I know, I know. "Hello my friend we meet again, it's been awhile, where should we begin?" as the (in)famous Creed song goes. Well, as I've mentioned before, I used to have an actual website and I used to regularly write drivel and publish it there. But, it was never meant to be anything other than a hobby and creative outlet, and it started to feel like work. And, when I abandoned the site, I was still "taking what they're given cuz I'm working for a living", so anyway, moving right along. I feel like an explanation is needed, and given the "TL/DR" nature of "the site formerly known as twitter", here is a good, old fashioned BLOG POST of where we are in the journey.
Xtortion. As the title states plainly - "I paid the Xtortionist" (spelling intentional). For those who may not be aware, I first joined the twitter platform over 10 years ago, for the sole purpose of promoting my lame old website. And, what began as a (seemingly) necessary chore, quickly morphed into a fun, albeit addictive little time waster. "Tweeting" random thoughts, funny jokes, cute dog video clips, etc. Then, gradually, political news, opinion, and commentary. And then my "follower count" began to actually grow. And with that, came genuine human interaction. "twitter friends" became an actual thing. People who would respond, reply, repost. And over the course of the past decade, twitter, like everything and everyone else, CHANGED. It became the topic of headline news. It became a tool of suppression. It became an unofficial arm of the Federal Government. And then it became the property of the "Richest Man On Earth!" (cue the superhero theme song). And once that happened, for some reason, a giant X got painted on the back of yours truly here. And not an official X logo, as twitter is now so named either. But as in - "X marks the spot". As in - "target acquired, begin the suppression". As in - After over a decade of skirting the conservative purges and the mass bans of "Jack", suddenly I found myself facing my very first "timeout". (You can read my previous entry for details on that). And then the latest debacle - the extortion (with an X).
You see, for some (still to this moment) unknown reason, the "Wizrds of Smartz" as I like to call them, decided that I, or my actual X account, is a "BOT". Or that I use a BOT. Or that somehow, I am not human. Or whatever the actual purported problem is or was, I became the target of the automated ROBOCOPS of X.
And every morning, as I hopped on to X to post my daily news and musings, within short order, the proverbial cell door would get slammed shut. "Your account has been locked". No warnings, no "DMs", no emails, no official notification from any living, breathing, human employee of Elon Musk. Just BOOM. Now, for all of you uninitiated to life in the X stir/clink/slammer/Big House. when your account gets locked, you are forced to take a "prove you're a human" test. It's so infantile, it's beyond absurd. Move the little cartoon character to the proper classroom chair that matches the symbols on the left of the screen. I imagine it would be amusing for kindergartners. But for the rest of us, it's just plucking insulting. But, like a good little addict who'll jump through any hoop to get his next fix, you take the test which supposedly proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that yes, indeed, you are a real. live, human being. A Non-Cyborg. The genuine article. Like Coke, "The Real Thing". I'm not sure how "A.I." is so intelligent that it cannot possibly figure out how to click a few arrows, but according to the Wizrds of Smartz, only us mouth breathers can do it. So you do. But wait, there's more! ( cue the Game Show Host Announcer Voice).
Once you've proven you're worthy of providing free content and your personal information to X, you're allowed to resume clicking hard - only to learn that you've suddenly, somehow, UNFOLLOWED EVERYONE YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING ON THE PLATFORM?!?!?!? Yup. That's your prize. That's your reward. For being falsely accused of being Klaatu. or The Borg, or The Terminator, X kindly unfollows you from everyone instantly. And, as a bonus, they'll take upwards of two hours to restore your account and re-follow everyone on your behalf. MEANWHILE, back at The Halls of Justice (cue the Cartoon Announcer Voice), at LEAST one, and usually more, of your mutual followers will drop you. They'll unfollow you. And why not? After all, they don't know YOU didn't unfollow them. They don't get a DM or a post or an email explaining that it wasn't you, that you didn't drop them like they're hot, like you didn't ghost them. Nope. They think you unfollowed them first. So they drop you right back. Fair is fair. Turnabout is fair play. Right? WRONG.
It turns out that once you get the first false accusation/account lock/prove you're a human/don't do it again you naughty boy you/ treatment, YOU'RE ON THE LIST. From that point moving forward, the BOT POLICE OF X have you on the "Do Not Fly" list. The "Lumps of Coal and Switches for X-Mas" list. The "Here's an Account Designated for Xtortion" list. Yup! Once you regain control of your newly sprung from the joint account, X slaps a big 'ole "GET VERIFIED" label on you. Grok, the friendly "Good Bot" of X, is happy to inform you that if you'd only get verified, X will stop locking your account and unfollowing you from everyone EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIFE. "But why do I need to be verified after 10 years of tweeting/posting/farting on twitter/X?" I asked aloud to nobody in particular. "But, I'm not a Paid Influencer/Salesperson/Crypto/Porno/Talking Head/Politician/Self Righteous Dude who makes his living on Social Media Guru Guy!" I whined to nobody who cared.
DOESN'T MATTER says the robocops of X. Elon needs his $7.95 per month (turns out it's actually $8) more than your old, curmudgeony, ass. So, you can keep getting locked and taking kindergartner tests daily, and then have your account eventually dwindle down to nobody following you and you're just John The Baptist screaming in the wilderness, OR! And, you know the Or.
But I fought. I fought the good fight. I clicked hard I POSTED HARD. I screenshotted. I @'d X Support. I Googled. I bitched. It doesn't matter. Once you're on "The List", you're on the list. You've got the X on your back. Like a Monkey. And it ain't going away. So, after 15 lockouts, 15 tests, 15 "Get Verified" reminders, I caved. I folded like a cheap suit. I gave up. Quit. I broke out an unused credit card and paid the toll to the trolls. Turns out, all it takes to be a VERIFIED HUMAN is a Credit Card. MONEY. X already had my email address, which funnily enough, IS MY ACTUAL NAME@.... And, they already had my cell phone number, which funnily enough, has a voicemail, WHICH STATES MY NAME, IN MY HUMAN VOICE. What they didn't have, however, was my MONEY. That was the one missing piece of the puzzle which had The Wizrds of Smartz CONVINCED that I was a BOT. Weird huh? I wasn't asked for my Driver's License, my Passport, my Voter Registration. "NO ID NEEDED!" the bots chirp, just your U.S. funds. And so it is done. I am a Sheep, hear me bleat.
So, as of this writing, I am "under review". I'm not sure what more reviewing needs to be done. I've been on the platform since July, 2014. I've tweeted ALOT. Posted ALOT. And NONE OF IT is (or was) a violation of twitter/X rules. Not even "Lefty Jack" ever found reason to give me so much as a warning. But Elon's minions didn't like my little, non-consequential FREE account. So now they're reviewing and I'm $8 in debt. Don't cry for me Argentina. I've got $8 to spare. But it's the point of it all. I was Xtorted and I gave in. It was either that, or admit that the past 10 years wasting time on Social Media has been a waste of time. And we can't have that, can we? So look out world, here I come!
UPDATE! - > Okee, Dokee. So, it turns out that on Sunday, 03/23, The Wizrds of Smartz finished their review and found me to be a legitimate, living, breathing, certified, 100% authentic, Homo Sapien aka Human Being and awarded me with the very distinguished prize of a shiny new blue checkmark. (Actual retail value, $8, your milage may vary, see Dealer for details). And then life was grand. I posted like Pro and even picked up a few new followers.....UNTIL (you just knew there was going to be an until) about 9:20 pm.
Above please find the enclosed offending post (formerly known as "tweet"). Obviously you can see how offensive it is. The horror. The shame. Oh, the Humanity! Wait, what? You can't see anything wrong with that image or the wording of the post? Oh. Well, obviously YOU'RE not a Wizrd of Smartz. Clearly. If you were, then you'd already know THAT'S A LOCKDOWN post. Yup. I hit the "share" button on a PC Gamer news article and X found that to be "Suspicious Activity"!
But you have a BLUECHECKMARK THINGY I hear you say in my head. Actually, one of my mutual follows even noticed that and posted it to my TL. Yes. Yes I do. And apparently, my hard earned 8 bucks paid via credit card doesn't go very far in today's economy. OR, "you get what you pay for". OR, I don't know much about "Or". Either way, it was back to the old "Prove you're a Human" test and "We've removed you from following everyone for your convenience" and "Thanks for paying us to prove you're a Human, we'll restore your account to full functionality in roughly 2.5 hours".
So? Now what? I dunno. I'm not a Wizrd of Smartz. CLEARLY. But, additional @ posts to Support are about as helpful as a 5th wagon wheel. And, you cannot contact them via the actual Support Page on the Official X Website because they'll helpfully remind you that "Your Account is not locked or suspended". Anyway, if you happen to be reading this and know of a PROVEN way to resolve it (as in, not a theory or "Why don't you try...."), PLEASE let me know. You can DM me or @ me or find me in the wilderness over on "Truth Social" where 97% of my X followers apparently aren't active or following me. OK? Thanks!