The news media has been in a tizzy since Elon Musk bought Twitter. Many articles have been posted about how Musk is killing Twitter with his changes. Other articles have been talking up inferior alternatives to Twitter like Mastodon and Truth Social.
But the truth is, Twitter isn’t dying, despite the obituaries some media pundits have written about the social media service. Twitter is still a great service, even with the upheaval at Twitter headquarters.
I agree with the commenters who say “I’m leaving Twitter” is the new “I’m moving to Canada.” Those are empty threats by people who think their opinions carry more sway than they actually do.
Simply put, Twitter is the largest public square for open commentary on the internet. Former President Donald Trump will inevitably come back, now that he’s able, simply because he has 87.7 million followers on Twitter, vs. 4.65 million on Truth Social. The only thing keeping him away now are some business obligations he has with Truth Social.
Like many people, I use Twitter as a news feed. I follow tech and entertainment news sources, celebrities, college sports, local news and businesses, experts I respect, and of course friends.
I almost never see the hate speech and misinformation that politicians and mainstream media types complain about. That’s probably because I stay away from politics and political news on Twitter. The only time I see the dark side of Twitter is when I check on trending topics and read some of the comments. Even then, I don’t get up in arms about comments I disagree with. I know there are idiots out there on the internet.
Musk is right to find ways to moderate “free speech” other than just banning accounts. I like his idea for promoting content from verified and paid accounts.
Twitter also should adopt ways to “up vote” and “down vote” tweets, giving more weight to votes from verified accounts.
As for Twitter Blue, that subscription service should be separate from paid verifications. People should be able to pay a one-time fee for verification if they use their real name and Twitter actually checks out their information. Consider Twitter verification like TSA PreCheck.
Photo: “Twittering Times” by Bernard Goldbach (via Creative Commons)