A series of Twitter suspensions

    I first joined Twitter at age 12. Technically, I wasn’t allowed to, the terms and conditions require users to be 13+, but I always knew how to lie. My first account was for lurking, for watching Katy Perry make snide remarks about Taylor Swift, for checking what the election results would be and fearmongering to anyone who’d listen. I began posting when Tucker Carlson tweeted something so immensely stupid that I (now 13 years old) needed to school him with my cliche liberalism, using slogans like “science is real” and “build bridges, not walls.”  I got tired of being nice, though. My first permanent suspension was because I told Tucker Carlson I hoped his house would burn down.

    I created a new account. Two new accounts, actually. One for my personal scrolling needs, and one with the username “bullyingterfs,” created for doing just that. I went to JK Rowling’s Twitter, scoured her replies for the most egregious transphobia, and harassed them until they deleted their accounts. It worked twice, and then I got permanently banned.
    My other account lasted longer. It kept me busy from age 14 to age 18. Until September 8th, 2022. The first thing I did in the morning was check Twitter. Feeling especially full of morning anger, I thought of the most malicious tweet that would get me the most attention. I tweeted “@queenelizabeth Die Bitch!” I put my phone down.
    Queen Elizabeth died at 3:10 pm that day. My Twitter account was forever gone.

    I deleted Twitter from my phone recently. I only use it for fifteen minutes a day, and only in the browser of my laptop. I miss being able to know everything all the time, to tweet every thought that I have, every annoyance, every excitement, every fear. I blog now instead. I write poetry and long-form content, things that force me to think what I write, not write what I think.