I've Been Banned from Twitter!!!!!

[Burnaby49]

Well, actually X, that sad desiccated shell of what Twitter once was.

I recently got this email, purportedly from X;

Hello Burnaby49,

Your account, Burnaby12345, was detected by our systems and automatically suspended for violating the X Rules.

Specifically, for:

Violating our rules against inauthentic behaviors.

You may not use our services to engage in inauthentic activity that undermines the integrity of X.

Note that if you attempt to evade a suspension by creating new accounts, we will suspend your new accounts. If you wish to appeal this suspension, please contact our support team.

If you have an active X Premium subscription, it will not be automatically canceled by X. To cancel your X Premium subscription, follow these instructions.

What did I do on X to be singled out for such dire punishment by an enraged Elon? Absolutely nothing! As in, literally, nothing. I opened up an account, maybe a year ago, but never used it. I've never posted on it or even checked out other postings. And what is this "inauthentic behavior" that I‘m accused of committing? Given the fetid snake pit that Elon has turned Twitter into its beyond me what can be considered inauthentic behavior. I didn't rant about Jewish conspiracies? I didn't make racists comments? X has integrity to undermine?????

This was such a critical issue in my life that I responded by telling my wife "fuck them" and I didn't bother to check if I was actually banned. Given my lack of any connection to X it really didn't matter if I was banned or not.

But, but, somebody recently posted something on Quatloos, I think one of the Brits, which included an X link in the posting. So I clicked on it to see what would happen. My screen was immediately filled by a solid black screen with a very stern lecture from X that I'd been a bad boy but they might, possibly, maybe, let me back in. Tentative, on Double Secret Probation, but a potential access back to the golden land of brilliant reasoned discourse and discussion. They'd sent me an e-mail with a four digit code and I had to enter it on their message screen. So I did and I was back in although "back" might be incorrect because I may never have been 'in' in the first place. How would I know since I've never used it?

This all reminds me about my wife and I being rejected by Master Cards last year. I didn't even want it, I'd been using the same Visa card for over 50 years (I'd even had its Canadian predecessor card, Chargex), but my wife had insisted we apply, some promo from Costco. Sadly I'm a one-trick pony so my response to their rejection letter was fuck them, I didn't want their card anyhow and I didn't care why my application had been denied. My wife, on the other hand, went nuts. They'd given no reason why they'd denied us their crap card so she phoned Master Card and demanded a reason. They refused to discuss it saying that it was in her credit rating. So she went to the trouble of getting a copy of her credit rating and, as I suspected, it was perfect. I told her that was the reason. She and I pay off our Visa bills every month and avoid paying their extortionist interest. So Master Card had no way to make money off of us.

[eric]

What did I do on X to be singled out for such dire punishment by an enraged Elon? Absolutely nothing! As in, literally, nothing. I opened up an account, maybe a year ago, but never used it. I've never posted on it or even checked out other postings. And what is this "inauthentic behavior" that I‘m accused of committing? Given the fetid snake pit that Elon has turned Twitter into its beyond me what can be considered inauthentic behavior. I didn't rant about Jewish conspiracies? I didn't make racists comments? X has integrity to undermine?????

You have just described exactly what various forms of social media consider inauthentic behavior. Your unused account takes up storage space on servers and does not generate ad revenue so you are a net cost to X. Because of your vile behavior there is a very good chance that you are likely a bot. There are millions of bot accounts on X that sit dormant for a couple of years and then all of a sudden spew similar content on some topic. In the space of one week I blocked 176 accounts that were sure I was interested in Nigerian local politics with those characteristics. BTW, the black screen is the norm for twitter now, nothing to do with you.

This all reminds me about my wife and I being rejected by Master Cards last year. I didn't even want it, I'd been using the same Visa card for over 50 years (I'd even had its Canadian predecessor card, Chargex),

I remember Chargex. I was part of the first drop of the cards way back in 1968. I was only thirteen years old at the time but my bank thought because I had a healthy bank account I would be a good target. I was a budding young entrepreneur from the age of nine clearing the princely sum of 10-15 $ per week delivering newspapers. In today's dollars that's a decent sum of money.

[Burnaby49]

Now that you've explained it I feel ashamed of myself. I should have been working assiduously, posting day and night, to help Elon's cash flow instead of costing him money. He needs our help. From what I've read Twitter's advertisers were top shelf, major brands and well known products but now X deals in erection dysfunction and car additive ads. And those exploding rockets must be a drain on his cash flow. Elon was quite right to rebuke me for my selfish non-participation.

But if they suspected I was a bot but were willing to allow me back why not do that in the first email? Why not just send me an email saying my inactivity indicated I was a bot and instructed me to use a four number code to prove I wasn't instead of devastating my self-image by telling me I wasn't even good enough for X?

I realized black was default when I checked out a couple of random postings to confirm I was actually back. Just another reason nor to participate. I have a lot of difficulty reading white text on a black background and a half hour of trying would give me eye strain.

I probably got Chargex about the same time as you. I was a student at UBC which I attended from 1967 to 1972.

[eric]

Twitter is still useful, there are still some very intelligent people who use it. In its present format however it is very difficult to ensure that their posts get to you. In fact, people who use X just in that manner akin to reading the newspaper are somewhat penalized.

My Chargex card lasted for one day. The very next day my father marched me down to the bank and gave a stern rebuke to the bank manager for giving a charge card to a minor. The young lady who would eventually become my future wife hid hers from her parents. When she left home as a minor her first purchase, which maxxed out her card, was an excellent set of pots. Of course she couldn't pay for them, small claims court, and a settlement of 5$ per month with a similar comment from the JP about cards to minors. Still use the pots daily 50 years or so later, running joke is that I only married her for her excellent cookware.

[Pottapaug1938]

I deactivated my Twitter/X account a short while ago. I rarely used it, in part because there were too many Twits there.

I should have been like Burnaby, and gotten the Banned By Twitter/X Award.

[JamesVincent]

Irony there being I actually was perma-banned from Twitter, pre Musk, for calling a prominent politician an old hag in her feed. To be fair I was told I had a 7 day ban which wouldn't begin until I had deleted the comment. Since I believed then, and still do, that she is indeed an old hag I refused. So, it became permanent.

I recently started a new X account, been relatively inactive on it and haven't had a single issue.