John Gruber praises X's resurgence under Musk as preferred platform
Tech writer says X has regained footing with quality content and friendly culture, outperforming Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon.
What to know
- X has regained platform prominence driven by exclusive participation from high-profile creators and quality content not found elsewhere.
- Gruber contrasts X's apolitical, friendly culture with what he describes as unavoidable political arguments and engagement bait on Bluesky and Mastodon.
- The analysis prompted strong reactions from Mastodon users, including criticism of the characterization of the platforms.
Gruber's analysis mischaracterizes or unfairly frames the competing platforms and culture.
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“Jesus fucking christ.”
angry_drunk · Mastodon ↗
“You can have a discussion about cool new use cases and tools for AI on X and people just discuss the tools and use cases. On Bluesky and Mastodon it's difficult to have such discussions without arguments from people who (a) believe all use of AI is unethical, and (b) will shove their viewpoints into your replies.”
John Gruber, Tech writer, Daring Fireball · Daring Fireball ↗ · Oct 9
John Gruber Tech writer, Daring Fireball
Elon Musk X owner
John Ternus Apple CEO
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts
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Gruber updates essay with correction about Merriam-Webster's cross-platform posting
Gruber revised his analysis to acknowledge that Merriam-Webster maintains accounts on both X and Bluesky, but notes the frequency disparity: 45 posts (34 original tweets plus 11 retweets) on X versus 10 on Bluesky in October, supporting his broader thesis about X's content volume.
“They've posted 34 original new tweets on X so far in October; only 10 on Bluesky.”
— John Gruber -
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I’m sure this one won’t make anyone angry. https:// daringfireball.net/2026/10/x_o nce_again_marks_the_spot
2 more of the top 3 · 12 posts in this stretch
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Remind me why people think these kinds of people are worth listening to? Or remind me why do people look up to these kinds of people? Like I said previously, if you want to go back to Twitter/X, I will be over here when the # Enshittification happens and you need a new place. Daring Fireball: X Once Again Marks the Spot https://…
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I would say that if you don't see politics much on X then your views on the world have shifted to the right, and like a lot of older privileged white men in the western world you've had the luxury of ignorance and a echo chamber driven self induced lobotomy... I guess the bad takes on X were a natural progression from the bad takes on the EU…
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Gruber publishes essay crediting X's resurgence to quality content and culture
John Gruber posted analysis on Daring Fireball arguing that X has regained prominence under Elon Musk's ownership, driven by high-profile users like Apple CEO John Ternus and hundreds of other accounts that post only on X. He contrasts X's friendly tone and apolitical nature with the algorithmic issues and political arguments that dominate Bluesky and Mastodon.
“I see more interesting posts on X than I do on Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon combined. I wish that weren't so but it is.”
— John Gruber
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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2 outlets X Once Again Marks the Spot
first by Mastodon, 1d ago · also Daring Fireball
What people are saying 9 voices from 1 site · best of 12 · verbatim
- Oct 12
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Nah, I’m good. The picture says it all. https:// daringfireball.net/2026/10/x_o nce_again_marks_the_spot
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> The culture on X today is remarkably friendly and inclusive. It is a cheerful place. That cheerfulness is another differentiator. oh no https:// daringfireball.net/2026/10/x_o nce_again_marks_the_spot
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This take just makes my skull hurt. Putting aside all the propaganda and bots, isn't Grok still generating CSAM? https:// daringfireball.net/2026/10/x_o nce_again_marks_the_spot
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Again, I go back to the point of - these people aren't your friends. It's another take to justify X without saying it directly. We can do better - follow other outlets and people that don't cater to this. https:// daringfireball.net/2026/10/x_o nce_again_marks_the_spot
- Oct 11
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The fuck is this guy smoking https:// daringfireball.net/2026/10/x_o nce_again_marks_the_spot
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John @ gruber thinks that we should all be using X again because Apple executives post there, and because he isn’t following the right people on Mastodon and so thinks there are no good posts here. I’m not so sure either argument holds water. Mastodon’s articles are often fascinating. I did see a post the other day which clearly documented how to…
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Yes, people are going back because there's more action there… because people are going back there. Taking the action with them. Maybe there would be more action here if they didn't keep going back there, and instead tried to get more people from there to here… Sigh. I'm tired, boss… https:// daringfireball.net/2026/10/x_o nce_again_marks_the_spot
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https:// daringfireball.net/2026/10/x_o nce_again_marks_the_spot Jesus fucking christ.
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★ X Once Again Marks the Spot https:// daringfireball.net/2026/10/x_o nce_again_marks_the_spot