Taylor Lorenz
How Twitter lost its place as the global town square. A series of disastrous missteps over the past year has robbed Twitter of its relevance, while TikTok has begun fulfilling Twitter’s core functions
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/07/twitter-dead-musk-tiktok-public-square/
How Twitter lost its place as the global town square

Twitter is hemorrhaging relevance, and Meta's Threads made an impressive debut, but TikTok is the social media app to beat.

The Washington Post
Jul 7, 2023 at 5:04pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadBruce AlmightyJul 7, 2023
@taylorlorenz what about Threads though? 🤣
Show threadAndrew DaviesJul 7, 2023
@taylorlorenz Great. So we've gone from a town square controlled by a megalomaniac to one controlled by the Chinese government.
Show threadmike bayer  Jul 7, 2023
@taylorlorenz how do you have time to post on mastodon still with all that activity you have on threads....thanks for thinking of us! *sniff*
Show threadNicolas Ward Jul 7, 2023
@taylorlorenz But I just want to read 😭
Show threadLove4ALLJul 7, 2023
@taylorlorenz I am not fully convinced that this is not the primary part of Musk's owners' plan. The House of Saud is no friend to any free flow of information that might jeopardize the corrupt and malevolent regimes of the world. Put more succinctly: sabatoge? I mean, he could never lose ALL his money, right?
Show threadOle Dirty Rice Jul 7, 2023

@taylorlorenz I know this was about the reach of Twitter from an influencer POV and you obviously nailed that aspect of the story. But as a lame, regular user, it’d be nice if literally any “social network” made keeping up with actual friends the priority. Passively watching the same influencers on 10 different sites barely qualifies as social internet.

Instagram’s best role ever for me was real-time updates on friends (for finding a happy hour or whatever). And now it’s a content farm.

Show threadDarwin WoodkaJul 7, 2023
@codybrumfield @taylorlorenz and it would be nice if friends prioritized keeping up with other friends over just posting random crap on social media too. Some people it seems like it's been years since I've seen anything real from them at all. The social networks just push us to develop some fake image of our lives and post it hoping to get likes or shares instead of being who we really are.
Show threadnatriumchlorideJul 8, 2023
@darwinwoodka @codybrumfield @taylorlorenz i agree & this might be the reason why social networks in general appear to be dying off, or at least social networks as we know them. & more and more people just resort to using messaging platforms to chat with their friends & that's it.
Show threadiweinJul 7, 2023
@taylorlorenz I for one would not like my (global town) square to be controlled by the Chinese government (you just might meet a tank there, like in the old days). So, I’m not in TikTok, and disagree with the global town square judgement.
Show threadJelleJul 7, 2023
@taylorlorenz for a moment I thought I was reading the start to a black mirror episode. Maybe @publicspaces might offer some hope?
Show threadEric NusbaumJul 7, 2023

@taylorlorenz I struggle with your viewpoint of Twitter having a "arcane follow-based social network".

While I appreciate the ability to explore and find new people to follow (which I think is a major missing feature of Mastodon), personally I want to only "see" the information I've requested to see on my timeline, not what an algo "thinks" I want to see.

I think TikTok is cute, but when it comes to opinions/information, *I* want to curate what I consume.

Show threadMatt DeSienaJul 7, 2023
@taylorlorenz it never was. Private companies can’t be public squares. The GOP and Elon purposely co-opted that language.
Show threadwhereismcgeeJul 8, 2023
@taylorlorenz @lisamelton
Twitter was so good in its earlier version as a source for immediate news/updates from its users. TikTok for its unified power of users. But I think Mastodon will be the ideal source for breaking news with its non-algorithmic, Hash tag search, and UNFEDERATED approach. Soon enough - those in true need will rely on each other as it should be.
Show threadNickJul 8, 2023
@taylorlorenz I don't understand how something algorithmic can be a town square. You don't get to choose what you see.
Show threadnatriumchlorideJul 8, 2023
@taylorlorenz nooo i refuse to use tiktok, my normal person days are over 😭
Show threadCelia ValdeolmillosJul 8, 2023
@taylorlorenz I am sorry but I am sick of TikTok, maybe in the USA is a reliable source, but in other countries is only people doing tips and tricks and silly videos (and many people just want to read, write or watch photos, not videos all the time). And since when people who is 34 is a boomer? I am 47 and an X, boomers are way older.
Show threadMillennialMaureenJul 8, 2023
@taylorlorenz Ok but some of us are ugly, unphotogenic, and do not wish to be perceived. I just want a text based news aggregating social media where we talk about politics all the time! 😭
Show threadHearted HoofJul 9, 2023

@taylorlorenz "Contrast that with an app like TikTok, which delivers content through a highly sophisticated algorithmic feed. This means that even a user with zero followers on TikTok can reach millions with their first video."

Happy for Twitter to die, but this also sounds horrific in its own way.

Show threadTony Aug 23, 2023
@taylorlorenz as designed right??