The Twitter disaster continues. Two weeks ago hundreds of employees quit Twitter’s offices. Famous figures like Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes are quitting Twitter too. After the subscription option for a blue check, fake accounts have been posting harmful tweets, some costing companies millions of dollars. For example, a fake Eli Lilly account ‘announced’ insulin shots were now free of cost. After this, the companies stock decreased with 5%, which cost the company 15 billion dollars.
By now the possibility to buy blue ticks is no longer there. But the damage remains. The trust users had in Twitter has been violated.
Twitter alternatives
People are on the outlook for other social media platforms to satisfy the Twitter needs. On the same day that Elon Musk took over Twitter, 70.000 new users have signed up to Mastodon, a platform that has been launched in 2016 and has been rising in popularity lately. It is not owned by one company and has multiple servers that are governed separately. When first reading about its ‘toots’ (posts) and ‘boosts’ (reposts) I was sceptical to say the least. But as I kept informing myself on the platform it didn’t sound so bad after all.
Mastodon is pretty similar to Twitter. You can follow people, react to posts, private message. The timeline is fairly similar and the kinds of posts are neither text nor media dominant. Mastodon has three timelines: one where you only see posts from people you follow, a local timeline, and a global one where you see posts of all users.
The issue is.. it’s not as populated as Twitter or other popular platforms. So is there a better option? Some popular platforms considered were Discord, Reddit, LinkedIn and Tumblr. (sources: 1, 2)
Discord allows to network through servers. But it does not have a public timeline like Twitter does which makes it quite different. Besides, Discord was first mainly used for communication while gaming. This reputation might be a setback for the amount of people that could potentially join the platform.
Reddit consists of different subreddits and has different tabs, or timelines. The issue with this platform is that it has a culture and reputation that is rather specific and might not appeal to all. Especially those looking for more formal settings.
LinkedIn is a networking site that is more popular for professional settings. Twitter is known for wider uses, so this alternative would either works for just networking or would totally change the landscape of LinkedIn.
Tumblr could be described as microblogging. There are different types of posts available, but it is often more media focussed than Twitter. Tumblr’s culture and reputation can also be described as quite specific. It is known as being the home of sad teens, fanbases, aesthetics and alterative communities.
Some other alternatives for Twitter would be Clubhouse, which is an audio-only forum platform, or CounterSocial, which offers news and possibility for networking.
The problem with the popular alternatives is that they’re all quite niche. They’re either too formal or informal or either too text or media based. They’ve been around for some time and have developed their own cultures. And Twitter is just something in the middle, a platform where you to some extent curate your experience. So when comparing the above mentioned platforms, Mastodon sounds like the most similar to Twitter. But this doesn’t mean anything if people don’t move to this new platform. The way it can be used might be similar but if the community isn’t there you just won’t have the same experience and benefits as from Twitter, whether you’re a regular user or a company. The popular platforms have been around for years and had time to gain traction and build their community. No social media platform is like the other.
Sources
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital/what-if-twitter-dies/95723308
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Best-Twitter-alternatives
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/news/billions-of-dollars-lost-how-twitter-blue-troubled-investors-on-wall-street/articleshow/95474009.cms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy5c9s42irs
Thank you for this interesting post! And I agree with you that no social media platform is 100% the same but also that most users need an “heir” to replace Twitter as a social networking service. It is fascinating to read that, although, Mastodon, is pretty similar to Twitter, people don’t immediately join it since it’s relatively new and has thus customer trust.
And actually, I think that no other social media platform will ever top Twitter (back when it is at its peak) in terms of social networking service. However, obviously, another platform will become more popular and used, just not in the way Twitter was, but I could be wrong.
Hi hi, thank you for this post. I never heard of Mastodon, so it is interesting to see new platforms being created or considered that could be the ‘new’ Twitter. But yeah it will be more difficult to top a platform that has been famous for years. Although, my personal view on it is that in maybe 10 to 20 years most social media we use now will be replaced by others, which is a long time. But this post does make me think of how social media platforms will be later and if they still will be relevant.
That is an interesting thought! I think it’s fair to say that the platforms we use now, might not be our go-to in the future. Especially is you look at for example Facebook and how much it changed, it’s not a go-to for the younger users anymore. Or how fast TikTok gained popularity. People are even talking about the death of Instagram and BeReal is already getting boring to some.
I really enjoyed your post! Since I’m a heavy user of Twitter, when I heard that Twitter might be doomed or something, I didn’t know what service should I use. I also searched about Mastodon, yes it’s really similar to Twitter, but as you said, it’s still not popular and quite difficult to use. Some of my friends made Instagram accounts for Twitter friends or made a blog, but that couldn’t replace Twitter at all. Maybe years later, Mastodon may become really famous and everyone in the world may use it, but I guess it will need a long, long time.
Thank you! To be honest I’ve been thinking about it more and I’m on the fence about how quick new platforms can build their community. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr were there around the time that the use of internet itself was on the rise. When you look at TikTok or BeReal, they got popular quite quickly. I wonder if that’s because there are way more people using the internet in general or because the concepts behind TikTok and BeReal were new (although TikTok can be compared to Vine or Musically, but the way it is used is different). But it might also be a matter of luck.
Good to see that you have made a rather comprehensive list of popular alternatives to Twitter. The challenge to these alternatives, like you mentioned, is mostly its specific purpose (e.g., LinkedIn for jobs). As a Mastodon user, as well as a Tweep, I would say definitely Mastodon is less intuitive than Twitter because we are too used to platform-curated UX and user flow. In other words, we are also used to sign up -> make your profile -> you can connect with anyone. But on Mastodon, servers are self-hosted and federated, which means it is centralised! As far as I can observe, a lot of scholars are very happy about the shift to Mastodon as it is less toxic – but is it? That is my main concern about Mastodon – it provides a false sense of reality and the platform itself does not solve any problem that has its source from our material reality!
Thanks for the post!
I think twitter will never really die out, as long as the servers are running. Look what happened to tumblr, it has had it’s disasters too like the one twitter is having right now. However, I feel like it has come back, better than ever.
I think every social platform is doomed to “die” I.e., have a disaster once the site gets sold for a lot of making, changing the people in authority. And since you mentioned in your post that every alternative is too niche/different from twitter from being a perfect replacement, so will every other social media platform be. Although Mastodon is very similar, it is the unfamiliarity pushing the people away.
I don’t think people want a different twitter, just a different CEO and therefore, will remain on twitter regardless.
Not to mention the emotional attachment one might have formed towards the website. Through funny moments on the TL to hour long conversations with mutuals, becoming actual online friends.
Thank you for posting this! I have left twitter since 8 years ago. However, I still cant find any comparable platform which is as attractive as twitter. I tried to use path, but the platform was shut down not long after instagram was released. Now, I am only a semi-active instagram user.