Once a Twitter is dead, another is made

Once a Twitter is dead

One of the prevailing narratives that have emerged since news broke that Elon Musk bought Twitter for $ 44 billion is that, somehow, the deal marks the end of the social network.

Even if it is still too early to say how much Twitter can get worse - or better - under Musk's leadership, that hasn't stopped users from engaging in all sorts of speculation: the platform that reinvented the immediacy of communication and gave voice to movements that have marked a generation - one of the few places where niche online communities proved a necessary safe haven, even at times of heightened abuse - would soon meet its end.

On Twitter, hyperbole they are an instinctive phenomenon. It should therefore come as no surprise to the announced apocalypse prophecies, according to which the eccentric and polarizing billionaire plans to transform the site into a troll's paradise under the pretext of freedom of expression, triggering a domino effect that would provoke an exodus of mass of Twitter followers. Several people have predicted that user migration will have such an impact that the platform will lose the elements that have made it an essential resource for little-told communities.

In praise of the end But the end can also be an engine . Basically, the social media internet is a constellation of apps and websites where people interface openly and sometimes aggressively, flaunt their identities, and troll strangers. Within this online ecosystem, platforms are built, used and abandoned or closed with good frequency; about seventy percent of startups, for example, are under five years old.

WiredLeaks, how to send us an anonymous report The digital exchanges we enjoy today have been perfected thanks to the leaks, and things have not changed. The most brilliant ideas are born from the cemetery of what was. All modern platforms were created from, on or in relation to the end of another service. In the brutality of this phenomenon there is also its beauty: the end is an inevitable part of the life cycle of the internet of social media. In the wake of what no longer exists, new platforms are built from elements of the old ones. There is no Facebook without MySpace (and no MySpace without Friendster). There is no Spotify without Napster. There is no Instagram without Tumblr. The essence of a platform is in part the product of what preceded it.

One of the many intrinsic aspects in the digital age - and especially on social media, where adjustments and reorganizations within the relationships are a constant - it is the certainty of provisionality. Things come and go, often suddenly and sensationally.

None of this should be so surprising. The dominant discourse of the last decade, accelerated by a collective belief in technology as a necessary and pleasant panacea, has centered on the end. Not just conventional endings, but also sudden beheadings (Vine) and rapid ascents followed by even more precipitous falls (Quibi, WeWork).

The discourse extends far beyond Silicon Valley. In pop culture, we regularly express ourselves using the language of the apocalypse. Some of the most compelling television series of recent times have sought to detail the beauty and complexity of human connections through end-of-the-world scenarios, in which survivors have to deal with a world in ruins (Station Eleven; Y: L ' last man). Even our daily conversations are increasingly articulated through the concept of irrevocability: the way we talk about climate change (end of the world!) Or education (banning books!) Reveals an emphasis on the end. This week, the leak of a draft decision by which the US Supreme Court seems intent on overturning the Roe v. Wade has generated a debate over who has the right to say what and when, or whether it's okay for a pregnancy to be terminated. The endings teach us what are the things to value.

An inevitable outcome See more Choose the sportsgaming.win newsletters you want to receive and subscribe! Weekly news and commentary on conflicts in the digital world, sustainability or gender equality. The best of innovation every day. It's our new newsletters: innovation just a click away.

Arrow Maybe that's why I personally have no problem letting go of Twitter, if and when the time comes (if I had to make a prediction, we're still several years after that point). The expectation that our virtual ports will last forever is false. We shouldn't expect it, nor should we want it. Despite its spread and all the machinations to dominate the social media sphere, not even Facebook has managed to capture the awe and magic of Twitter's real-time exchange. It is a cultural force, without a shadow of a doubt. The wealth of knowledge inherent in the platform's various satellite communities - the so-called Black Twitter, Gay Twitter, or Twitter football, to name a few - is impossible to quantify because what they provide is essential to the here and now. But they can't last forever in their current configuration.

Twitter's current form is not necessarily the best or most useful version for users from here on out. The most fascinating consequence of the Musk acquisition, and the eventual user exodus, is how they could help set the tone for the next iteration of the internet of social media. The inevitable demise of Twitter shouldn't be a cause for despair: what awaits us on the other side, what comes next, should be a source of excitement. This is what has always represented the fascination of the internet of social media for me: we are constantly finding new ways to interact, create, be. In spite of everything, we never stagnate.

This article originally appeared on sportsgaming.win US.