Musk is on the brink of ruining the procrastinator’s dream

As Twitter is plunged into uncertainty, Will Gore looks for new ways to avoid reality

They’ll soon be no excuse but to do the many things that would be a more productive use of energy (AFP/Getty)

I have a love/hate relationship with Twitter. I love the opportunities it presents – for finding stuff out in real time; for connecting with like-minded (and not so like-minded) people; and for the many silly jokes and videos that regularly make me lol. I hate it for being the bearer of ill will, and worse, from those who have realised the power of social media to distort public discourse. But at least I’m conscious of how the bad actors operate – not everyone is (or wants to be), which is an even bigger problem.

I was not, to use the modern lingo, an early adopter of social media. In a long-ago previous job, in a report for an external audience, I described Twitter as a “micro-blogging website”. A fair description I felt at the time, but my colleagues guffawed and never let me forget my apparent dimwittedness. When I finally set up an account some years later, they awaited my micro-blog with bated breath.

They may, in the event, have ended up following the wrong person, as my preferred handle – @willgore – had already been taken when I joined. Over the subsequent years, that Will (also a journalist, among other things) and I (@willjgore, and barely a journalist) became acquainted virtually, passing on messages intended for the other. I recommend you follow him: he may be the best Will Gore on Twitter.