Montana, USA -- I will always appreciate what Twitter, and microblogging in general, has done for society. It’s given everyone the opportunity to become a writer. You don’t need to be published in a magazine or the newspaper to be read, anymore. All eyes are online. 

However, my time, at least a large part of it, is coming to an end in this platform. My ideas have become too bold to be stifled by character limits, anymore. I want to write. 

No redness. 

No negativity. 

Just room to run.

To take a thought from a respected colleague and friend, I value the connections I’ve made on Twitter. I may never completely leave but, I have made a conscious effort to focus more of my energy on the long form.

It’s not about politics, or policy, or algorithms (however maddening). I simply want to write more than a microblog will allow me to (without paying them, of course).

While SHE deserves nearly all of the credit for reinvigorating my ink, participating in daily micropoetry prompts deserves its fair share, I'm sure. The character limit could also be considered a useful tool. It challenged me to revisit my word choices, sentence structure, and formatting in unique ways. 

Not to mention, I consider some of the writers and artists I've met there, my friends. If the time ever comes that I need the services of a group of creative writers, I'm sure they are the first ones I'll reach out to. 

So, thank you, old twitter. Even though traditional weblogs have always been around, and even social media isn't something you invented, you played a pivotal role in the way the written word is shared. It wasn't always a good thing but, you gave everyone, even those of us who aren't professional scholars, the platform to make our voices heard. For better or worse, its changed everything.

See you ‘round.