Two and a half years later, the platform looks radically different from what it was. It's even got a new name; "X," a change that many people are still not sure was a good idea, even when it comes to Musk fans. It also features payouts for creators that attract a lot of attention, has a built-in AI system, and features that continuously improve the platform being dreamt up and created all the time. 

It's an incredible platform... but it has some very serious flaws. 

Let's start with the good. 

X is now the number one place to get news. Almost any story hits X first before it hits anywhere else. Live updates are constant, and what's more, it's a free speech platform, meaning that very little is going to get censored in terms of information. I've often found myself searching X posts before I even think to search Google or Duck Duck Go, which has decreasingly become my go-to way to search for anything. 

X's free-flow of information has been integral to the American people, and America as a nation. Where the left could create narratives and propagate them by controlling the flow of information on Twitter, the left can't seem to get narratives off the launch pad. As soon as they're introduced, they're destroyed on X. It's never been easier to prove a politician or activist a liar. Community Notes has become integral to the maintenance of truth in a sea of lies, and often with hilarious results. 

Then there's Grok, a pretty great AI that is constantly being improved. Its image generation abilities are pretty great, and having it built-in to posts so it can dissect, analyze, and elaborate things within the post is actually very, very useful. 

I think X is partly responsible for the direction our country is headed now, and I couldn't be more thankful to Musk for facilitating what is a website that allows people to openly speak the truth and make the establishment answer for its actions. We'll never know how many minds were changed by X delivering correct information at critical times, and our Republic has seen an incredible turnaround for the better because of it. 

X is, in my opinion, one of the most important websites on the planet right now, if not the most important. 

So why do I find myself feeling increasingly detached from it? 

For starters, X is devolving into sensationalist noise, and I think it started with the payout system. 

Payouts was a great idea because it caused people to engage with the site in hopes of getting kickbacks for doing something they already loved to do, which was post content on X, but the problem is that it soon turned people into clickbait goons. Everything is turned up to 11 in order to get the engagement, and I often find myself having to dig past the dynamism to get to the real meat of it. 

People will often use buzzwords that are popular in posts, even if said buzzword doesn't necessarily tie into the subject. Like force that square peg into the round hole, because doing so will attract the eyeball and increase the likelihood of engagement. Moreover, this has actually created people who love the outrage click, or posting something so obviously infuriating that it gets people to respond angrily. 

Whether it's happy or angry, engagement is engagement, and you get paid all the same.

Moreover, I feel like this site rewards addiction and in a way that I find harmful. Payouts happen based on engagement, and the bar is set at a point where interactions must happen frequently. If you're not a major X influencer who gets anywhere from 250k to a couple million in engagement with every post, you're probably relegated to being a reply guy. This means you're that fish attached to the whale's belly. Anytime a big account tweets, you're right there, putting your reply in as soon as possible in order to have the highest chance of attracting the most eyeballs. 

This means you're probably setting bell notifications to pop up on your phone whenever these people post to maximize your timing. Moreover, you're constantly scrolling on your phone looking to find something that's popping off with engagement so you can interact and ride the wave. You are glued to your little black mirror. 

I tried doing this for a week to see how much I could get, and it wasn't worth it, especially when I noticed my son constantly noticing me on my phone. 

If I'm being honest, I'm starting to get the same feeling about X that I have about Facebook. When Facebook first came out, it was a fun way of engaging with friends and family, but soon devolved into an exhausting parade of slop, over-dramatics, and inter-familial fighting. X used to be a fun way of engaging with like-minded people, but now has turned somewhat soulless as people produce a parade of slop, over-dramatics, and clout chasing, and a lot of it is being done for money. 

One final complaint, and this one is more personal.

I'm a content creator that focuses on video and the written word. I don't have the time to sit and glue myself to X, and that isn't something X takes kindly. If you're not constantly interacting, the algorithm will punish you. 

When I post my content to the site, it often gets buried by the algorithm, which is incredibly unforgiving. Facebook also has this same problem. 

I find myself far more drawn to platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, which don't seem to have that problem to the extent X does. You create, the platform will push it out, help you build your community, and that's that. The thing is, I have very little respect for any of these websites, while I have a whopping respect for X. 

I just feel like X doesn't really respect me, or anyone for that matter, for not making the platform the center of my life. 

All in all, X is a platform that I'm glad exists. I find it integral to a free society, especially in an age where almost all the other platforms are highly and tightly controlled by the left. That said, X isn't exactly endearing itself to me beyond its ability to get uncensored information out quickly. It's a superb site on a macro level, on a micro level it's woefully awful. 

I feel it encourages addiction, sensationalism, lower quality content, and annoying engagement bait.

But what's cool is that Musk is a man who sees problems and innovates accordingly. The X of today may not look the same in two years, and all of my concerns may have very well been addressed and rectified. As with all things, time will tell, but as of today, I both respect and dislike X.