Twitter Alternatives and Social Media Changes

[Morrus]

I'll wait and see how long it takes bluesky to become the new bad guy for wanting to make money.

That’s a gross mischaracterisation of the issues people have with some of these platforms. It’s not just reductive, it’s borderline insulting. Please try to be better.

 

[trappedslider]

That’s a gross mischaracterisation of the issues people have with some of these platforms. It’s not just reductive, it’s borderline insulting. Please try to be better.

I have edited my comment and removed the statement.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Never did use Twitter; if I suddenly felt the need for something like that, I'd probably go Bluesky.

I use Discord all the time, though, and for connection purposes, use Facebook (though I'm not thrilled about that right now given the fact-checking thing).

Edit: I guess if you want to count YouTube I do use that quite a bit, and not-uncommonly post to videos from creators I appreciate. I'm pretty fussy who those are though...

 

[Thomas Shey]

Seems small privately owned forums are more durable than billion-dollar megacorporations!

The "You're not the customer, you're the product" element almost all get forced into at some point is--not benign. And there doesn't seem to be a good alternate model for big mass communication platforms since people are generally not willing to pay for them.

 

[Umbran]

The "You're not the customer, you're the product" element almost all get forced into at some point is--not benign. And there doesn't seem to be a good alternate model for big mass communication platforms since people are generally not willing to pay for them.

Well, more properly, people haven't been willing to pay for them so far.

If someone came up with a good subscription service, that doesn't need the ad revenue, these days people might choose that.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Well, more properly, people haven't been willing to pay for them so far.

If someone came up with a good subscription service, that doesn't need the ad revenue, these days people might choose that.

I'm cynical here. I think too many people have gotten used to free access for too long. It'd probably be much better for the social media ecosystem if you're right, but I'm unconvinced you are.

 

[billd91]

I'm cynical here. I think too many people have gotten used to free access for too long. It'd probably be much better for the social media ecosystem if you're right, but I'm unconvinced you are.

I don't think it even has to be based on too long being accustomed to having free access. Any fee is going to act as a barrier to entry - not necessarily because people literally can't afford it, but because it's hard to really see the value you're getting from the social media service without spending a lot of time with it and seeing how the community you're interested in it grows. Does anybody really want to spend money subscribing to social media if you don't know anybody on it yet, or not know if you will ever do so? Facebook's main value to me has grown over the last 16 years as more and more people I know have gotten on it and we've connected. There are people I keep in touch with or keep track of nowhere except on Facebook, so even though Zuck's decisions have put my fondness for Facebook into freefall, I'm still kind of loathe to leave it because of the value that has built over that time. And I know of people on Twitter who feel similarly about the communities they've built over there despite despising Elon Musk's drug-addled leadership.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I don't think it even has to be based on too long being accustomed to having free access. Any fee is going to act as a barrier to entry - not necessarily because people literally can't afford it, but because it's hard to really see the value you're getting from the social media service without spending a lot of time with it and seeing how the community you're interested in it grows.

Yet people used to buy newspapers and newsmagazines and not think anything of it. But there's a reason those are dying media.

Does anybody really want to spend money subscribing to social media if you don't know anybody on it yet, or not know if you will ever do so?

Some of them have plenty of stuff to read even if you never post. I read stuff on Reddit on and off, but I've probably posted four times in the last year.

Facebook's main value to me has grown over the last 16 years as more and more people I know have gotten on it and we've connected. There are people I keep in touch with or keep track of nowhere except on Facebook, so even though Zuck's decisions have put my fondness for Facebook into freefall, I'm still kind of loathe to leave it because of the value that has built over that time. And I know of people on Twitter who feel similarly about the communities they've built over there despite despising Elon Musk's drug-addled leadership.

Yeah, that's pretty much my situation, there.

 

[billd91]

Some of them have plenty of stuff to read even if you never post. I read stuff on Reddit on and off, but I've probably posted four times in the last year.

Except that lots of social media - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky - really have nothing for me to just read without communities or other random participants posting things and the content is super scattershot without me curating what I want and connecting with the content providers I want. If I buy a newspaper, it has a staff providing the content and I can choose to buy it and its editorial biases already assembled for me or not. If they get my money, they’re gonna get my money for their content.
A social media service is trying to sell me on their ability to be a conduit to content I want and can search for and successfully find. They may not have the content, or if they do, I might not be able to find it. That’s less valuable than a newspaper or magazine whose content can be held in my hand and reviewed.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yet people used to buy newspapers and newsmagazines and not think anything of it. But there's a reason those are dying media.

Online advertising bringing in several orders of magnitude less revenue than print advertising.