Where Should We Go When Twitter Dies?

I know that not all readers of ShakespeareGeek are also followers on Twitter. But there’s a very large overlap. Most of the real-time daily discussion that happens these days is on Twitter. Don’t get me wrong; the other day, I was saying how I miss the days of flame wars inside comment threads on a blog like this one. But Twitter and the others have made it so much easier to have one place to check on and interact with all the things that you love. I get it. I’ve been on Twitter since 2008, and there are thousands of you following my hijinks.

Unfortunately, that looks like it’s ending, though, as Elon Musk systematically destroys the platform. Maybe it’ll technically remain viable, of course. I don’t think it’s going to shut down. But it’s not *fun* anymore. We used to enjoy being on Twitter, waiting for Top Trends that we could in any way turn into a Shakespeare joke or pun. When that didn’t work, we’d start our own #ShakespearePunHashtag and try to get that trending. Now it’s nothing but sports I don’t watch, reality TV I don’t watch, and godawful conservative political madness that I wish I didn’t have to watch.

So, then, let’s leave, yes? There are plenty of options. But where? Ay, there’s the rub. It’s taken me fifteen years to find those thousands of you and feel like I’m not just shouting into the void. Each new channel – Tribel, Bluesky, Mastodon, etc… – feels like starting over. I’m not going to lie. I’m not sure I’ve got the energy for that.

But then I had an idea. Why not ask? Let’s take a poll and figure out where the majority thinks we should go! Of course, nobody’s making you, but it’s better than random, right? If you’ve read this far, please take a moment to complete the following survey. It will only be useful if a large enough number of people respond. I’ll post a follow-up as soon as we get a clear winner.

Here are my quick thoughts on the subject since I know I’ve been rambling on for too long already…

• I like the blog (the site), and it’s not going anywhere. People have always been welcome to add comments and get a discussion going on any post that interests them.
• We also have a Facebook presence (https://www.facebook.com/shakespearegeekdotcom) which is a little better regarding discussion threads, but I know it’s got that reputation of being as old as blogs.
• I have an Instagram and a Tiktok, but I don’t really use them. My own personal opinion is that Shakespeare’s a words words words game, and I want to write and read words, lots of them, back and forth. Not just a few that somebody’s slapped into a picture of a sunset and turned into a meme. I get why they’re popular,
• I’d happily plug Reddit, too: https://www.reddit.com/r/shakespeare, where I am the moderator. But Reddit’s going through the same “ownership’s an asshole” growing pains that Twitter is, so I can’t promise it won’t suffer the same fate.
• I’ve got accounts on most of the services I listed below, and I’m happy to start posting on any of them if we get a majority going.

Ok, enough of that. On with the voting! Absolutely share this post (or the survey specifically) and absolutely get a discussion going in the comments for this post if you feel like I missed anything important. Let’s remind ourselves why we all do this in the first place, shall we?