The antisocial media

The dominant online platforms became more toxic than ever in 2023. Is there a way out?

- PETER GRIFFIN

As a content creator, I let myself down in 2023. Sure, I wrote tens of thousands of words, most of which were published. But in past years, I hustled on social media platforms to promote my work, monitoring the shares, likes and comments my posts received.

Something fundamentally changed this year. I largely gave up on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, which for many years was my go-to place to find out what was going on in the world and to broadcast my stories and opinions.

I've basically stopped using Facebook, too. My main social media activity is in a private group of a dozen friends using the Signal app.

The signal-to-noise ratio on social media has been dropping steadily for years. But in 2023, social media became truly tedious. It's more toxic than ever thanks to failures in content moderation, particularly on X, which has largely abandoned its efforts to maintain any sense of decorum. The scammers are out in full force and misinformation is rife.