The worst thing, and I appreciate that's a bold claim given the great many things one could name, about social media is the misapprehension it has created that everyone must have an opinion and that their opinion matters.

Worse, not only that it matters but that it is important. Linked to this, there is a weird oxymoronic position that one cannot express a meaningful opinion on a subject unless one has expressed an opinion on that subject previously.

But also, that if you have never expressed an opinion on a certain subject then you either don't care enough about it or you secretly on the side of some non-specific bad guys.

I was surprised to find that last week marked my X, formerly known as Twitter, 11th anniversary. Surprised mostly because it's not exactly a diary moment but also because time has begun to do this weird elastic thing where every event feels simultaneously five minutes and 20 years ago.

I remember the training session at work on how to grow a Twitter following - given to just a small group of us - when the social media platform felt new and exciting and important.

Gathering followers was significant, a sign of success. You really were someone if enough people clicked "follow" on your profile. At the time, I had more than 1000, which apparently was a decent number then.

What a downward spiral since those innocent days, not least the rapid recent coil towards calamity following the platform's Elon Musk takeover.

On the whole I count myself unusually lucky with my X experience - I've made connections on the platform that have spilled over to be real world friendships; I've had work from it; more stories than I can count; there are some fascinating people with truly informative and useful output who are a joy to learn from; there are animal videos and jokes; and I, very fortunately, don't suffer much abuse, certainly nothing like what I see levelled at other women.

But that positive experience is most likely because I go against the grain of what the platform currently stands for, which is to take a stand. Doesn't matter what, any stand, just take one.

My work sees me paid actual cash money to have an opinion and yet, quite often, I wish I didn't have to have one because, simply, I don't. Or, on occasion, I have thoughts or uncertainties and I am very, very grateful to work for editors at The Herald who are happy to have issues explored questioningly rather than proclaimed stridently.

But it's a privilege to have 1100 words to play with rather than 280 characters. So, online, I usually don't bother. It's the antithesis to growing a follower count but also the antithesis to stridency and culture wars.

If we try, as much as possible, to take our debates offline or have them privately then the heat is removed.

There is always a deep dismay to seeing people who I have met in real life and had interesting and reflective conversations with, who I have openly expressed views to and who have been responsive to those views, simply shouting at people when their thoughts have to be distilled to a restricted character count.

There's a shallow gotcha often used on Twitter/X whereby, mid-dispute, one poster will search the other poster's timeline to see how many times previously they have mentioned this particular subject.

If that search comes up empty then this is supposed to be some kind of moral triumph - "Oh, I see you've never discussed this before. Why do you suddenly care now?"

Similarly, profiles will be searched for key words and, if these are lacking, the person lambasted for their lack of condemnation of/allyship with that topic. Basically, if you fail to condemn you must then condone.

But it is irresponsible to profess expertise you do not have and, more, egotistical. Yet this doesn’t stop folk sharing the most egregiously ill-informed takes on everything from the Middle East to Gaelic education to Americans confidently opining about no-go areas in British cities or the failings of the NHS.

People care less about the sins of ego and arrogance and bullying than they do about ensuring they have taken a stand, been on the right side of history and made sure everyone knows.

That's not to say campaigning is wrong. Campaigning is very right and social media an endlessly useful platform for it. It's fine, also, to stand with no one or to stand privately or to just not understand enough to stand.

I'm trying to think of X in 11 years' time. Do I want the platform to still exist in another decade? Honestly, I don't know. Meet me for coffee and we can talk it over.