The Fall of Twitter
Elon Musk destroyed Twitter. Mind you, Twitter wasn’t doing too well to begin with. It was basically just a giant battleground for people of different opinions to argue about said opinions even though nobody was planning on changing their minds. Typing angry messages at a brick wall, basically. It was doomed from the beginning. Elon may not have loaded the gun that killed twitter, but he pulled the trigger. Many times.
Twitter Blue…
Perhaps the most famous of the recent Twitter failures, Twitter Blue. Anyone can pay $11 a month to get a blue checkmark by their Twitter name. Previously, this check mark was used as proof that the individual was indeed who they were claiming to be. For celebrities, to avoid imposters. The verification symbol was exclusively used for this purpose. A status symbol, at best. A red flag, at worst. Now, anyone can get this symbol. It holds no meaning. For the same price as a Disney+ subscription, anyone can claim to be anyone; celebrity or corporation. With no repercussions. And, the internet did what it does best.
Like a verified account of a Pharmaceutical giant (Eli Lilly & Co.) which said, “We are excited to announce that insulin is free now.” Which resulted in an official apology from the company, as insulin is… not free. Their stock value proceeded to plummet.
Or the verified account of Chiquita (yes, the banana company), which said, quite frankly, “We’ve just overthrown the government of Brazil.” And the second verified account…
We apologize to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Chiquita account. We have not overthrown a government since 1954.
Not to mention the countless fake Elon Musk accounts, a number of which have been banned or suspended for their antics.
Another day, another drama
The story doesn’t end here, however. The most recent Elon Musk Twitter debacle involves someone “doxxing” him. That is, sharing publicly available information about the location of his private jet. The account was banned, and it resulted in a change in the Twitter TOS… again. People are no longer allowed to share location information about anyone, including themselves. You can’t tell your Twitter followers that you’re visiting the Grand Canyon, that’s “unsafe.”
Conclusion
Is there anyone who’s genuinely upset by the fall of Twitter? As far as I’ve seen, YouTube, Tumblr, Reddit, and even TikTok are dancing on its grave. Nonetheless, it can only lead one to wonder… Which social media platform is next?