A year of Twitter under Elon Musk; also the current state of Twitter alternatives
It’s now been one year since Elon Musk bought what was once my favorite social network, Twitter. The social network has since undergone numerous changes under Mr. SpaceX; unfortunately, they’ve all been for the worse.
I last looked at the state of Twitter at the six month point, so here’s an update on things since then. Also, I give my thoughts on the current state of Twitter alternatives.
Twitter is now “X”
In July, Musk changed Twitter’s name to “X.” (Note it’s still using the “twitter.com” domain by default, with “x.com” redirecting to it.) As I wrote at the time, everything about this name change is how not to change a site’s name or domain. That includes choosing a site name, which should be something easy to pull up in Google. (That said, searching “X” by itself brings up the former-Twitter as the top result.) Musk has an obsession with the letter “X” (to the point of using it to name one of his kids), and thus is more concerned about that over the fact Twitter’s easier to Google search, a household name, isn’t the trademark nightmare “X” is, and the word “tweet” has become a familiar term. But sure, throw all that away for “reasons.” (For my purposes, I’ll still be calling X “Twitter.”)
Oh, and there was also the debacle over Musk swapping out Twitter’s longtime bird logo for a generic letter “X,” including at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.
Musk wants Twitter to become an “everything app” (and Twitter needs money)
Musk wants to turn Twitter into an “everything app,” just like WeChat in China. That’s in spite of the multiple reasons against such an app working outside of China… or who’d be foolish enough to give their banking information to Musk. For starters, here in the US alone he’s competing with major bank chains (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, etc.), local banks, and credit unions. Not to mention the existence of Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay. And, of course, that PayPal and Venmo exist. And, well, old-school credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, etc.).
I suspect Musk is still sore about his experience when he was at PayPal 20+ years ago, and wants to one-up the service. Never mind that’s quite a long time to hold a grudge.
On top of the above, Twitter’s also losing money from a sharp decline in both users and advertisers. Thus, Musk has made a long list of money-seeking and feature changes (too many to list here). This includes charging new users in New Zealand and the Philippines $1 a year to use the service. While the excuse given is to defend against bots (somehow), some suspect it’s a way to make progress toward getting users’ financial info, per the “everything app” goal.
Misinformation Anti-Science Theater 2023
To no one’s surprise, Musk also has taken a lax approach toward moderation and misinformation on Twitter. Allowing various trolls, racists, etc. back on the platform (and to buy attention via Twitter’s premium payment options) has made it a less useful and pleasant place.
The fact 2024 is bringing a US presidential election makes Twitter’s state all the more alarming. The election, which’ll inevitably be a rematch between Biden and Trump (sorry, DeSantis fans), is sure to be at least as nasty as the 2020 election; we don’t need a social network indifferent toward misinformation involved.
That said, this might not go completely unchecked. As of this writing, the European Union planning to investigate Twitter over its handling of hate speech and misinformation related to the recent Israel/Hamas conflict.
The future of Twitter
Overall, Twitter’s clearly lost whatever useful purpose it once had. The past year under Elon Musk has been a chaotic disaster. Twitter’s future is subject to whatever Musk’s latest whims are, as well as allowing misinformation and trolls to run rampant. There’s also Musk’s vague goals to distort the service into something well beyond its text-based social network roots. As such, I don’t see anything improving, and can only imagine what it’ll be like a year from now (especially around Election Day).
The state of Twitter alternatives
At this point, there are few good reasons for anyone to stay on Twitter. I strongly urge any remaining users to switch to an alternative, even if they’re imperfect or don’t exactly replicate Twitter’s feature set; holding out for perfectionism isn’t worth it. (Again, a US presidential election involving Donald Trump is coming, on top of its current state.). For the “I’m staying here until it completely stops working” crowd, sure, “the house hasn’t completely collapsed," but it's still rat-infested and has bad plumbing.
While there’s been numerous alternatives launched, most of them have failed to pick up any steam, with a few (such as “Pebble,” formerly T2) shutting down. I suspect there’s more interest among investors and tech companies days in AI or competing with TikTok (“pivoting to video,” etc.) than making a text-based social network. As such, unless something better comes along, the most likely Twitter alternatives:
Bluesky. Bluesky has gotten some traction, having recently passed one million users. However, Bluesky’s glacial feature development pace and rollout, and its invite-only system, don’t seem to be helping it pick up even more users. There’s also lingering questions for when Bluesky does fully open, namely how its moderation will scale up, as well as its business model (there’s currently no ads on the platform). Still, Bluesky’s ease of use and not being tied to Meta or Musk has made it a popular Twitter alternative for many.
Threads. Threads has been slowly adding new features since its launch, though it’s still missing some important ones (such as hashtags). There’s also its ties to Meta making some users wary; Threads becoming popular would give Meta lopsided dominance in social media (per Facebook and Instagram). Still, Threads is easy to use, it’s moderated (though some feel too moderated, especially for adult content creators), and its ties to Meta mean it’s already attracted major/familiar commercial names. (Though whether it’ll attract one’s cousin Fred or old classmates is debatable.) Threads also has plans to open up to ActivityPub, making it more appealing to some fediverse fans.
Mastodon. Mastodon’s been around for awhile, and has seen a boost in users with Twitter’s decline. However, many non-"techie" users found it hard to sign up for, turning them off right away. Also a turn-off are the lack of a few features (text-based search, easily discovering and following other users, etc.) and few major or familiar big-name users. (I like George Takei and Cory Doctorow, but in terms of general public prominence, they're not exactly Taylor Swift or the Green Bay Packers.) I’ve also seen some complain about some instances’ moderation policies and treatment of people of color/LGBTQ folk (though Bluesky also has had the same complaints). That said, Mastodon’s attracted a technically oriented crowd and some niches; also, some find the lack of a billionaire or other commercial interests behind Mastodon appealing.
Other options besides the above:
An old stand-by, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Tumblr. Those using Twitter to follow their favorite singers, brands, influencers, etc. will easily find them on those social networks.
For news followers: install Google News/Apple News, sign up for a newsletter, or set up an RSS reader. For those that just used Twitter to follow news sources, Google and Apple make news apps that you can use. Many sites also offer a newsletter. Technically inclined users can also set up an RSS reader to follow their favorite sites.
Start a blog. If you want to go really old-school, there’s starting your own blog like this one. WordPress.com, Tumblr, and Blogger are free ways to start a basic blog. You’ll also own your own content, and avoid being under Musk’s thumb.
I’m currently using Bluesky and Mastodon. (I also have a Threads account, but just sitting on the user name.) Looking over my experience with both:
Most of the tech-related users (and some comic-related ones) moved to Mastodon.
Bluesky attracted most of the comics and animation related crowd I followed.
I’ve seen Mastodon users grumble about the flaws of Bluesky, and Bluesky users grumble about the flaws of Mastodon. Though users on both seem to hold antipathy toward Threads?
Everyone else (who aren’t stubbornly clinging to Twitter in its decline) seem to be on a mix of other services: Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, their own sites, etc.
Have you switched to any Twitter alternatives? If so, which ones?
"Twitter App" by Brett Jordan is licensed under CC BY 2.0 (Flickr / cropped from original)