Twitter’s move to limit the number of tweets on July 1, 2023 is the latest in a series of decisions that have prompted millions of users to migrate to alternative microblogging platforms since Elon Musk acquired Twitter last year. Along with growing numbers at Mastodon, acquisitions and subsequent changes have boosted smaller existing platforms like Hive Social and spawned new upstarts like Sputible and Spill. Recently BlueSky, the microblogging platform backed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, saw a spike in signups in the days following Twitter’s rate cap, and Meta launched its own microblogging platform, Threads, on July 5.
Threads claimed 30 million users on its first day
Threads claimed 30 million users on its first day. Even forms of social media like TikTok are benefiting from what many see as the imminent end of Twitter. As a data scientist who studies online communities, this seems like something I’ve seen before Social media platforms are not forever. Depending on your age and online habits, there will likely be a platform that you’ve given up on, even if it still exists in one form or another. Think MySpace, LiveJournal, Google Plus, and Vine.
What’s next for those who leave Twitter?
When social media platforms collapse, sometimes the online communities that made their home there, and sometimes they pack their bags and move to a new home. Due to the turmoil on Twitter, many of the company’s users are considering leaving the platform. Research on past social media platform exodus reveals what may lie ahead for users who leave Twitter.
you go first
Regardless of how many people eventually decide to leave Twitter, and even how many do so at the same time, building a community on any other platform is an uphill battle. These displacements are largely driven by network effects, meaning that the value of a new platform depends on who is there. In the critical early stages of migration, people need to coordinate with each other to encourage contributions to the new platform, which is really hard to do. No one wants to go to a new platform until their friends have left and no one wants to leave early for fear of being alone in a new place. Because of this, the death of a platform – whether from controversy, dislike or competition – is a slow, gradual process. One participant described Usenet’s decline as watching a shopping mall slowly close.
It won’t be the same
The current pressure from some quarters to leave Twitter reminds me of Tumblr’s adult content ban in 2018, which reminds me of LiveJournal’s policy change and new ownership in 2007. People who have left LiveJournal for other platforms like Tumblr have mentioned feeling unwelcome there. And although Musk did not visit Twitter headquarters in late October and put the virtual content moderation lever in the “off” position, hate speech has increased on the platform, as some users have tried to violate the platform’s content policies. . Major policy changes are expected to take place.
Many challenges may be faced
What makes Twitter Twitter isn’t the technology, it’s the particular configuration of conversations that happen there, and there’s essentially zero chance that Twitter, as it exists now, could be reinvented on any other platform. Any migration is likely to face the same challenges that previous platform migrations faced: loss of content, fragmented communities, broken social networks, and shifting community norms. But, Twitter is not a community, it is a collection of many communities, each with its own criteria and motivations. Some communities may be able to transition more successfully than others. So maybe K-pop can go to Twitter Tumblr. I’ve seen most academic Twitter take a step towards Mastodon.
Other communities already exist on Discord and subreddits
Other communities may already exist on Discord servers and subreddits and reduce participation on Twitter because fewer people pay attention. But, as our research shows, migration always has a cost, and even for small communities some people will lose their way. But, even if it costs a platform to leave, communities can be incredibly resilient. Like the LiveJournal users in our study who rediscovered each other on Tumblr, your luck isn’t tied to Twitter.
