The negative effects Instagram has on its users are well-researched, but what about the rest of the social media giants?

Facebook is long past its peak. TikTok users are probably giving themselves food poisoning doing whatever wacky challenge is trending this week. That leaves us with the infamous blue bird, Twitter. A platform that has managed to build its own unique audience of people of different ages.



What Does Twitter Consist Of?

On the one hand, you have people who are there to have a good time and talk about things they enjoy. They live tweet while their favorite show is on, talk about their daily lives, and are all around chill and laid back.

On the other hand, you have trolls who just want to watch the world burn and spew out abusive and hateful content.

This gets even worse, thanks to the countless fake and bot accounts that plague the platform. Twitter users are very vocal about these problems, but higher-ups don't seem to be too pressed about it (at least not until recently).

And it doesn't look like things are about to change for the better any time soon.

How Bad Are Things, Really?

In my opinion, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to call Twitter one of the most toxic platforms. Fake accounts have increased so much that they can make certain topics trend and help fake news spread like wildfire.

Many of the platform's users don't use their real names. Instead, they hide behind fake accounts and online personas that quite often don't have anything in common with the person behind the computer.

It also doesn’t help that users of this platform are easily offended and start fights easier than they would in real life or on other social platforms.

A simple misunderstanding can lead to a snowball effect which can end up with people dogpiling against a person who had no ill intention in the first place.

Many of these misunderstandings are caused by the limited characters you can have on a tweet.

Even though the limit was increased a couple of years ago, from 140 to 280, it's still not enough.

Users are unable to fully express themselves and thoroughly write their thoughts, so they end up cutting corners and posting an abridged version of what they originally intended.

How To Deal With It

When I first stepped into the Twitterverse, I was taken aback by the number of vulgar comments I encountered. I thought it was some kind of an inside joke that I just wasn't aware of.

If you are new to Twitter and have encountered any toxic content, you need to know how to deal with it.

After all, who wants to spend their free time reading tweets from people that use slurs as commas and wish death on strangers over pizza toppings?

Not only can you block users who post things you find offensive, but you can also mute words and hashtags so they don't appear on your timeline.

Should We Permanently Log Off?

Some people don't take a step back to consider how their hateful words can affect a person. However, some don't care, and some even find joy in ruining people's days. This phenomenon is running rampant on Twitter.

But no social media platform is entirely toxic. Twitter has brought attention to countless stories that would otherwise be swept under the rug. And that alone is a good indicator that it can be a valuable tool when used correctly.