Twitter banned Imperium Press in early 2021, as we were starting to gain a real following. At the time, it seemed like a disaster. They let us back on recently, but we're so heavily shadowbanned that we might as well not be. No doubt this has hurt our reach. But in the end, they did us a favour. They forced us to decouple from big tech, at least a bit.
Twitter is a portal for discovery. You can find people on there doing cool things, but the cool things are not being done on there, and as far as I can tell, anyone whose main thing is being on there is not doing anything cool. You either outgrow it, or you remain like a dissident Peter Pan, never quite coming to political maturity, forever stuck in a loop of contrarian hot takes about contrarian hot takes about contrarian etc. etc. to infinity.
Wise words. I disagree that X is still a medium of discovery, or even organic community. Elon's AI twitter is all about attention retention, just like TikTok. It's a great rugpull. The future will be about people who can keep to the fundamental principle of internet, i. e., creating a community around a shared interest.
I quit twitter over a year ago when I eventually realized it was 1) totally pointless, and 2) genuinely harmful to my psychology. I realized at some point that I got jittery when I wasn’t holding my phone or scrolling, and I wouldn’t pay attention to things actually in my life. It has been remarkably freeing for my personal health, and for my thought too. I am a wiser person for it. This is the right decision AA.
I don’t blame you. I took about 5 months off and don’t really feel like posting there anymore. It does have a dark energy about it, no matter how positive you are or how intentional you try to be. Like you, I decided the couple hundred bucks just wasn’t worth it. I wish you continued success and I’m certain you don’t need X to accomplish great things.
I felt really low when I would trade X time for time with my babies/ toddlers. It was a mercy when I was banned. Like being sentenced for something that you totally did and felt like shit for. I'm sure there's a Bible-y or Latin word for it. Something like redemption or culpability...
This is honestly very sensible. Twitter has always seemed to be somewhat "demonic" to me... the format and algorithm combine to act as some kind of outlet for our inflamed collective id.
Interesting to hear that there are no good business reasons to stay either. I recently looked into some of the marketing advice around growing a Substack or writing business, and it seems the conversion rates from Twitter are terrible (I wouldn't mind that few hundred quid every couple of weeks, mind you).
Sounds like you are applying the lessons of your Ride the Tiger series anyway. A great advert for it and some very good stuff in there so far. Looking forward to the next release.
I preferred using twitter before Elon. I accessed it through Echofon, an app which allowed you to create lists of people to follow. I used it occasionally to check what specific accounts I’d decided to follow had said recently, no endless scrolling.
Although it was censored I’d found Rumble, then Carl started Lotus Eaters.
Undoubtedly the freeing up of twitter has emboldened other platforms and we wouldn’t have the same political landscape without it.
I still have lists on X but it defaults to “for you” and sucks you in.
Practically I’d rather listen to you on X because it works in the background without adverts, I can stick an earphone in and listen without it monopolising my time, which is what I do with Rumble. Shame you don’t post on there, it’s where I access the daily LE podcasts.
I also see the paid networks who must have notifications to get in with early reframing replies.
I’ll continue to look out for you content,wherever you choose to put it, as I have for years now.
Same with me. I would encourage Neema to keep posting on Substack and filter out undesirables. Not because they might disagree but because they are engaging in ad hominems.
Interesting. Thank you. I shall continue to enjoy your substack and YouTube videos. I definitely like the concept of decreasing social media time especially when it is of a certain kind, when it’s reactive as opposed to substantive.
I was never on X (Twitter). But i follow(ed) Neema on Youtube, watched every episode of The Deepest Lore ( and even re- watching). But Youtube is getting increasingly worse. I find Substack a better platform although the enshittification/ slop is increasing there also.
But Neema is not very active on Substack so i am dipping into the AA Youtube channel on occasion.
I feel like youtube is actually getting more loosened from censorship, though dialling down the reach of edgy channels is still a problem. I can easily spend day or half day on youtube listening to people talk fairly fresh material about the JQ for example. That didn't used to be the case for years, 2018-2024 or so was very coded language. That aspect is considerably loosened. There have been improvements made to the youtube comments, to make it easier to continue a conversation with others.
I think Twitter has value for movement formation; Lowe wouldn't be anywhere near as prominent without Facebook and Twitter. For the indvidual, however, I agree it's just entirely toxic and addictive. However, that same movement formation ability is a double-edged sword. While it's great that people like Henry Nowak or Iryna Zarutska aren't simply buried by the regime news, it does produce a continuous feeling of threat and misery in the individual reader.
I can completely relate to what you mean by ‘does produce a continuous feeling of threat and misery in the individual reader’. It feels like what hell is like when you are bombarded with demoralisation after demoralisation with a tad malicious hint of humiliation. And worse part is you are longing for Calvary over the hill false hope that never comes but it’s there to merely swamp you into this online pit. I do agree X has its uses and personally I don’t Elon is the problem personally. I think it’s just nature of app itself that is toxic.
That doesn't work because if you're an actual dissident movement you're just censored. They get clever about it so it's not obvious these days. Rupert Lowe can get big on Twitter and Facebook because Rupert Lowe is a dime a dozen thatcherite zionist.
There are gradations of dissident. Lowe is dissident from the current Blairite epoch. No, I agree he's not dissident from the Nuremberg regime, and I agree that that's completely out of reach right now. But babysteps.
This was a very mature and wise decision. I've an art aesthetic account there and it is almost at 300 followers. But mostly I repaste my articles from here there.
That said I've plans to delete my side accounts and will admit I despise the accounts.
You made the correct decision. I've deleted previous accounts and will likely do so again in the near future.
Twitter and other social media platforms exploit the addictive phenomenon of variable rewards (in Twitter's case likes and retweets) to keep people hooked. This is something that Harvard scientist B.F.Skinner discovered in a series of experiments on pigeons and rats in the 1930s. Those insights are still used today to keep people doom scrolling - well done for getting out (summary of the 1930s experiments below).
Those of you who's time is liberated from X may now read my fullfilling essay on the most excellent band known as "The Midnight"- the Pink Floyd of Synthwave, who are on a royal roll:
For the real edge of the internet, try following Jopseph Jordan. Than man is very banned. Same with Ryan Dawson. Both are good, wholesome freaks of nature with spicy takes.
Twitter banned Imperium Press in early 2021, as we were starting to gain a real following. At the time, it seemed like a disaster. They let us back on recently, but we're so heavily shadowbanned that we might as well not be. No doubt this has hurt our reach. But in the end, they did us a favour. They forced us to decouple from big tech, at least a bit.
Twitter is a portal for discovery. You can find people on there doing cool things, but the cool things are not being done on there, and as far as I can tell, anyone whose main thing is being on there is not doing anything cool. You either outgrow it, or you remain like a dissident Peter Pan, never quite coming to political maturity, forever stuck in a loop of contrarian hot takes about contrarian hot takes about contrarian etc. etc. to infinity.
Wise words. I disagree that X is still a medium of discovery, or even organic community. Elon's AI twitter is all about attention retention, just like TikTok. It's a great rugpull. The future will be about people who can keep to the fundamental principle of internet, i. e., creating a community around a shared interest.
Debate can be turned into a trap without self-discipline.
So true. Thanks for all the great books btw
Agreed. It is best avoided.
I quit twitter over a year ago when I eventually realized it was 1) totally pointless, and 2) genuinely harmful to my psychology. I realized at some point that I got jittery when I wasn’t holding my phone or scrolling, and I wouldn’t pay attention to things actually in my life. It has been remarkably freeing for my personal health, and for my thought too. I am a wiser person for it. This is the right decision AA.
What's your addiction now? There's always something.
I don’t blame you. I took about 5 months off and don’t really feel like posting there anymore. It does have a dark energy about it, no matter how positive you are or how intentional you try to be. Like you, I decided the couple hundred bucks just wasn’t worth it. I wish you continued success and I’m certain you don’t need X to accomplish great things.
I felt really low when I would trade X time for time with my babies/ toddlers. It was a mercy when I was banned. Like being sentenced for something that you totally did and felt like shit for. I'm sure there's a Bible-y or Latin word for it. Something like redemption or culpability...
I was wondering where you went, good to see you on here!
I did return to X, but only sparsely. I don’t think I’ll be regularly posting there again any time soon. Still here though!
This is honestly very sensible. Twitter has always seemed to be somewhat "demonic" to me... the format and algorithm combine to act as some kind of outlet for our inflamed collective id.
Interesting to hear that there are no good business reasons to stay either. I recently looked into some of the marketing advice around growing a Substack or writing business, and it seems the conversion rates from Twitter are terrible (I wouldn't mind that few hundred quid every couple of weeks, mind you).
Sounds like you are applying the lessons of your Ride the Tiger series anyway. A great advert for it and some very good stuff in there so far. Looking forward to the next release.
Cheers.
I preferred using twitter before Elon. I accessed it through Echofon, an app which allowed you to create lists of people to follow. I used it occasionally to check what specific accounts I’d decided to follow had said recently, no endless scrolling.
Although it was censored I’d found Rumble, then Carl started Lotus Eaters.
Undoubtedly the freeing up of twitter has emboldened other platforms and we wouldn’t have the same political landscape without it.
I still have lists on X but it defaults to “for you” and sucks you in.
Practically I’d rather listen to you on X because it works in the background without adverts, I can stick an earphone in and listen without it monopolising my time, which is what I do with Rumble. Shame you don’t post on there, it’s where I access the daily LE podcasts.
I also see the paid networks who must have notifications to get in with early reframing replies.
I’ll continue to look out for you content,wherever you choose to put it, as I have for years now.
Cheers
Same with me. I would encourage Neema to keep posting on Substack and filter out undesirables. Not because they might disagree but because they are engaging in ad hominems.
You had me at "filter out undesirables"...
Interesting. Thank you. I shall continue to enjoy your substack and YouTube videos. I definitely like the concept of decreasing social media time especially when it is of a certain kind, when it’s reactive as opposed to substantive.
I was never on X (Twitter). But i follow(ed) Neema on Youtube, watched every episode of The Deepest Lore ( and even re- watching). But Youtube is getting increasingly worse. I find Substack a better platform although the enshittification/ slop is increasing there also.
But Neema is not very active on Substack so i am dipping into the AA Youtube channel on occasion.
I feel like youtube is actually getting more loosened from censorship, though dialling down the reach of edgy channels is still a problem. I can easily spend day or half day on youtube listening to people talk fairly fresh material about the JQ for example. That didn't used to be the case for years, 2018-2024 or so was very coded language. That aspect is considerably loosened. There have been improvements made to the youtube comments, to make it easier to continue a conversation with others.
AA, thanks for all your work. I starting using Twitter to see your insights - there has been many.
In conclusion, you are 100% right to shut it down. Another bullseye!
We will see you on the Tube.
I think Twitter has value for movement formation; Lowe wouldn't be anywhere near as prominent without Facebook and Twitter. For the indvidual, however, I agree it's just entirely toxic and addictive. However, that same movement formation ability is a double-edged sword. While it's great that people like Henry Nowak or Iryna Zarutska aren't simply buried by the regime news, it does produce a continuous feeling of threat and misery in the individual reader.
I can completely relate to what you mean by ‘does produce a continuous feeling of threat and misery in the individual reader’. It feels like what hell is like when you are bombarded with demoralisation after demoralisation with a tad malicious hint of humiliation. And worse part is you are longing for Calvary over the hill false hope that never comes but it’s there to merely swamp you into this online pit. I do agree X has its uses and personally I don’t Elon is the problem personally. I think it’s just nature of app itself that is toxic.
That doesn't work because if you're an actual dissident movement you're just censored. They get clever about it so it's not obvious these days. Rupert Lowe can get big on Twitter and Facebook because Rupert Lowe is a dime a dozen thatcherite zionist.
There are gradations of dissident. Lowe is dissident from the current Blairite epoch. No, I agree he's not dissident from the Nuremberg regime, and I agree that that's completely out of reach right now. But babysteps.
This was a very mature and wise decision. I've an art aesthetic account there and it is almost at 300 followers. But mostly I repaste my articles from here there.
That said I've plans to delete my side accounts and will admit I despise the accounts.
You made the correct decision. I've deleted previous accounts and will likely do so again in the near future.
Good riddance. To twitter, not to you.
X is a horrible place and I am making moves to get off it - by the end of the month, I will have deleted my account.
Twitter and other social media platforms exploit the addictive phenomenon of variable rewards (in Twitter's case likes and retweets) to keep people hooked. This is something that Harvard scientist B.F.Skinner discovered in a series of experiments on pigeons and rats in the 1930s. Those insights are still used today to keep people doom scrolling - well done for getting out (summary of the 1930s experiments below).
https://thinkingcoalition.substack.com/p/how-social-media-hijacks-your-brain?r=3ep1bj&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Those of you who's time is liberated from X may now read my fullfilling essay on the most excellent band known as "The Midnight"- the Pink Floyd of Synthwave, who are on a royal roll:
https://soakercity111947.substack.com/p/the-midnight-artists-of-the-fourth?r=1b17f2&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Your decisions are always leading indicators in the take economy. Kinda like being into a band "before they were cool."
Ive doubted you before but now Im just going to delete my twitter and trust your intuition.
For the real edge of the internet, try following Jopseph Jordan. Than man is very banned. Same with Ryan Dawson. Both are good, wholesome freaks of nature with spicy takes.
Bye