It isn’t just trolls. Twitter has become a network for haters in general. I think there are two things driving that: (1) people do not have to “own” their remarks because their online identity does not have to be connected to who they are in real life, and (2) people have realized that it is a lot easier to get attention by being nasty.

When I first joined Twitter six or so years ago, I could not believe how many interesting people I was meeting. No matter how esoteric my interests were, someone else shared them. I had conversations late into the night about deciphering Linear B. About philosophy. About running. About astrophysics. It was addictive.

I finally quit after being harassed by trolls associated with the Clinton campaign. I’d block them, but they’d create new accounts within minutes for the sole purpose of harassing me and anyone who was having a conversation with me. But I had soured on the medium long before then. I was getting attacked by people for even the most mundane observations. I’d write something about the bond market and would be mocked by armies of people with different investment philosophies. I’d post about sailing or horses and people would attack me for being “rich enough” to have hobbies like that. It was impossible to talk about anything without having a net negative experience. My acquaintances are more limited on Facebook, but people do think before they go off on you, because they are doing in front of their friends, coworkers, family members, etc. There are consequences.

I don’t think Twitter is going to escape this. I think negativity has become its brand. It got to where I when I mentioned something I had seen on Twitter, folks would say “wow, I don’t know how you can stand to be on there” instead of responding to what I was saying. For the non-haters of the world, it’s a space for toxic people to whine, rant, and viciously attack strangers. It comes across as mentally ill pastime. I used to try to leave Twitter because it was addictive. Now I don’t even have an impulse to look at it. You just feel sad for people wasting their lives like that.

I groan when I see toxic people from Twitter colonizing Medium and posting non-substantive content. I hope this condition is not contagious.