The Long Goodbye

Several years ago, Wil signed up with this thing called Twitter. He joined it on the third day of its release at the encouragement of our friend, Sean Bonner. Sean could tell it was going to change the world, and he was right.

The world became a smaller place thanks to Twitter. Soon, Wil was in touch with friends from all over the world on a daily basis and got to meet new people along the way. Wil loved saying funny things or making up jokes to post there and after a few years, it seemed like a fun thing to do so I joined it as well.

In the four years since I joined Twitter I learned a lot. I discovered a whole community of people I had never met before but had a shared interest in the same things I loved. I made friends in real life with many people I had only interacted with online, and that was really cool. I told silly jokes and shared the joy I found in the little things in life. Then for the first time back in April, I discovered a whole other community of people I would never have around me in real life because they were pretty terrible. It was at that time that I had to use the mute and/or block feature and had to report dozens and dozens of accounts. In the years before then, I think I had muted maybe a handful of people. That was really a bummer for me, but I tried to just focus on the fun of it all and stayed on it. I also liked to be on Twitter to read about important news events or to have discussions with sensible people about things that mattered to me; working with charities, my love of rescue animals, women’s health, being a mom, a wife, etc. I continued to focus on the positive, even ending 2015 by asking people to tell me about awesome stuff that happened to them that year, and getting back hundreds of wonderful responses. I loved that and tried to hold onto that in staying on the social media site.

In real life, I stand up for myself. If someone says or does something to me or someone around me, I do something about it. As my online presence grew, Β there were people who don’t follow me showing up to say something horrible about me, my husband, or my children. Yes, they can be muted, blocked, or reported, and I was doing that all the time, every day. Sometimes I responded because like I said, in real life I stand up for myself so occasionally, I will do that online. But after a while, it’s like trying to smile and have a pleasant conversation with a kind person in a room full of people screaming hateful things in your face. You can ignore it but eventually, it just isn’t worth even talking at all and you just have to walk out of that room to protect yourself.

I chose to be on Twitter. I am not a celebrity. I am a middle-aged woman who’s a retired hairdresser who now runs a non-profit, is on the Board of Directors at Pasadena Humane Society, has a house FULL of rescue animals, and has two wonderful boys. I do not have a job I need to promote, nor am I looking for a job to take on. I have a full life with an amazing husband and family, wonderful friends, and a successful business I run. If something I choose to do on the side isn’t fun, I need to walk away from it because my free time is pretty scarce. Twitter used to be the fun thing I did on the side, and for the most part, it just isn’t fun anymore, so I need to walk away from it and that’s okay.

I deleted my Twitter account last night and immediately felt relieved. I will miss the tweety buddies who were awesome that I don’t know in real life. I will continue to stay in touch with my friends around the world by phone or by my private Facebook account. Instagram has been fun so far so I’m keeping that for now, but when it isn’t fun anymore, that will go too. I like having a blog but who knows if I’ll keep this around. We’ll see. Life is what we make of it. I want my life to be filled with happiness, surrounded by people I love. It doesn’t need to be about awful people having access to me online and labeling it as “freedom of speech” which is why I removed that from my life. We don’t know how long we have on this Earth so I’d like to maximize my time with things that are positive. I think that is time well spent.

 

 

65 thoughts on “The Long Goodbye

  1. As one of your followers, I’ll miss the Lucy pics, but I totally understand. Thank you for explaining.

    You might consider having Wil (or someone else you trust) reactivating the account and making it private so that no one takes your name. Then keep the password somewhere safe and out of the way.

    1. That’s a good idea, John. Wil also thought it would be good to download my archives just because there’s a bunch of pictures and stuff we want to keep. Twitter said they’ll keep my account for 30 days so I have time to get everything off it and just lock it with my name. Thanks for the suggestion!

      1. Anne πŸ™‚

        Have you considered a one-to-many relationship by keeping your Twitter account locked? The author Bruce Sterling @bruces keeps his account locked. It means people can’t retweet even if they follow you but you also get to maintain a public sort of privacy and some control over who sees your content while still remaining part of Twitter. A lot of people seem to be missing your pets already!

        I’m sorry for what happened to you on Twitter. I’m close to your age and I understand about the time that’s left to us not being used cheaply. I selfishly hope you consider a private account like Bruce Sterling so that you can continue to share with us.

        — @70sologist P.S. you can burn this comment after reading πŸ™‚

        1. I’ve thought about it but I’m not sure. Twitter will hold my account for 30 days so if I feel like I miss it and want to go back, I have plenty of time to decide. πŸ™‚

  2. Anne, such as shame but fully understand why you did. I will miss your tweets as the majority made me laugh and the posts of your animals were always the best. Hopefully you keep the blog and Instagram, thanks for providing the little tweets of fun the past few years πŸ™‚

  3. Aw, I’m so sorry that a bunch of jerk faces has ruined Twitter for you. I will miss your pet pix and witty banter. It was fun interacting with a celebrity-adjacent person such as yourself on the Twitters (I’m @introvertedone). I will still continue to follow your instagram (and blog) for to enjoy pictures your of your life with your wonderful family (both animal and hooman). Thanks for the fun!

  4. I wrote a long comment then lost the whole thing(which is probably a good thing, I sometimes get wordy which is why i try to reply mainly on twitter[it tells me to stfu, which i appreciate]). but basically i said the animal pics brought me joy you were one of my favorite people I followed on twitter I’ll miss you but understand why you left and I would’ve done the thing. then I was grateful that i’m nobody on twitter because of this whole thing and that’s a good thing. Not for you, but for me. it’s not good that you left that sucks. Try to make that so it means being a nobody on twitter is better than being a somebody because trolls don’t seem to bother nobodies, and it sucks when they bother somebodies because then really awesome somebodies leave (like you). Sorry I can’t make that make sense I might edit later but i wanted to say that. and somebodies don’t necessarily mean celebrities just people who are known at least on some sections of twitter.

    Ok I failed at keeping it short, sorry.

  5. So sorry to see you leave Twitter, Anne. You were always a bright light on a medium that can be a little dark at times. Your goofy humour always made me chuckle, and your interplay with Wil was particularly fun to watch.

    Thanks also for teaching me how the mind of Dexter the Wonder Beagle works, due to your part in helping Seamus create his authoritative masterpiece on the subject; A Guide to Being a Dog.

    1. Thank you. I’m still around, just in a better way for me. And Seamus says thank you for donating to get his book, and he’s glad it’s been so helpful. πŸ˜‰

  6. Created an account just so I could tell you I’ll miss you. You were one of the bright points of twitter for me and I’ll miss vandaleyes and pupdates; your serious thoughts and when you accidentally sext Wil on twitter yet again. I’ll miss sending you inappropriate things I’ve spelled out with store merchandise. It has been a privilege to know you in this small way.

    Having said that, I totally understand and respect your choice. Take care and know there are many of us out here wishing you only good things and happiness in all your current and future endeavors. <3

  7. Anne, I am devastated to see that these terrible people drove you off Twitter. I will miss your terrible puns, you wonderful pictures, and your news about your family.

    When you disappeared off my timeline, I was convinced that you had blocked me and couldn’t figure out why, because I always replied with encouragement and compliments.

    I know I your online tweety buddies will miss you terribly!

  8. Anne – I am so sorry to hear you’ve been hounded off Twitter. I have always found your tweets a joy – your positivity and your love of life have been so inspirational and just…HAPPY. And I love your dogs and cat. And what you do for homeless animals. And watching you and Wil interact has been lovely too. You’re a great loss to Twitter. I hope some day men will stop silencing awesome women like you. xx

  9. I have modest Facebook and Twitter accounts. My friends know to reach me, though, they need to call or email. I think you’re doing the right thing, but hope you keep blogging.

  10. Hi Anne! I’ve been a fan of yours since your first appearance on Tabletop. I’ve followed you on Twitter, I’ve VandalEyes’d my workplace, I’ve told many I know of your animal rescues and become more proud of my own as a result. You are in all ways a terrific person; beautiful, smart, funny, caring, you have an amazing family…

    It bothers me a great deal that people exist that are so dissatisfied with their own existence, they have to attack you and those like you to make themselves feel better. I’ll miss you on Twitter, but I won’t dissuade you from that decision. The best defense against a harmful influence like this very likely is distance.

    I’m a proud member of a community that was crushed to hear that things had gone this far and I came here to remind you that you do have many fans and supporters out there. We want to make sure you’re all right and hope you can put all this ugliness behind you and move forward. There’s still a lot of 2016 left. We’ll do everything we can to help you make it the best 2016 it can be. πŸ™‚

    With love, from a fan – Splattercat
    #TeamHooman
    #LessThanThree

    1. Thank you so much for this. It is unfortunate that there are so many people who hide behind a computer screen and lash out at others from their own unhappiness. I had been feeling for months that I wanted to delete my account and when I decided to pull the plug, it was equal parts sad that I will miss the interaction with awesome people as it was relief that the negativity is away from me. I feel so good since deleting it that I know it was the right decision for me, and will not be going back to it.

      I will post on my blog more often than I used to and will continue to love and support advocating for rescue animals and all the other things I care so much about. Thanks again for being a part of what I did love about Twitter!

      #TeamHoomanForLife

  11. πŸ™ I understand. Some really damaged people decided you were too happy. Or something.

    We will miss your posts. They were always delightful and fun to see. And loved your pet pics.

    If I ever chance across you in a signing line, I’ll show you the #numbernerd photo I took with you in mind. The odometer on my car, with ALL “1”s, the main odometer and the trip odometer. Pretty cool.

    Good luck, Anne! Take care. Continue being awesome.

    Craig
    @gevmage

  12. It stinks that this happened, but no one should have to deal with that kind of negativity. You and your family are awesome and I loved seeing the cute interactions between you and Wil. But at the same time I can’t imagine how much time and energy dealing with all that negativity must take.

  13. I am so very sorry to see you go. You were one of the few people whose accounts kept me on Twitter. I will miss all of your wonderful pet pictures, Lucy pupdates, charitable projects, and general stories of your amazing life & family.

    I do hope you find a way or choose to come back, as Twitter is truly a lesser place without you. For me, Twitter is just shouting into a void where no one knows I exist. So I cannot venture to understand the kind of hatred and harassment celebrities have to face there.
    Thank for years of joy you did bring to the platform, you will be truly missed.

    1. I won’t be back to Twitter but I did keep my Instagram account and will keep posting on my blog because those things are fun for me. I will continue to post Lucy pupdates (seeing her in March!) and will always talk about my charitable projects and tell my silly stories here.

      Thank you for being part of the awesome on Twitter. I know there are a lot of wonderful people on there and it makes a difference!

  14. This breaks my heart.

    As followers since the beginning (I think), my wife and I have always enjoyed your tweets…sometimes the sillier they were, the more likely we were to yell to each other: “did you see what Anne said?”.

    The fact that we had never met you (nor expected to) never came into play, we laughed with you, got weepy with you over your kids and pets, and got angry at the harassment you often receved.

    While we understand your reasons, it still makes us mad, but only at the stupidity of the people who drove you away.

    My timeline misses you already…

    1. Thank you so much for this. I do miss the awesome people but in the long run, the negativity took the fun out of it and it just wasn’t worth it. I’ll still have my blog and Instagram so I hope we can keep in touch that way instead! πŸ™‚

  15. It’s sad that you left twitter we didn’t tweet much but I liked when we did but you got to do what you got to do stay well hope to see more of you on table top. I’ll be in L.A. in May maybe I’ll see you when I’m out and about will say hello if that’s ok even it’s not likely.

  16. Anne, I’m so sorry that it has come to this, but I understand. You have to do what’s best for yourself and your family, and I will never begrudge you for doing so. Ugh I hate that you have been subjected to such malevolent unkindness. Though we’ve never met in person, you and Wil rank among my favorite internet people. Your menagerie of rescues is a testament to your kind and loving soul, and never fail to make me smile. I hope you have all the joy in your lives that you deserve.

    Take care and be well.

    1. The thing for me is I could handle it but I didn’t NEED to handle it anymore. I feel so much better not seeing the negative yuck so it definitely was the right move for me.

      Thank you for being so sweet and supportive. πŸ™‚

  17. I understand the reasons, and it sucks that people are jerks, but I’m sad to see you go, lady. You’ve become one of my favorite Twitter people, with your budding geekiness and all your critter pictures, and there’ve been many days when your feed was funnier than your husband’s (sorry, Wil, still love ya tho :p). Hopefully you’ll stick around the blogosphere so we can still poke our heads in occasionally and see what adventures you’re having. πŸ™‚

  18. I’m really going to miss your Twitter feed, but I understand. I do think that there are a couple of techniques that would have made things a lot more inviting for you, but I also respect your decision. I hope you’ll keep posting here.

  19. I’m sorry to see you go, but I totally understand it.

    I loved your tweets, I’m the same age as Wil and I feel like I really “get” the two of you (except my kids are 8 and 4).

    I hope you keep posting on your blog, the one where you wrote about whether or not you had health problems last year helped me SOOOOO MUCH, it completely changed my life!

  20. People are cruel,hostile,vicious and nasty. It seems that the nasty ones are the loudest in the room. It’s sad when folks are run off by bullies.

  21. Can’t say I blame you, but I’ve enjoyed your joyful posts about family, friends, pets, hockey, beer, geekery, fun, etc.

    Some respond others happiness with jealous anger and hatred. For me it gives me hope that it’s a thing that really exists and so is possible. Something to hope for.

    Blessings, love, and happiness to you.

  22. I remember having a conversation about human behavior on the internet, over 10 years ago now. Some people, realizing they can’t be immediately stopped from behavior that would not be tolerated in actual physical company, act out in ways they never would.

    Oftentimes they’re kids, who don’t have that opportunity in real life, and act out inappropriately. Sometimes they’re adults, who know not to do that in real life, for fear of immediate retribution.

    The environment that has grown on the internet, that gives backing to these kinds of statements and opinions about women scares the crap out of me.

    I’m a woman. Lets say I’m in my 30’s rather than under a year and a half away from 40. I play computer games, as I have for over 30 years . I work in IT. I am often the only woman in the room at meetings.

    It doesn’t help that I have enough social programming (‘Good girls should be seen and not heard’), and social anxiety that I hate speaking out at meetings… though it turns out I often do when I feel people are not understanding one another, or when I think I do have a vitally important point no one else is addressing…

    I had a meeting recently where after biting my tongue for half an hour, I finally suggested something, that had everyone at the table, and over the phone saying, “That’s a really good idea!”

    I wish they didn’t sound so surprised about it.

    1. It is really odd that people behave that way online because I have never, ever experienced a group of people showing up in person to say the things to my face that they say online, and I know they never would. I chose to leave Twitter because I don’t need it for my job, and even though I can handle the yuck, I don’t NEED to handle it, and so I deleted it. Just another way to stand up for myself and do what makes me happy. And good for you for saying something at your job. I don’t know why people get surprised when that happens, but maybe if it’s done more often, it will become an expectation instead of a shock.

  23. Anne,
    I wanted to create an account so I could I could say good-bye. You were always such a bright spot on Twitter. Your humor, your animals and your love of your family brought me many smiles through the years. Self- care is important and I understand your need to move on. Just know that you will be missed and there is noa void that cannot be filled.

    1. Gah. It hit post before I was done. And with a typo! Gah again. Oh well. I just wanted to finish by saying I wish you nothing but the best and thank you. Thank you for laughs and the kindness you always showed people. Godspeed.

      1. Thank you! It is goodbye from Twitter but I’m still around, just in a way that’s more fun for me. πŸ™‚

  24. I’m so sorry to see you go. You are one of the few people I would check what you were sharing on almost a daily basis and I followed the Lucy story from day one. I don’t know you, we are not friends but I truly enjoyed your posts. I wish you the happy life you so want for yourself, your family and your furry friends.

  25. Selfishly, I’m sorry to see you leave Twitter, but I’m happy for any decision the fills your life with more joy and less stress. You were one of the first people that I spoke with on Twitter that I didn’t already know, and I really appreciated your tweets about animals, parenting, and living with someone with depression. You were always kind and treated people with dignity. Whatever decision you make about social media, I wish you the very best in all your endeavors. So does Hemingway, the polydactyl cat.

    -Craig
    @alwaysaffable

  26. (A new account from an old fan)

    I couldn’t imagine having to deal with the vitriol being slung at you without cause or invitation. You’ve always been a positive force even when dealing with negative people and that’s always impressed me.

    I’m glad to see you choosing to do things that make you happier. I’ll miss laughing at your sexts to Wil, your horrible^wwonderful jokes, and your silly animal family.

    And I will cherish each of the “HAAAA!!!”s you sent my way. πŸ˜‰

    Keep being happy!

  27. I choose to follow a select few on Twitter and other social media outlets, yours being one of them. It will be sad to see you go. I rarely ever post anything as it was the same as you experienced. I chose instead just to enjoy the thoughts and insights of others and ignore the negativity. Thanks your honest approach to life and keep up all the great work that you and your family do.

  28. Sorry that it had to come to this, though I understand completely. The older I get the more I try to cut out the toxic things in my life so I can enjoy the good things and people I do have. You will be missed. I’ll miss all the wonderful pics of Lucy and other lovely animals, and I’ll miss the great banter between you and Wil. Thanks for being a force of positivity .

  29. We’ll miss you on Twitter, Anne. Your tweets always made me smile, or think, or both, and my timeline will be a little dimmer without their light. But I understand why you need to step away – it’s just not worth it if it’s making you feel sad or unsafe. Whatever you choose, know that many, many people have your back. Because you’re pretty great.

  30. This hurts my heart but I deleted my Facebook back in 2011 for similar reasons, so I get it completely. I do hope you continue the blog. I read it often but this is my first comment.
    I learned my love of Vandal Eyes from you & Bonnie and like many have already said, you’re one of my favorite “tweety buddies” and I’ll miss chatting with my best friend about Twitter Friend Anne and your wonderful projects/pictures/thoughts.

    Take care.
    Love,
    Jolea

  31. Dear Mrs. Anne,

    Though I’ve enjoyed catching your blogs from time to time, this one is the first that makes me register and comment to share my appreciation.

    Our Twitter feed has lost a bright light. You have been a pleasure to follow these four years. There has been tweets of great insight, compassion, and delightful humor. I will miss the VandalEyes, the pets, the “sexting” of Wil, and so many other things that make you, YOU. I will miss ups and downs equally, rights and lefts.

    Your reasons for leaving are clear and understandable. We just will mourn your loss as a casualty to the dark side of social media.

    At least a couple of us have sent a message to your Facebook page with an invitation to join a certain haven’s private group, whose name you well know. I imagine they’d appear in an “Other” message folder. We hope you’ll consider it, and know you’d be welcome there. But in all things, be well, be safe, and be happy.

  32. I left Twitter a while ago. The last straw for me was being attacked by about 100 or so people over an opinion.
    Plus the Twinkies keep me too busy to follow twitter.
    I do miss sharing pictures of them with you.
    They just had their 4th birthday!

    1. Yeah, Twitter was just a fun thing to do if I had free time and it wasn’t fun anymore. You can still email me photo updates of you little ones!!

      1. I don’t have your email and I’m not seeing a contact info thingy or private message.
        We have a mutual friend on FB.

          1. Ah, mobile site doesn’t have that option. I’ll get on to a desktop. Thanks!

  33. I’m sorry to see you leave, but I understand. I was upset and angry by some of the things I saw directed at you, I can’t imagine being the target of attacks like those. I very rarely tweet myself, it almost seems too dangerous, you can get the attention of the wrong person. It used to be fun, but attention attracts negative people :(.

    I wanted to say that your tweets made me laugh, and inspired me. Several years ago you tweeted about it being the anniversary of the day that you quit your job, and at the time it was scary but the best decision. I don’t remember the details, I’m sorry. At the time you posted that, I was contemplating leaving my own job to go back to school with a part time job and finish my BA degree and work towards my dream career. It was scary, I knew it was the right thing to do, but the uncertainty was a struggle. Seeing your tweet at that particular time made me feel more sure about doing what I needed to, and not be afraid of being scared. Today I am in my dream grad program, 1300 miles west from where I grew up and family, loving every moment of school and being here, and I can’t wait to see what is ahead.

    Thank you for your tweets, your honesty, your bravery, and sharing those stories, and I wish you the absolute best πŸ™‚

  34. I find this very unfortunate but understandable.

    I’ll have to watch this space more often for animal updates.

    RSS subscribed!

  35. A beautiful reminder to choose positivity and happiness whenever possible!

    Thank you for your time on Twitter. We interacted a few times which I cherished. Once when you brought awareness to the bone marrow registry and I commented that I hope you (or anyone) is a match for my mom, who is battling myeloma.

    And recently when I shared with you my amazing happening of 2015, my daughter being born. And I included a picture of her lounging on her chair.

    I will continue to follow what you share where you choose to share it and just wanted to add to the multitudes my appreciation for your Twitter self.

    πŸ™‚

  36. I have to say it hurt my heart to find out you had left the Twitter ‘verse but I can totally understand why. I’ve been the victim of abuse from those who think they are entitled to make others miserable because they thought I didn’t post enough of my personal photos of their favorite singers when I went to concerts or they thought I held back the “best ones”. Their demands that I give them what they wanted almost drove me away from several social media sites. I locked my accounts down and soldiered on.

    You were one of the bright, shining lights in my Twitter dashboard. I work as an admin assistant for two highly driven, high maintenance sales teams and there have been many days when I’ve been in tears or on the verge of tears and a tweet from you would lift my spirits or have me belly laughing at my desk (thankfully I work from home or this could have been embarrassing!) and I could continue on with my day.

    I’m happy I will be able to follow along with your adventures, your vandal eyes’ing, your pet updates, and most importantly your work with the Pasadena Humane Society. I have no fur babies of my own and live vicariously through your photos and stories of your sweet pups and kitties.

    Thank you for providing light and laughter on a daily basis! β™₯

  37. I suppose I will just have to look here to see if you are attending Gen Con each year. πŸ™‚ You will be missed for sure. Thankfully you are still using Instagram. πŸ™‚

  38. I’m very sorry not to see you on Twitter, but I do understand. My laptop broke at the end of September and I don’t do very much at all on my phone [besides texting my husband, and reading before bed], so I had a mini-break of a couple of weeks from social media until I got a new laptop. I have to say that I didn’t miss it much. I did have a bit of a painful adjustment period because my OCD usually makes me have to read *everything*, in chronological order [just one reason I had to leave my favorite message board years ago; it was sort of taking over my life]. But I had so much more free time once my brain wasn’t making me do that, and I was enjoying the lack of drama and negativity [both in my real life, and in the news] so much, that I haven’t returned full-time since then. I mean, I’ll still read things when I feel like it, but now I don’t feel the strong need to retweet/repost/share/like/respond to every little thing as I did before. Since having Asperger’s can sometimes make me feel like I have to do certain things socially because everyone else is doing them [not in a peer pressure way, but in a ‘this is what humans do’ way], it’s a huge weight off of me that I can do it my own way and it’s okay. I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort lately to put my mental health before anything else, and even though I do think others in my personal life might feel a bit unintentionally slighted, I’m so much happier. I hope you are as well.

  39. I will miss you. I happen to think you are funnier than your husband, which is not easy because he is a pretty darn funny guy himself. But I have you here and who knows, maybe a season 4 appearance on TableTop(There are 7 more versions of Ticket to Ride for you to mess the trains up.) There is also the VandalEyes tumblr account where we can get a dose of you as well so there are avenues of access. Maybe write down some of your thoughts that would be tweets and when you have a bunch drop them on here as a compilation blog post. It could work as long as the stupidsphere does not follow.

  40. Although i dislike twitter more and more and feel this is probably a good – or maybe safer is a better word choice – call, you were definitely one of my favorites.

    I dont recall how long i have been following you, but it actually started i want to say over 2 years ago, because of your birthday! Its one of the few “scolding” (as if he cares but) twitter exchanges i had with Wil (and his fans who didnt take kindly to my criticism), but in one of his tweets he mentioned your birthday, as in birth date, and i was hyper sensitive about peoples privacy not to mention identity theft. At the time it gave me the heeby-jeebys for a celebrity to give out personal information like that over a public forum. I saw twitter as a place where celebs (for lack of a better term) could interact with their non or semi-psycho fans since it was semi new. facebook or myspace were just a zillion people spamming, no actual dialogue between people like Wil actually able to reply (due to lower volume of ppl) like this newer thing Twitter! But i was very worried Wil had let his guard down by giving out info about you. Lo and behold, i was spanked mightily, and rightfully so, bc i had made the assumption that you wouldnt want ppl to know, wouldnt want your own twitter or fanbase, etc. A pretty dumb assumption that “Wil’s wife” wouldnt want to get in on the Twitter thing herself since she didnt seem to be a movie star, have stuff to sell, or be a rabid fanboi. that was my incorrect and biased view of what twitters audience was – a secret club of celebs and fans interacting. Of course id later learn you had excellent geek credentials yourself, but at the time, you were the first “normal regular human” i knew with a twitter account haha! Nothing to sell, not stalking Billie Piper (that i know of), you just used it probably how it was MEANT to be used but never really has been – a regular sane person sharing their passions and interests with like-minded folks. in that respect, I think you more than anyone i follow could have been, should have been, the quintessential twitter user, their core audience.

    Fast forward a couple years, and its all promoted tweets, celebs who never interact w fans just announce albums and movie trailers. and every psycho on earth ranting.

    This… makes sense to me. My growing disillusionment with Twitter *should* be heralded with the first “regular sane person”(i hope thats not insulting hehe) I ever met on twitter being the first to leave.

    This may end up being another way in which you have helped some of us who really enjoyed your feed – the sign that we may need to follow the example of someone who represents what twitter was supposed to be all about, and her decision that it has gone south.

  41. My Twitter feed will not be the same without you. You’re tweets & pictures of your pest will be greatly missed! We only spoke once on Twitter but everything you do for the animals & your family is inspiring. I look forward to your amusing blog updates & I hope all the scum of the earth stops harassing you.

  42. I certainly understand.
    I noticed John Bain has also left twitter for similar reasons.

    Even though I am relatively new to twitter, I already find myself being treated rudely, classified and ostracized on twitter — and to be frank, I am quite certain who you and I, respectively, find to be the “terrible/unreasonable/divisive/rude/etc people” on twitter are not the same people.
    but I guess that just goes to show how systemic the problem may be.

    I find much of “social media” to be anti-social and, as a friend describes it, a “reality distortion engine”.
    twitter especially so with a mere 140 chars [I am not adept at soundbites, but then I never used Cliff’s notes or Schaum’s outlines in school, and I like my audiobooks unabridged πŸ˜€ ]

    I think it may just be a rarefied, amplified, network building game more than a way of communicating. Which is disappointing

    I may not be too far behind you and Mr Bain. (I wonder if it’s a perspective of circumstance. I am of a similar age and cancer has darkened my door as well..so I feel the number of the days)

  43. Anne, I’m still having issues commenting here, but I’ve only tried at work, so here I go from home, trying to catch up. Bottom line: myself and my critters will miss you, but I get it. Completely and totally.

  44. Hi Anne, an intermittent reader/almost never commenter here. I read your post a while ago (a few days after you initially posted it) but didn’t have a coherent reply at the time. I am so sorry you’ve had such an utterly rubbish time with trolls – you tweeted such fun and positive things that we do miss you on Twitter, and NO ONE deserves the kind of harrassment you received.

    Recently in the UK, gambling adverts have run with the motto ‘When the fun stops, STOP’. I think that well applies to social media too! So I’m very glad that you’ve chosen the course of action that is wisest for you, and I wish you well. As others have said, stay safe and stay happy πŸ™‚

    @MusicalLottie

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