you’ll find a feed of game developers to help you stay up to date. Here’s one that highlights the gaming history. Here’s another one with lots of indie developers. You can create “starter packs” of people you think are worth following.

There are even tools you can use to find your Twitter friends. Basically you have the feeling that there is now momentum, enthusiasm, And to provide services The the time to move if you haven’t already.

You can get your gaming news, random trivia, hot takes, behind-the-scenes scoop, and more. That’s good. It’s time.

👋 Bluesky is an open social network that offers developers independence from platforms, developers the freedom to create, and users the choice of their experience. We are very happy to have you here! We share Bluesky updates and news from this account. A short orientation thread: 🧵✨

— Bluesky (@bsky.app) 2024-10-17T07:06:51.491Z

I’m increasingly turning to the Bluesky water cooler. We need a network, so let’s swap the blue bird for the blue butterfly. See you there.

🦋 Chris on Bluesky | Kevin on Bluesky | Overkill for Bluesky

Bluesky is better. Go there now and thank me later.

Don’t let billionaire frogs get you boiled this October. You probably didn’t even notice it. But last week, one of the most shameful acts in the history of American elections took place on the former Twitter. Hours after he “joked” about killing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,