Twitter....What The Actual Fuck?

So why am I blogging to myself? Well, once again  I have had my Twitter account shut down. Allegedly this will only be for a week, but I know where this is headed.

So why not chronicle the madness that has been my Twitter existence these last 6 or 7 months.

My original account was started waaaaaay back in early 2009. Didn't even really know what Twitter was. I read an article in this thing called a "newspaper" about it, then checked it out and decided to start an account. Didn't really even use it that much for a long time, primarily because I did not have a phone that I could use to tweet. But once I did get one in early 2011 I was off and running. I was addicted. And for like 6+ years there was no change  I had some ugly run-ins with right wingers during the 2012 election, which taught me to not have my actual name on the account, but beyond that no real issues.

Until last year.

I can't recall exactly when I first had my account locked. It was either late last summer or early in the fall. Don't recall what I said to cause it either. But this became an epidemic. It seemed to be happening constantly. Sometimes I could get it completely restored instantly by deleting an offending tweet. Otherwise I had to wait usually 12 hours. And then in late September, after a particularly nasty back and forth with a particularly nasty Trump fan I got hit with a one week Twitter lock.

It wasn't done of course. Less than 2 months later I hop on Twitter one afternoon to find my account suspended. Permanently. Done. The charge, as I was told in an obviously automated e-mail, was something along the lines of inciting violence against a group based on their gender, race, etc. Inciting violence. Bull fucking shit. Now, had it been suspended for vulgar language, okay, I admit I cross that line plenty. But inciting violence? Hell no! Now, there was no evidence given to me to support this, nor was I able to contact Twitter about this. I just kept getting the same exact automated e-mail reply. 9 years on an account and it is gone forever for NO reason.

Luckily I had created a backup account a ways back just in case. So I just moved over to that and started over. I hate that I lost almost 9 years of tweets, but what could I do?

So things were quiet on the new account for a couple months. I have been extra careful about using anything that could be one of those trigger words or phrases. I've cut way back on ever engaging with the Trumpers, from where most of my issues have obviously come. I thought I was in the clear.

Nope. A week ago I get the 12 hour lock out of the blue again, for something I tweeted like 6 weeks earlier. A tweet that had no vulgar language OR threats of anything. No matter. I spent a chunk of that day going through my tweets and deleting anything that could even in the vaguest sense be considered a violation.

And now this morning I wake up to find my account locked for a week. For telling some conservative to "blow me." A week for that. I'm at a loss. Twitter has moved the line so far that nothing you say anymore that isn't polite is free from risk. Where is the line now? I've been called every vile name imaginable by Trumpers, had threats of violence, threats by people saying they're going to come to Minnesota and kick my ass. And nothing is done.

So obviously we know what's next. My account will be permanently suspended. It's only a question of when. Twitter has proven they will just do whatever they want, and don't need probable cause to do it.

Through all these issues, it's impossible to correspond with a single living, breathing person about this. Twitter "support" is 100% automated.

I love Twitter. I love it for the back and forth(sometimes). I love it as a news source.  I love it as a sort of creative outlet. I used to do longer form stuff similar to this for years, between message boards and journaling. But I'm freaking MADE for the Twitter format, and that's being taken away from me now by a bunch of assholes.

So maybe I go back to the old days.