When Twitter launched in March 2006, I was a blogger/media critic with a San Francisco-based company that would be eventually acquired by CBS.
Somehow, I had developed a friendly email correspondence with one of the four guys who founded Twitter. His messages tended to be short and sweet, often just one word, such as “right” or “okay.”
While I appreciated the brevity, his reluctance to elaborate meant he was not particularly useful as a source.
During this same period, I consulted for a tech startup owned by a French company. Among its advisors was a guy who served as one of the senior advisors to the founders of Twitter. Through him, I learned that the social network's founders were well aware of my frequent articles about Twitter and considered me a “friend.”
That was not surprising. My articles about the service were generally positive although I did pointedly criticized it for having no women directors. But I liked Twitter a lot. At that time, you could only post in 140-character snippets, which suited an old journalist like me just fine. It was an awesome opportunity to show off my headline-writing skills. For example, it was fun and easy to compose an effective Tweet about my latest column that fit their requirements.
It took me about 30 seconds.
My following on the platform grew fast at first, then organically (i.e. slowly) to around 2,000 people. A few hundred were present or former colleagues in the media business; the rest were strangers.
Over the years since, I have gradually lost interest in Twitter as an outlet for promoting my work. At one point, on somebody’s advice, I cleaned out my followers, eliminating people who didn’t appear to have media affiliations, in order to make my feed more “effective” in the eyes of my then-employer.
That company wanted to me promote as much of its content as possible as part of its “engagement” strategy.
Very recently, I tried promoting a few of my Substack essays to my current list of 1,671 followers with practically no effect.
So I guess it is with little emotion that I contemplate what now seems inevitable — the collapse of Twitter as any kind of significant social media player. It appears that the richest man on earth in his infinite wisdom is bent on destroying it.
Maybe as I watch it evaporate, I’ll send out one more Tweet. Maybe “'bye” would suffice.
NEWSLINKS:
Is this the end of Twitter as we know it? (NPR)
Twitter is the world’s digital public square. What happens if it dies? (CNN)
Misinformation threatens Twitter's function as a public safety tool (NPR)
After Elon Musk's ultimatum, Twitter employees start exiting (Reuters)
Resignations Roil Twitter as Elon Musk Tries Persuading Some Workers to Stay (NYT)
Hundreds of workers said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum (WP)
What Will Writers Do Without Twitter? (Atlantic)
Hakeem Jeffries launches bid to be Nancy Pelosi’s successor (CNN)
Garland names special counsel for Trump Mar-a-Lago, 2020 election probes (WP)
McConnell-Graham tensions boil over (The Hill)
Feds: Oath Keepers sought ‘violent overthrow’ of government (AP)
Screams from Russia's alleged torture basements still haunt Ukraine's Kherson (NPR)
Biden administration says Mohammed bin Salman should be granted sovereign immunity in Khashoggi civil case (Guardian)
WNBA star Brittney Griner has been moved to a Russian penal colony and began serving her nine-year sentence, her lawyers said. Griner was convicted of drug possession after customs agents said they found cannabis oil in her luggage. President Joe Biden has been trying for months to negotiate her release. [AP]
Russian forces kept up a barrage of shell and missile attacks on various regions of Ukraine, many hitting power infrastructure, while heavy fighting persisted in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east of the country. (Reuters)
Where’s Putin? Leader leaves bad news on Ukraine to others (AP)
GOP operative found guilty of funneling Russian money to Donald Trump (WP)
Trump’s Standing in GOP Is Under Attack, but Moving On Won’t Be Easy (WSJ)
Trump tweeted an image from a spy satellite, declassified document shows (NPR)
Previewing the DeSantis-Trump clash (Politico)
Investigators have found traces of explosives at the site of the damaged Nord Stream pipelines, confirming that gross sabotage had taken place, a Swedish prosecutor said. (WP)
How It All Fell Apart in Afghanistan (Foreign Policy)
“No One Asked Me Why I Left Afghanistan” (HRW)
Talks at the U.N.’s climate summit in Egypt have broken down. COP27 is supposed to end today, and countries haven’t made much progress on a new agreement to tackle climate change. (WP)
Western US cities to remove decorative grass amid drought (AP)
Biden administration asks Supreme Court to reinstate student loan forgiveness program (WP)
Home sales fell for the ninth straight month in October, as higher mortgage rates scared off potential buyers (CNBC)
Children’s hospitals call on Biden to declare emergency in response to ‘unprecedented’ RSV surge (CNBC)
Wuhan’s early covid cases are a mystery. What is China hiding? (Edit Bd/NYT)
Adolescents assigned female at birth account for a significant majority of minors receiving gender-affirming care, including top surgery, fueling debate about the influence of peer groups and social media. Read the Special Report here. (Reuters)
Where did Earth’s water come from? This meteorite might hold the answer (CNN)
The Amazon forest is approaching a tipping point. Some regions are starting to collapse. (WP)
Massive Volcanism May Have Altered Ancient Venus’ Climate (NASA)
Octopuses may deliberately throw things at each other. They were caught on camera flinging objects at each other in what could be intentional attacks, a new study found. It’s probably to defend their personal space, researchers said. They might be protecting their eggs or simply be angry. (WP)
Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told employees that WhatsApp and Messenger would drive the company's next wave of sales growth, as he sought to assuage concerns about Meta's finances after its first mass layoffs. (Reuters)
Facebook HQ On Lockdown After Mark Zuckerberg’s Avatar Breaks Out Of Metaverse (The Onion)
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