TESTIMONIALS. "Every day, he made a decision that appalled me": exasperated by Elon Musk, they turned the

Dismissal of nearly half of the employees, restoration of the Twitter account of Donald Trump and sulphurous figures of the American far right, suspension of journalists Since he took the helm of Twitter in exchange for 44 billion dollars (44 billion euros), Elon Musk made a series of decisions that caused great controversy Exasperated by the direction taken by the social network under the leadership of the richest man in the world, some users have decided to say goodbye to the platform or in any case to limit their use

Several personalities have chosen to switch to the free alternative Mastodon, while others have purely and simply erased the network with the blue bird logo from their digital lives Franceinfo gives them the floor

Cécile Duflot, former minister: "On Mastodon, I find the atmosphere of Twitter in the early years"Former Minister of Housing under François Hollande, the ecologist Cécile Duflot now heads the NGO Oxfam France The one who was one of the first French politicians to register on Twitter now redirects in her biography her nearly 420,000 subscribers to her Mastodon account

"I registered on Twitter in November 2008, that is to say very early I remember a time when this network was witty and second degree, and where my curiosity was constantly stirred

Unfortunately, this has changed over time, in particular due to the absence of moderation, which let trolls thrive I have experienced this: as a public figure, I suffered insults that became more and more virulent and stupid

Inevitably, this reduced the interactions I had on this network My decision therefore matured little by little

The tone used by Elon Musk since his arrival at the head of the company, and especially the way in which he, having just installed, dismissed nearly half of the employees have finished convincing me "The sequence that took place before our eyes is interesting: shouldn't a tool like Twitter be managed by an organization, rather than by a billionaire who can spend 44 billion – you have to realize the sum – to do with it what he wants?"Cécile Duflotat franceinfoI haven't left Twitter because a lot of people I like are still there and it's important that I relays the action of Oxfam, but I have greatly reduced my use, which has become almost exclusively professional

I had already removed the notifications on my phone, this time I even deleted the application! I registered on Mastodon at the beginning of November After a somewhat complicated start, I found some very interesting accounts to follow

I have a much freer editorial line there, and I find a space there that reminds me of why so many people took a liking to Twitter in the late 2000s Mastodon also makes it easier to protect oneself from instances [of communities] where hateful users gather

"Benoît Reinier, youtuber: "Quitting Twitter saved me ten years of life expectancy!"Benoît "ExServ" Reinier is a videographer specializing in video games who has more than 161,000 subscribers on YouTube Registered on Twitter since May 2011, he stopped using the platform on December 20

His profile, which is still active, now links to his other online activities "I had been thinking for a long time that in addition to being time-consuming, Twitter had become a fairly harmful platform

position on a subject, you receive insults, and you have to 'mute' [hide] messages with all your might video game

" Since the formalization of his takeover of Twitter, I observed Elon Musk almost every day making a decision that they can follow me on my YouTube channel, or via the podcasts I co-host Since then, I feel like I've regained ten years of life expectancy! It was a way of freeing up my time to do real work, and not wasting time doomscrolling [scrolling through a list of depressing messages]

"Wolfgang Cramer, ecologist: "I told myself that staying 'was endorsed "Of German nationality, Wolfgang Cramer is director of research at the Mediterranean Institute of Biodiversity and Marine and Continental Ecology, in Aix-en-Provence, and co-author of the second part of the latest IPCC report He completely deleted his Twitter account, where he was followed by nearly 7,000 followers

"Even before Elon Musk arrived, I had doubts about the intrinsic functioning of Twitter, since it relies entirely on advertising The fact that an algorithm could filter, sort, give more values ​​to certain messages compared to others to display targeted advertising was unpleasant to me

But I accepted it, because I still had the feeling of having, with others, succeeded in building communities that conveyed messages with a certain effectiveness When Elon Musk arrived, I was not scandalized

In fact, I even found certain reactions quite hysterical: I didn't particularly know the previous owners, and I told myself that I shouldn't base my use of a service on the personality of its boss But my opinion quickly changed

"Very quickly, algorithm for highlighting certain messages whose existence on Twitter I deplored is no longer there I believe that we currently have a unique opportunity to develop a network that is truly decentralized, free, anti-racist and moderated by those who run it

Even if Elon Musk sold Twitter, I wouldn't go back "Claire Mathieu, mathematician: "I don't want to work as a volunteer for Elon Musk"Claire Mathieu is director of computer science research at the CNRS within the Institute in fundamental computer science

This mathematician is also a specialist in algorithms Followed by more than 2,000 people on Twitter, she began to be active on the Mastodon network at the beginning of November

"I signed up for Twitter in April 2015, but I only started to be active there in the period 2017-2018 At the time, I was part-time project manager at the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, where I participated in the development of the algorithms behind Parcoursup

The subject was much debated at the time, and I was keen to correct the false technical assertions that I saw circulating I was seduced by the possibility of exchanging with strangers, as long as they showed good will

Over the years, I have used the platform to identify experts in fields that interest me: algorithms, of course, but also higher education and research, the pandemic and global warming Month after month, by dint of mutual follow-ups, I I thus integrated a small social circle

"When Elon Musk took the helm of the company, I was outraged by his erratic and impulsive decisions, such as when he suspended the accounts of journalists critical of him "Claire Mathieu , mathematician at franceinfoI had already considered moving away from Twitter, but the last straw was the new certification policy, which allows you to pay 8 dollars a month to obtain the famous blue dot, which previously made it possible to identify public persons

I made a reaction of rejection vis-a-vis this decision: I refused that one puts under my nose in priority the messages of people whose only merit will have been to pay So I decided to find some friends who had joined Mastodon, where I'm in mode ' observation'

I haven't closed my Twitter account, but I try as much as possible to limit myself to relaying what interests me, and to no longer produce content there myself Because every time we write a tweet, we are working in a way on the development of Twitter, and therefore for Elon Musk

And I don't want to volunteer for him "

Dismissal of nearly half of the employees, restoration of the Twitter account of Donald Trump and sulphurous figures of the American far right, suspension of journalists Since he took the helm of Twitter in exchange for 44 billion dollars (44 billion euros), Elon Musk made a series of decisions that caused great controversy Exasperated by the direction taken by the social network under the leadership of the richest man in the world, some users have decided to say goodbye to the platform or in any case to limit their use Several personalities have chosen to switch to the free alternative Mastodon, while others have purely and simply erased the network with the blue bird logo from their digital lives Franceinfo gives them the floor Cécile Duflot, former minister: "On Mastodon, I find the atmosphere of Twitter in the early years"Former Minister of Housing under François Hollande, the ecologist Cécile Duflot now heads the NGO Oxfam France The one who was one of the first French politicians to register on Twitter now redirects in her biography her nearly 420,000 subscribers to her Mastodon account "I registered on Twitter in November 2008, that is to say very early I remember a time when this network was witty and second degree, and where my curiosity was constantly stirred Unfortunately, this has changed over time, in particular due to the absence of moderation, which let trolls thrive I have experienced this: as a public figure, I suffered insults that became more and more virulent and stupid Inevitably, this reduced the interactions I had on this network My decision therefore matured little by little The tone used by Elon Musk since his arrival at the head of the company, and especially the way in which he, having just installed, dismissed nearly half of the employees have finished convincing me "The sequence that took place before our eyes is interesting: shouldn't a tool like Twitter be managed by an organization, rather than by a billionaire who can spend 44 billion – you have to realize the sum – to do with it what he wants?