XD

The XD emoticon resembles a laughing face that’s spun 90 degrees to the left, similar to 😆 (grinning, squinting face)

It appears quite evident to me. What's about to happen is just around the corner.

Our world changed during Twitter’s lifespan XD

This change was accelerated through the pandemic, and now we find ourselves with a platform that is built for life in the not-too-distant future. And we struggle with that.

Misinformation is pervasive, and nowhere is this more apparent than on X. Why does everyone feel the need to "explain" X every time they discuss the platform formerly known as Twitter? We all know what happened, and yes, it's rather peculiar.

But why do we repeatedly recount what we already know? It's human nature, and I'll get to that in a moment or two.

Breaking news: No one liked the term 'tweet' 15 years ago. It was, well... stupid. Twitter was unusual, awkward, but somewhat endearing. But X? It seems like the name of a social network from Robocop 2. However, X is indeed real. It's strange, and it signals the end of social media as we know it.

On January 4, 2019, the world record egg made its debut with the goal of becoming the most-liked Instagram post, attempting to dethrone the reigning social media queen, Kylie Jenner, whose post had over 18 million likes.

The egg was a Shutterstock image titled "Egg isolated on a white background."

The post encouraged followers to make it the most-liked post on Instagram, and it achieved that in just 10 days. By March of that year, it had garnered over 53 million likes, surpassing 'Despacito' as the most-liked social media post on the internet.

That, my friends, is peak social media. It was later revealed that a British advertising creative, Chris Godfrey, was behind the account. It eventually became part of a Hulu ad campaign tied to the Super Bowl.

When a Shutterstock egg attempts a leap like that, it's worth paying attention to. Not a shared moment, an event, or a cultural experience; it's a stunt. It's jumping the shark, TBH.

Oppa Gangnam Style

It's worth noting that the World Record Egg is no longer online today. It lost its title as the most-liked post this past year when Lionel Messi's World Cup Instagram post dethroned the egg, relegating it to the obscure annals of internet history. Move over, Psy.

What's Happening at X Is Different

The real-time transformation of Twitter into X in the seemingly bizarre, post-pandemic, anything-goes digital reality has brought back the maverick, and perhaps even dangerous, spirit of the early days of the public internet. I was there, I should know.

It's now nearly impossible to find a Trending Topic on X and scroll through the newsfeed as you could with Twitter. X's algorithm now heavily prioritizes engagement and what's been described as "free speech," creating a digital landscape that is sometimes wonderful and sometimes poisonous. Propaganda, clickbait, falsehoods, and fragments of what used to be called the truth now fill the timeline. Its revenue appears to be in disarray as it hurtles toward its new goal of transforming into an "everything app."

The success of X isn't the point; the point is that Twitter, one of the shiniest OG Web 2.0 platforms, has not only run its course but has also transformed into a next-generation reality that no longer makes sense.

This is true for many Web 2.0 platforms, but it's more apparent with X.

Take Instagram, for example. Remember when you would upload a photo and apply filters to give it a film or retro vibe? The days of Lo-Fi, Sutro, and Mayfair are long gone. Instagram has become a Frankenstein's Monster of social media, incorporating elements of Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook, and now it has Threads with Twitter's demise. It's a mishmash of everything that has happened in social media over the past decade, all in one app. So now, Instagram is nothing. Its attempt to replicate every other digital property is just an empty shell, waiting for the next disruption to absorb and repackage in a slightly less appealing way.

I have a similar criticism for Facebook, as it has also replicated and diluted these features, resulting in less differentiation and a less unique user experience.

X is the poster child for the sunset of Web 2.0, a technology whose relevance and context have transformed into a McLuhan tetrad of Reversal. When pushed to its limits, what does social media become? It's a reversal of its original purpose, which was to enable sharing, connection, voice, and community. While those aspects still exist, social media has become even more about cancel culture, misinformation, harassment, intimidation, and propaganda.

So, back to my question: Why do people continue to explain and excuse their language when referring to X?

It's because we're trying to describe our current reality with a platform that has completely changed. It feels strange and different because our previous ways of explaining and understanding no longer suffice. Our world changed during Twitter's existence, and this change was accelerated during the pandemic. Now we have a platform designed for life in the not-too-distant future, and we're struggling to adapt.

Web 3 Fixes Web 2 Problems

While it's tempting (and often easy) to mock NFTs and Dogecoin, a new paradigm is emerging and evolving right under our noses. The transparency and trust embedded in Web3 technology address many real-world and digital problems we face today.

When was the last time you used a tool like DocuSign, where you have to provide a digital signature, attempting to replicate the act of physically signing a document with your mouse or finger? It feels clumsy as hell and - here’s the best (worst?) part - it looks NOTHING LIKE YOUR ACTUAL SIGNATURE.

Yet, we accept this as the most official form of authentication. It's real, legitimate, and true simply because you signed it. How absurd that seems now.

This is just one example of how Web3's transparency, authenticity, and ownership protocols are poised to transform our society.

The internet has always been in constant evolution and change. The problem is twofold: people fear change, whether it's beneficial or not, and people fail to reflect on change, which reinforces the first point.

This change is knocking on the door right now, the Web 2.0 door that has almost rusted off its tattered hinges. It no longer keeps the undesirable elements on the other side. However, there's a really bright light behind that door, and unless you begin to acclimate to it gradually, it’s going to absolutely blind you when that door eventually gets kicked in.