Ticked off

 

Has Twitter had its day?

 You may think that the current fuss about charging people for Twitter’s `blue tick` is a storm in a teacup but it is about fundamentally more than just the symbol. A symbol which by the way is a WHITE TICK on a blue background. The point is that by turning it from something that identifies authenticity into a symbol of status the nature of the site will alter. It is setting a way forward for dividing users into two types- leaders and followers because unless you have one of these symbols (which will cost you money) your Tweets will not be seen by anywhere near as many followers reducing you to second class status. And when so many people have the white tick that it becomes almost meaningless, Twitter will invent a green tick or something for which you pay even more for super duper status. It's been a nut nobody has cracked till now but welcome to the monetisation of social media.

 

I knew little of Elon Musk till recently. He’s the richest man in the world , has something to do with cars and rockets but then there was a story a few years back about the rescue of some kids trapped underground. He’d wanted to undertake their rescue but someone else got there first. Instead of congratulating the rescuer on saving lives, Musk decided to make some nasty allegations which turned out to be lies. In other words he made the story about himself. I hoped I would never encounter him again after that but now he has inveigled his way into mine and millions of other people’s lives by buying Twitter. He clearly has no understanding of what the platform is for and has sought to crack the Holy Grail of social media- how to actually make some money from it.

The reason the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc are free is that because if they weren’t about 90% of users would drop out especially now we are facing harsh economic times. Instead it is the adverts- which a lot of people moan about- that enable the platforms to continue. Strip them away- as some demand- and you’re left with no alternative than to charge membership.  Musk’s solution is to divide and conquer. Yes, Twitter is still free to use but if you pay for a white tick (or indeed if you want to call it a blue tick) your Tweets will be promoted so that, basically, they are the only ones anyone sees unless you’re willing to scroll and scroll and scroll through down to the non ticked ones.

The white tick was created to differentiate genuine accounts of public figures from impersonators, its not supposed to be a status symbol and I’ve heard anecdotally its been quite a difficult mark to obtain. To prove you are a public figure of note is not as easy as it sounds and reminds me of someone trying to get into a nightclub by saying  “don’t you know who I am?” to non plussed looks from the door staff. Musk’s new system means anyone can have a white tick so long as you can pay for it. The subtext is that if you’re not willing to pay Twitter is not really for you, you serf. It’s a way of bringing societal class differences online, a Them and Us mentality.

There’s been more of an outcry about this than the prospect of bans on outspoken individuals being lifted. This is Musk’s second unpalatable decision in the short time since he bought the platform.  Twitter has -and likely always will have -trouble moderating extremism because it comes in different forms. Banning high profile extremist groups or speakers is easy enough, we know who they are, but stopping undercurrents of hate, prejudice, lies and misinformation is almost impossible because it spreads like a virus. And we know how you can’t really control a virus. It's like that old school lesson where you pass a verbal message to one person who then has to pass it to the next and so on. By the time it reaches the other side of the classroom, the message has changed.

If these hate figures are allowed back then I suspect this may be the tipping point for many. And there is, presumably, a moment in even Musk’s business head that will make him stop and think “OK, Twitter is losing thousands of users per day, how long is this sustainable?” As his undignified, brutal culling of staff demonstrates, Musk as a person is a spanner but he presumably has enough business savvy to see these things. Yet if it works, he may be setting an unpalatable precedent. Other platforms will be watching to see the response to his decisions and if Twitter doesn’t really lose that many users or advertisers in the long term, once the current palaver has died away, they may see opportunities to follow.

You might also say that Twitter is not as vital as it used to be. More often than not while a news story breaks on the platform it’s always from a link to a news outlet. You can keep up with frends on Facebook, post nice photos on Instagram, dance on TikTok and so on. It seems a long time since Twitter was in its vanguard phase or when a news story was incomplete till Stephen Fry had expressed his opinion on the platform. Twitter has become part of everyday life for millions of people but the bigger it got the less pleasant a place its become. Every week you see people – some famous, some not- leaving the platform because of its toxic environment. It may well be partially responsible for cancel culture which bypasses justice to reach instant decisions. It is almost certainly responsible for influencing elections and something like the Brexit campaign by pumping misinformation into the world. And it seems to have become a place where people can take on a persona far less palatable than their real life selves.

 Some of the exchanges I’ve seen are not things people would dare say if they were both standing in front of each other. Its bullying yet online it seems to be acceptable for many. Accusations are unchecked for accuracy because that would be impossible and people `love` these messages without seeming to think about what they imply. Just this week an actor felt forced to publicly reveal his sexuality after unpalatable online stuff.  So, is Twitter even worth saving?

I admit I only use it for promoting the posts on this blog, a job it does well. I’ve never liked the promotional side of life to me its like standing on a rooftop with a megaphone shouting “I’m good, me”. I only joined when I had a promotional company work on my first novel and they opened the account and so I don’t even know who most of the followers are. Its easy to use, something that its often named potential replacement, Mastodon, struggles with.

So, should I stay on Twitter or join what may end up being quite an exodus? Unlike the ethos of the platform which is all about instant judgement I’m going to give it time, three months perhaps, to see what happens. To see when the noise clears exactly what is left and where its headed. Perhaps I’m too reasonable for Twitter!?