As Twitter Turns: Six More Stories from Pixel Place
I donāt like or use Twitter, but itās impossible not to gawk at Elon Muskās slow-motion train wreck (see āElon Musk Buys Twitter (Really) for $44 Billion,ā 28 October 2022). Every story that comes out is such a master class in destroying a tech company that it makes me ever more grateful for the adults in charge of Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and the like. (Not Facebook.) We may not always agree with their decisions, and they may occasionally venture into rapacious or morally dubious territory, but theyāre not loony. In contrast, hereās the frogtwaddle that Twitter has engaged in over the last month, pulled straight from the headlines:
- Official: Twitter will now charge for SMS two-factor authentication: In November 2022, Twitter attempted to relaunch its account verification system under the paid Twitter Blue labelāonly to reverse course after a prank tweet announcing āinsulin is free nowā from someone purporting to be Eli Lilly and Company tanked Lillyās stock price. A month later, Twitter Blue relaunched again, this time successfully, although few people have signed up for it. It costs individuals $8 per month ($11 per month if paid through an Apple in-app purchase).
In a move ostensibly to give people an incentive to pay, Twitter said in March 2023 that it would limit the weak SMS-based two-factor authentication option to paid Twitter Blue users. All users would still be able to use more-secure authentication apps for free. If I were paying for Twitter Blue, Iād want the weakest method disabled to reduce the chance of account hijacking! As it stands, the blocking screen in the iOS Twitter app has helped me avoid Twitter even more. - Twitter is officially ending its old verification process on April 1. To get a blue check mark, youāll have to pay. Twitter said it would sunset the āfreeā blue checkmarks offered previously to users it had verifiedātypically celebrities, athletes, reporters, and organizationsāas of 1 April 2023 (not an April Fools stunt). That has gone as well as one would expectāerratically and with petulance. Organizations, in particular, have objected, as Twitter requires that they pony up $1000 per month plus $50 per account. Major newspapers like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times declared they would neither pay for Twitter Blue as organizations nor reimburse reporters for it. The White House also reportedly said it wouldnāt enroll in Twitter Blue.
- Elon Musk painted over the W on Twitterās sign at its San Francisco headquarters, changing it to āTitterā: Ah, to be in middle school again. Perhaps itās an attempt to get Twitter out of the $3.4-million-per-month rent it failed to pay in December and January, eliciting a lawsuit from the landlord. Or maybe 12-year-olds are in charge, given that emails sent to Twitterās press address now receive an auto-reply with a poop emoji.
- Twitter Isnāt a Company Anymore: Court filings in a lawsuit show that Musk has merged Twitter with a newly formed shell company called X Corp. The goal of these corporate shenanigans is unclear but may relate to Muskās desire to create an āeverything appā that combines e-commerce, global and personal messaging, and payment. This parallels similar apps used widely in China, notably the Tencent Holdings app WeChat. Good luck on that in the current app, website, and payment landscape in the United States, Europe, and, well, really everywhere but China.
- NPR quits Twitter after being falsely labeled as āstate-affiliated mediaā: For some inexplicable reason, Twitter initially lumped National Public Radio in with state-affiliated propaganda outlets in places like Russia and China. When queried, Musk admitted that he might have gotten it wrongāhe revealed he knew nothing about NPRās funding modelāand Twitter changed the tag to āgovernment-funded media,ā which is also inaccurate: NPR receives less than 1% of its funding from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (Individual stations, which pay fees to NPR, and other public-radio networks and individual programs may receive more than 1% in funding from local, state, and federal sources.)
- Elon Musk admits he only bought Twitter because he thought heād be forced to: This TechCrunch article focuses on just one aspect of a rare interview that Musk gave to BBC reporter James Clayton. Initially, Musk had made an offer of $54.20 per share (itās a weed joke) for Twitter, but after the stock price dropped, he attempted to weasel out of the purchase. Twitter was about to take him to courtāand likely wināwhich forced him to live by his weed joke. Now he saysāIām not kidding, but perhaps he isāthat his dog is running Twitter. That would explain a lot.
Can I recommend Mastodon? See āMastodon: A New Hope for Social Networkingā (27 January 2023), and feel free to follow me at @[email protected], not that Iām a prolific poster.
Thing is, despite the literally daily flow of Twitter disaster stories I encounter, I find that Twitter remains essentially as popular as ever, while Mastodon remains nearly deserted.
Several weeks ago I spent a few hours joining Mastodon and going through all my Twitter contacts to find their new Mastodon accounts. I found four: all techies or tech journalists. None of the mainstream journalists, musicians, or general friends whose posts have given me the sole justification for entering the mucky morass that is Twitter. Theyāre still all tweeting away, apparently contentedly.
I visit both about three times a week and the situation hasnāt changed since I joined. And regardless of whatās going on behind the online scenes, my Twitter user experience is largely unchanged since before the Musk takeover ā while my Mastodon user experience, while more limited because Iāve found so few people to follow, is essentially the same as my Twitter user experience. Roughly the same number of out-of-context quips, off-topic retweets/boosts, and self-satisfied political jabs. (Sure, because I follow selectively, I usually agree with the politics expressed. I still find the memes and sarcasm exhausting and would rather not hear it.)
So as I see it, I use two social networks. One is run by an evil and childish plutocrat, and includes multitudes. One is run on admirable decentralized principles, and includes few. Other than their reach, theyāre essentially the same experience.
We can continue to urge all right-thinking people to leave Twitter and join Mastodon, but realistically, thatās not going to happen unless Musk makes his own goatse meme and tweets it to every user. Which could happen, given his actions so far. Meanwhile, Mastodon is used by so few that only those whose social network happens to include a great number of those predisposed to use something like Mastodon are likely to continue using it. I suspect this includes you, Adam, and a great deal of your colleagues and friends.
I havenāt found a similar experience on Mastodon; most od my communities (writers, Medievalists, Apple technologists) are well represented.
Some tips:
Fill out your Mastodon profile. Use hashtags for your interests.
Write an intro post with a short bio and summary of your interests. Pin that post in your profile.
Verify your identity (@ace needs to do this) by adding the Mastodon provided link to your Website (top page or as Head metadata) from your Mastodon Profile.
Twitter is most definitely NOT NEARLY as popular as it once was. Twitter has been loosing a significant % of its members and advertisers on a regular basis:
I guess I just donāt get it, but Iāve never been on Twitter, and have never felt a need to go there. Iām sure there are good reasons to do so (or go to any other such platform), Iām just not sure what they are. If I want Apple info I come here. If I need national news I go to NPR or AP or BBC America. If I want to talk with friends and family I text or talk to them. What I am missing?
Basically, direct involvement in what has become a major societal cancer.
Though I agree that Twitter can be consuming for some people, it has been a way for me to connect with people in various communities. I have contact with writers, manga authors, and a variety of regular people. I donāt know what EM will do to it, but I will stay on and watch. I miss TweetBotās clean interface though.
I have been on Twitter for about two years so I was a late joiner. I have carefully curated who I follow and who follows me. I am interested in the Venn Diagram intersection of photographers, weather discussions, and storm chasers.
I find that I can get very useful information as well as new research and results by following these folks on Twitter. Many of these people left Twitter for Mastodon ā and are back at Twitter because of the critical mass that exists.
I also use Twitter to follow my local emergency managers, local news, NWS alerts, and wildfire alerts.
Itās not that difficult to avoid the garbage. I use TweetDeck and only allow people I follow to show up in my timeline. I never, NEVER, see promoted Tweets or ads in Tweetdeck.
I canāt speak to Twitter, as I pop in just to check occasionally that no one is trying to reach me, but I have nearly 12,000 followers on Mastodon and have 10x the level of replies to things there I did on Twitter back in November. Great conversations, thoughtful people. I think Mastodon even more than Twitter can feel dramatically different because you have to work to follow enough people to get a timeline going. Iām following a few thousand. Still, I donāt read it, so it doesnāt feel overwhelming. Itās my favorite social network since early Twitter.
Twitter continues to blatantly alienate longtime respected and reputable journalistic resources. Hereās a very just two respected examples in the US so far:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-12/pbs-joins-npr-in-quitting-twitter-over-state-backed-designation#xj4y7vzkg
Unable to avert my gaze from TidBITS articles, I read this one. Boy, am I glad Iām not on Twitter! (And Iām glad Iām on TidBITS!)
Twitter has always pretty much been a cesspoolā¦just like every other social media site out there. Yesā¦it has its share of idiotic moronic right wingersā¦but then itās got its share of idiotic moronic left wingers as well and also its share of idiotic moronic centrist people. Thatās why I follow certain people and have blocked certain other people and ignore the rest of themā¦and anything in the new āpromotedā or ārecommended to followā list gets just skipped right over.
Itās Muskās company nowā¦and while I have no real understanding of why he bought it or what he intends to do with it or anything elseā¦itās still his baby and none of my business.
As a mostly in the one center politically personā¦I do find it a bit strange that most of the people talking about it being a train wreck or cesspool or whatever are pretty left politically, at least thatās my view of them based on other things theyāve said in it or other forums and/or their bluntly stated political opinionsā¦and while I agree with them thatā¦as noted aboveā¦there are lots of idiot far right people there (and on social media in general) but extremists on both sides seem to ignore their own extremism and pillory the other sideāsā¦but then in todayās increasingly bi-polar political world I suppose thatās to be expected.
There are valid arguments to be made on both sides about every political issue we have todayā¦but unfortunately the conversation is dominated by the fringe viewpoints mostly and the number of our political leaders in various governments seem to be much interested in attempting to reach a compromise that neither side will completely like or agree with but that both sides can live withā¦because politicians on both sides are more interested IMO in getting reelected and not getting primary-ed by the radicals in their party. Too badā¦Iāve lamented many times with my spouse that thereās not really a political party any more for those of us mostly in the center. Weāve also lamentedā¦many timesā¦that in every election āNone of the aboveā should be on the ballot and if None wins there has to be a new election and none of the candidates in the original election can run in the new oneā¦seems we would get a lot better political leadership that wayā¦but like firearms, voting, and every other really contentious issue it would require a constitutional amendment to fix and the amendment process was deliberately designed to be hard so that only a significant majority of the population could get one enacted and we live in pretty much a 50/50 split these days.
Itās the network that reminds me most of early Twitter. Mostly fellow geeks of various forms. Not that interactive, but kind and not cynical.
Twitter is for the civilians, and it reflects current civilian discourse. Which is why I donāt go there.
Substack has an interesting new āNotesā feature where users and stackers can interact, that has the promise of something substantial and significant. An interesting development I think.
I agree with you. So what about my comment did you find so inappropriate that it deserved a downvote?
I thought I made it very clear not only about Twitter continuing to hemorrhage a very significant number of members, but a big % of members that remain are not posting as frequently. The respected sources I quoted back these issues up, and it is not getting anything resembling better for Twitter. And because it doesnāt look like Twitter will be gaining significant numbers of members and posts for the time being, advertisers, their only source of revenue, are continuing to head for the cyber hills. Twitter aināt even worth anything near what Musk paid for it.
I didnāt indicate anything was āinappropriateāāthat would have generated a private mail to Adam. I indicated that I disagreed with your post, per the definition of the available emoji. Specifically, I disagree with paragraph 1 and the last paragraph. Obviously, YMMV.
This is whatās mostly missing on Mastodon so far. Otherwise I find it well-populated with people I followed on Twitter. But with Twitter finally ending the support for API automated posting, even emergency management posts on Twitter may be a thing of the past very soon.
https://wapo.st/3o9rB6x
For those sorts of accounts, I used to use Twitter lists to segregate those sorts of posts outside my timeline. Two things: Mastodon doesnāt have the concept of adding an account to a list without following them, though thankfully there are clients that can hide posts on your timeline if people are in lists. Second, having lost twitteriffic and Tweetbot as clients, Iāve found the official client practically unusable. I stay away from āfor youā, but the client had this nasty habit of not downloading tweets and showing a control that says āshow moreā; tap it and it brings you to the top of what just downloaded anyway. Secondly, the list support is terrible compared with the old third-party clients. Your position isnāt remembered, etc.
I donāt check Twitter all that often anymore, I never post anything, I never like anything, and itās clear that I am seeing less useful info than I did until the third party clients were booted. Meanwhile more and more accounts are moving to Mastodon; Iām guessing that NPR will be coming soon.
The UI for Tapbotās Ivory is somewhat similar to their dead Twitter client Tweetbot, Mammoth is another Mastodon client for iOS, Ice cubes is a third.
Looks like that has already happened. Several NWS offices have posted the following message:
My experience has been much like John Cooperās ā despite all the sturm & drang, my use of twitter has remained largely unaffected. I havenāt seen a great drop in the people I follow posting, the conversations have been good, and the value I find in it as has been about the same. Like Facebook, I use it to keep up with certain communities and thatās been fine.
I think Muskās a jerk, but I donāt see any personal reason to leave Twitter. If I stopped using every product that was run by/associated with jerks, Iād have nothing left at all (including Apple, given SJās legendary jerkiness).
Twitter is dead. Long live XCorp:
āTwitter Inc. has been merged into X Corp. and no longer exists. X Corp. is a privately held corporation, incorporated in Nevada, and with its principal place of business in San Francisco, California.ā
I have a twitter account I never use - got it only for a foolish chance to win a prize. But - Adamās last sentence in his article about Muskās dog makes sense to me. Musk is alluding to Scott Adamsā cartoon dog, Dogbert. When Adams appeared on a Sci-fi show, he insisted that his dog was trying to take over the world, as needed is the ultimate aim of Dogbert.
I guess Iām not very compatible with social media. I joined Twitter around 15 years ago because it seemed less confusing and mixed up to me than FaceBook, and Iāve managed to avoid FaceBook since. But I tried Mastodon, and I found that confusing as well.
I left last week, losing some respected followers in my field, after Musk labeled NPR āstate-sponsored mediaā and removed info showing who had retweeted something. Iād only used Lists for a long time anyway, to keep out ads and other promoted garbage, knowing it was too good to be true and that they would eventually destroy Lists too. I admire some things Musk has done, but his handling of Twitter has been nothing short of a disaster.
Now I have one follower on Mastodon. Am a bit sad about the followers I lost, but I never tweeted that much anyway, and I didnāt really like who I was when I did. Maybe Mastodon will become fun for a while, until someone decides it needs to make money and all the normies join, and then it will turn into a cesspool just like every other successful social network has.
The popularity of Twitter while important is not the most important thing. For Musk it is cash flow, he needs every week to receive a certain amount of money from advertisers and users to pay the interest and other costs. One of the problems is that advertisers are less likely to hand over money and the revenue stream from high profile users isnāt sufficient. It is basically a Business 101 fail, forgetting that the most important people for your business are the ones that give you money. What he should have done is to keep the restrictions on content and users and build the number of paying users. That may be difficult. Most social media is free, and it is free for a reason and that is that people canāt see it as worthwhile to pay the money. YouTube has a couple of paid options, one allows content providers to provide ad free content, the other allows consumers to access content without ads. I expect that neither of them provide Google with a lot of money.
Of this entire article, the thing that I mostly walked away with is FROGTWADDLE. Iāve never heard this word before. I like it. Going forward, I plan to use it as much as possible. Thanks, Adam.
Iām deleting the back-and-forth on the Twitter label status of NPR. The point of mentioning it in the article was to show how arbitrary and uninformed Muskās decisions are being, not to encourage wrangling over hyperbolic language or the nuance of single-digit funding sources. How precisely NPR is funded and how that funding flows through the network of independent stations is a topic for another forum.
I wasnāt aware that anyone else had ever used it and thought I had coined the word, but a Google search shows at least one precise usage, and another few with a space between frog and twaddle. The Internet is a big place.
https://www.google.com/search?q=frogtwaddle
On the topic of extremely rare words, be sure to read this 2007 article.