X (Twitter)
Social network for short public posts, real-time news and discussion, owned by X Corp.
Commenters use it for real-time and tech commentary from people they follow,123 and like that the feed can be curated with Lists, blocking and the chronological view.4567 The most common complaint is toxic political content and propaganda pushed into the recommended feed,891011 and several say tech accounts have moved to Bluesky or Mastodon.121314
Why people recommend it
Curatable feed · 3
Users say Lists, the Following tab, blocking and feedback make the feed useful.
“Say what you want about X, but at least there I can curate my Following tab and Lists, and have an informative experience.”
“as long as you nudge the For You tab by clicking show less of this a bit and following the odd thing you like it becomes quite useable”
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“ended up going back to X and blocking a lot of people”
Tech discussion · 3
Some see it as the main place for tech and real-time commentary.
“I detest Elon Musk but I still use Twitter because there just is no alternative to it if you want decent tech discussion.”
“I use it to follow people who either have ideas I find interesting or do stuff I find interesting”
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“It’s a joy to use, filled with novel discoveries that I often want learn more about.”
Chronological timeline · 2
Some avoid the algorithmic feed and read only accounts they follow.
“I use the chronological feed on Twitter/X as well because the algo feed is kind of meaningless.”
“I mostly stay away from algorithmic timelines and deactivate retweets etc on X and Bluesky.”
Web access · 2
Commenters like using it in the browser on desktop and mobile.
“I love using the Twitter web app over the native app.”
“I use it on both pc and mobile in browser with adblock and the experience is the same as 20 years ago.”
Caveats and dissent
Toxic content · 3
Many report political toxicity, propaganda and weak harassment enforcement.
“It kind of turned into a very toxic political platform.”
“the amount of virulent propaganda, totally unrelated to <topic>, that you end up absorbing is unforgivable”
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“the groups towards which X either has weakened or stopped enforcing its policies against harassment”
Recommended feed · 2
The For You feed shows unwanted racist or violent posts even after feedback.
“about 20% of the stuff in my 'recommended' feed is racist, violent, and stuff I have zero interest in”
“They've switched to a model of paying their users for engagement, which naturally encourages users to post the most engagement bait they can”
User exodus · 3
Commenters say many people and tech accounts left after the Musk takeover.
“The accounts left on Twitter have a distinctly narcissistic, preachy vibe.”
“After Musk largely torched it and a lot of people just decided they didn't need that kind of social media any longer”
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“it's a dumpster fire and if you get too close the fumes will make you stupid”
Account access · 3
Reports cover posts that cannot be read without an account, failed sign-ups and automatic suspensions.
“Twitter is now unusable without one.”
“I love how I literally cannot sign up for a new account as of last month or two.”
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“Your account, *, was detected by our systems and automatically suspended for violating the X Rules.”
Bots · 2
Users describe the platform as overrun by bots.
“twitter (and even moreso, reddit) are just so overrun by bots”
“I love how I literally cannot sign up for a new account as of last month or two.”
Mental health · 2
Some say it harms their mental state and recommend quitting.
“When I used X or bluesky or Reddit they have a noticeable negative impact on my mental state.”
“I highly recommend dropping the dopaminergic doomloop apps like Reddit/Bluesky/X/tiktok/IG.”
Often compared with
1 moved from Bluesky to X (Twitter)
4 moved from X (Twitter) to Bluesky
3 moved from X (Twitter) to Mastodon
1 moved from LinkedIn to X (Twitter)
Instagram6 comments mention both1 moved from X (Twitter) to xcancel
Threads where it came up
- Ask HN: Alternatives to Twitter/X? 3 mentions
- Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app 3 mentions
- Nitter and XCancel receive cease and desist notices 2 mentions
- Facebook is paying controversial creators to produce rage-bait content 2 mentions
- The Coming Loop 2 mentions
- Ask HN: Have you managed to switch to Bluesky for tech people? 2 mentions
Also written as Twitter, Twitter/X. Data: x-twitter.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 33
“It’s a joy to use, filled with novel discoveries that I often want learn more about.”
“extractive social media currently plaguing society”
“as long as you nudge the For You tab by clicking show less of this a bit and following the odd thing you like it becomes quite useable”
“Twitter is very non restrictive.”
“I use X too, but I almost never run into their algorithm's limits.”
“Your account, *, was detected by our systems and automatically suspended for violating the X Rules.”
“I use it on both pc and mobile in browser with adblock and the experience is the same as 20 years ago.”
“Twitter is now unusable without one.”
“I use it to follow people who either have ideas I find interesting or do stuff I find interesting”
“I use X plenty every day.”
“I use the chronological feed on Twitter/X as well because the algo feed is kind of meaningless.”
“X and insta are my go to social networks now.”
“about 20% of the stuff in my 'recommended' feed is racist, violent, and stuff I have zero interest in”
“It kind of turned into a very toxic political platform.”
“When I used X or bluesky or Reddit they have a noticeable negative impact on my mental state.”
“the groups towards which X either has weakened or stopped enforcing its policies against harassment”
“I love how I literally cannot sign up for a new account as of last month or two.”
“I love using the Twitter web app over the native app.”
“After Musk largely torched it and a lot of people just decided they didn't need that kind of social media any longer”
“I only use Twitter now.”
“a Twitter account (once a week)”
“They've switched to a model of paying their users for engagement, which naturally encourages users to post the most engagement bait they can”
“The accounts left on Twitter have a distinctly narcissistic, preachy vibe.”
“I detest Elon Musk but I still use Twitter because there just is no alternative to it if you want decent tech discussion.”
“the amount of virulent propaganda, totally unrelated to <topic>, that you end up absorbing is unforgivable”
“Hopefully I too will leave twitter some day, some day.”
“Say what you want about X, but at least there I can curate my Following tab and Lists, and have an informative experience.”
“On X and similarly on Bluesky all users lack emotional development.”
“it's a dumpster fire and if you get too close the fumes will make you stupid”
“ended up going back to X and blocking a lot of people”
“I mostly stay away from algorithmic timelines and deactivate retweets etc on X and Bluesky.”
“twitter (and even moreso, reddit) are just so overrun by bots”
“I highly recommend dropping the dopaminergic doomloop apps like Reddit/Bluesky/X/tiktok/IG.”