Goodbye Twitter

This is the english version of the french article Au revoir Twitter
That's it. I've decided to quit Twitter. Let me stop you right there, this is not a decision taken on a whim, because Elon Musk finally "set the bird free"[efn_note]At the end of a never-ending saga, by the way.[/efn_note]. But the concretisation of a reflection that lasted more than a year, and materialised in the setting up six months ago of a strategy aiming at progressively reducing my dependence.
I've already explained the reasons for my departure in the two previous articles cited above, and they haven't changed. The completion of Musk's purchase of Twitter acts as a spark, the straw that breaks the camel's back, or simply as an excuse. Choose whichever you prefer. It doesn't matter, because symbols, I believe, matter. It is also a political gesture, against yet another escalation in the privatisation of the digital public space. Finally, it is an opportunity to crack the wall of the network effect again[efn_note]Understanding the network effect[/efn_note], to create an opening towards more friendly, decentralised and democratic digital alternatives. Like Mastodon and other Fediverse software.
Even though I never loved Twitter, leaving it is not an easy or trivial choice. I'll quickly outline the reasons why. Then I'll share with you the many more arguments that convince me it's the right thing to do.
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