How important is Twitter?

[Chocchops72]

Is it likely to go tits up and disappear? And if it does, does it matter?

i go on Twitter quite a lot, mostly to follow a few accounts linked to subjects I’m interested in (politics, news, climate change, science, old buildings, travel). I rarely post. ATM there is a lot of hand wringing and concern that ‘something should be done’ to preserve what Twitter provides - but I’m not sure what that is and how important it is?

Is Twitter important to you?

This.

I use it loads. Med Twitter is huge, connecting clinical staff across the world. Sharing and celebrating what we do, communicating with local communities and asking other HCPs for help or ideas.
it’s a massive community of practice that will be so missed.

As I understand it, it has failed to monetise its activities. Elon has come in and driven out staff to cut costs but also driven away advertisers who fund it and don’t want to be associated with some of the horrific politics that has previously been banned.

One the whole, I dislike Twitter and think it's a toxic mess, where public opinions are manipulated and misrepresented. One on level I am very pleased to watch it vanish.

However I also think it's become a reliable way to get in touch with people, to get updates from verified sources, or to get in touch with companies, and it's one of the places I check for traffic updates or local news.

So overall now I'm a little wary of that gap and what will replace it, and weary about having to learn something new.

@checkedcloth

yes, there seem to be huge professional / specific subject areas in Twitter that are heavily used. I know Legal Twitter is also huge. DH is a geography teacher, he really rates it for access to resources, directly from researchers / labs / governments / institutions. Rather than trailing around on individual websites, it all comes direct to his feed. It does makes email / newsletters look pretty clunky as a way of getting info .

I use it a lot for my job too - in my sector it's really important and we'd have to find somewhere else to go.

Other than that, I find it entertaining too - surely it's only misogynistic and toxic if you follow misogynistic and toxic people? You can control what your feed looks like.

Deleted my acct when musk took over, but tbh I didn’t really use it anyway so no big loss. Pretty sure other socials will fill the gap should Twitter disappear.

I've never used it as I have too much life to live and it's time you never get back.

Id absolutely love it if Twitter folded, Id be walking round with a schadenfreude smile on my face that the misogynistic narcissist Trump has been itching to get back tweeting in his big pants sitting on the lav for over a year after he was kick off it. Oh the joy!

Twitter is great for breaking news with spin, makes me wonder why someone would buy it to destroy

Never used it so wouldn’t bother me at all. I know a lot of people like to use it to whinge to large companies with their ‘complaint’.

I don’t use it so wouldn’t miss it

I like that you can "talk" "direct" to the "higher ups".
Of course they dont read all of it.
But the general gist gets through to their, sometimes, "thick" heads.

Quite.
You can follow fluffy cat pictures all day long if that is your bag. That would then be virtually all you would see.

I use it a lot for work.

The bit I find useful for work as mentioned by other PPs is the industry network and industry discussion part. And it being timely and happening right now, in chronological order. LinkedIn is too formal and corporate and you don’t see the posts in order.

so I have been thinking ‘how will I get that same thing - which I would like not to lose - somewhere else?’. Although I don’t know the answer.

the best thing would be if Elon gave up, defeated, before he completely breaks it and sold it for £1 to Mumsnet who could then run it instead, but much better.

I used it once to complain about ocado during lockdown. I go on twitter via links from other sites if it's a subject which interests me. I won't notice when it's gone and it has rivals which will probably fill the hole for people who do care. Almost nothing is irreplaceable.

My only desire is that this goes as badly for Elon Musk as it possibly can. That will make me happy.

I think Twitter has killed off nuanced debate. I followed academics, experts and amateur enthusiasts in my line of work and really liked that it seemed to remove hierarchies, enabling information to be shared freely which sped up progress and offered amazing networking opportunities.

However, outside of that cosy curated echo chamber I would occasionally stray into threads about Brexit, climate change, Tories or whatever and the grim underbelly of Twitter would appear. So many bots, so many angry white men spouting their unasked-for opinions and bile. Ugh, no thanks. It could be great but I won't miss it if it goes.

Like a pp I use it for traffic and immediate local issues but I’m sure that kind of information could easily shift elsewhere.

am I missing why Musk has bought it just to destroy it?

I think it's a fantastic way of challenging people in power and awareness raising generally - like, #metoo. I love politics and debate so it's my most used social platform. I read more than I post and don't follow anyone toxic.

Professionally, medical Twitter and educational Twitter are huge. I like that my doctors and kids' teachers have access to professional discussion and communities of practice.

@BlueThursday

i don’t think he just bought it to destroy it. I think like a lot of hugely popular social media sites, it hasn’t actually made any profit yet - despite the huge subscriber numbers. I think Musk believed he would have the business acumen to change that and make it profitable.

i think he also likes to paint himself a as a free speech advocate, and feels that Twitter banning certain posters / posts goes against that. Not sure how sincere this is though.

@Roussette I'd love to read that article, but it's behind a paywall. Any chance you could c+p it, please?
TIA

I like twitter, you get a much faster response from companies there if you have an issue that needs resolving. It's nice to chat with people about TV shows and stuff in real time.

However, the younger people have taken it over and there is a very toxic troll culture on there. I see a lot of "fan" pages of singers and they seem to spend all day on there arguing with people about why their favourite singer is better than theirs, name calling, etc. I don't think it's an appropriate place for teens. It's not as strictly monitored as facebook for example, it's easy to access porn there, I've clicked on "trending" hash tags to do with TV and random porn has appeared obviously using the hash tag inappropriately to get people to see the videos. It's far easier to hide behind a fake profile as well.

Twitter is a great way to get messages out quickly.

Or to get customer service - holding companies to account publicly

Yes other platforms exist, but what would you say best overs those two aspects? Or will they be lost?

It actually has been pretty essential to my career but it’s also a huge time suck and I won’t miss it if it goes. I’m sure people in my industry will adapt and find somewhere else to communicate.

I'd like to read the times article too. Can someone share a readable version?

I don't see what is so special about twitter other than it is one site for all these things: sector specific chat/ legal/education/medical & social chat plus public info. It would need to be well moderated to attract advertisers and instead seems to have lots of nutcases. Mumsnet is pretty crazy but at least I have stuff in common with a lot of people here.

I'm not sure he can make people pay for it. Maybe a small charge which if everyone in the world paid would be £££.

I think he's right to cut the workforce and the cost base and really if the site goes down they can get it back up without loss of posters/accounts.

God no, I think Twitter is awful.

I occasionally go onto it as someone I vaguely know claims to be an expert in an area that I know about. She’s a bullshitter, but she has cultivated a decent following who seem to want to defend her to the end.

It’s all bull, and I wouldn’t believe anything anyone says on their even if (and maybe especially if!) they claim to be an expert.