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?

I think Twitter on the whole has been a net negative for the world however it exists and people want it and if it didn’t exist someone somewhere would create it and millions of people would use it and so on balance I would rather the “ west” controlled it even Elon than say another part of the world and another rich billionaire from China for example.

Not essential but gosh I'll miss it if it goes.
I only joined to moan at big companies but now it's a great news source for me & makes me laugh a lot.

I like everything about my Twitter feed except the ads, and even the ads are ok (ads are not the majority of my Twitter feed, while ads are majority of my feeds on Facebook, which puts me off looking there at all, and yet my FBook is entirely personal contacts & local groups 😕 ).

DH & I were comparing our Twitter feeds last night.
We both follow the same sport: he follows grassroots level & I follow pro level news.
We both follow people in our industry.
I follow carefully selected experts in trade, law, politics. Very selected journalists & politicians. I unfollow/mute anyone who annoys me; I follow a lot of witty funny cute accounts (like Larry the Cat).
I follow one fervent but sincere Brexit supporter because she helps me see how Brexiters feel about things.

Yeah maybe Mastodon will recreate all that. Or maybe not.

It seems obvious that a guy like Musk just thinks in terms of the only accounts that matter on Twitter are the accounts with millions of followers, often saying crazy stuff, being "leaders". Musk believes personality & ideas matter more than facts. He actually thinks that's why people are on Twitter, and doesn't get how someone like me uses Twitter, at all, and what keeps me there.

@MorrisZapp, switch your feed to tweets as they happen (or try to). So in timeline order not prioritised. This is supposed to mean you see everything not just the stuff Twitter thinks you most want to see.

I adore it. It’s a really happy space for me, I find lots of interesting stuff to do in real life and it does boost my mood. I would really miss it.

Facebook was like self harming for me.

I don’t think it will go in any case. I think that is a lot of hyperbolic drama from people cross that their own favourite billionaires are not in charge. They flounce off to mastodon ( similar response to the right wingers that flounced off to parlar or whatever) realise mastodon is crap and slowly creep back.
and all the fuss over the blue ticks! So anyone can buy one now and all those with “official “ ones are furious that it no longer marks them out as special 🙄

I use it a lot for work, politics, GC news, journalism and my pelvic floor. If I lose Gussiegrips (who was on here, pelvic floor physio and very funny) then I'll never remember to do my 10, 10, 3.

I hope it survives whatever the new CEO is up to.

I'm curious about whether any big company that uses Twitter for customer service (e.g. supermarkets, rail companies, banks) has got a continuity plan for if it does stop working. Will their social media staff just sit and twiddle their thumbs while waiting for piles of letters to arrive?!

Completely agree with PP who said it is a cesspit of toxic masculinity.

I suppose it depends on who you follow, but it seems to me to encourage trolls, bullying behaviour, etc. It has given people the platform to broadcast their thoughts to the world. The problem is, the world does not need to hear the vast majority of it.

If it goes tits up something else equally as vacuous will come along that people can whore themselves out on .

I use twitter a lot to keep up with friends in foreign countries. We all have locked accounts and use it a bit like Facebook. I also enjoy things like Eurovision and Duvet Know It’s Christmas. I’ll be very sad it if goes.

Share token for the Times piece if it works
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d8e83a84-643b-11ed-b661-1218c187ba9f?shareToken=274c6cc3f836b07951ed3563e994158e

Twitter is awful for the areas you disagree with. However, in general, it's an excellent tool for galvanizing people. Either as a community of shared interest or uprising to throw Dictators or elect leaders(not whether you agree with them or not).
Twitter led to the death of news channels because it travels faster with better interaction and follow-ups. The blue tick created a trust for who can trust as the source of information you wanted—not being able to edit posts made people accountable. Of course, tweets come back to bite you even though you have outgrown them, but you live and learn.

I find Twitter has a very similar setup to Mumsnet. With similar groups of people. Both are incredibly clever people but also garbage of the world.

I don't get Twitter , it seems to be lots of posts where if you don't know the back story then it means nothing .

I like it to follow certain bands, talk to other fans and share photos and videos of concerts. I follow JK Rowling and others than feel strongly about women’s rights so I like it for that too.

I also think it's an excellent place for women. One of the few areas where female sickness and treatment can be discussed in real-time and shared worldwide. Explanations that you would never find anywhere else.

The same for black people. The example I give is what happened in Ukraine and how black people were being treated. Twitter helped get fellow black people to safety by following tweets and how to get monetary help. In real-time. Links to organisations or directions to take. In the olden days they would have died or got stack without any help.

It's just a platform. If it closes, another platform will pop up in its place.

I actually think its value is very overstated politically. If you believe Twitter, Jeremy Corbyn would be prime minister right now - it's become a place where activists believed their own hype and forgot the power of actual engagement with actual voters.

Twitter is also a better place for breaking down and discussing topics from other social media sites. It just doesn't happen the same on the original sites like ticktock, Instagram, or Facebook.

I don't use Twitter but reading some of these replies have piqued my interest: how would people suggest I get going? Any accounts I could particularly follow?

Given how few people are actually literate, I agree with @MilkshakesBringAllTheCoosToTheYard , it's value is overstated politically.

Political manipulation of the masses is easiest when you use images and one line emotive statements on FB. Trump and Russia know this.

I waste all my time on MN. I don't have time for Twitter too.

Go to there actual website and they will have a twitter handle. Start from there. Follow there tweets and some people will interest you. Follow them. That's how you start building a community of your own.

That surely depends on who you follow. You need to sift out and mute/block the obvious cranks, low quality and/or activist only posters. And adjust your settings so you only see verified posters. Follow a range of academics, serious journalists and commentators etc and then you'll get a better picture and insight into what's really happening.

I think it's actually been pretty awful in terms of political polarisation and the culture wars. It doesn't encourage the debating of ideas and the finding of common ground - its all about being snarky in 280 characters.

Erm thanks for the tips @SwedishEdith but I'm perfectly happy with how I curate my feed. The view that the move to online activism has led to less actual change is not unusual and not based on whom I follow.

Sent too soon! But on the other hand it has been excellent in enabling individuals to draw attention to particular issues and situations. I just feel that in terms of politics and social issues in general it adds to tribalism (and witch hunts) as the format doesn't allow for nuanced debate.