Twitter Alternatives for Staff

Howdy all.

With Elon buying Twitter, firing half the staff as we speak, charging $8 a month for a "verified" check that just means they "verified" your credit card, and Elon making promises that there will be less moderation but that somehow it will be more useful and positive, it's tough for me to justify being on it to follow my various hobbies. That is before we even get to the whole "the more you engage in content the more we'll show it to you" algorithm behavior that means stopping in horror on a story about something that disgusts you means you get more of that content even if you go out of your way to report or avoid it.

I know GB probably can't afford to abandon Twitter for a number of reasons relating to exposure, engagement, etc.

However, would the staff ever consider using a tool like Buffer (I'm not a tech expert, maybe they suck, just using them as an example) to multi-post so I could get my fix of micro-doses of the GB staff on sites like cohost, Mastodon, or CounterSocial?

I do enjoy following the staff on their numerous rants, adventures, and musings outside of the video and audio content, but I also just can't justify having a Twitter account. It's not healthy for me, I would posit it's not healthy for most people, and I doubt this new path will help much with that.

Related, and I have no idea what the next step should be, but considering every single report from the FCC involves them begging Congress or the White House to outright ban TikTok, I wonder if deplatforming from it would be prudent as well.

@zombiepie: Indeed. The politics and reality of Chinese governmental behavior are difficult to grasp when we have a very loud subculture in the US who just hate “foreign” - I have had talks with people who feel like it’s racist to say bad things about China at all. From my view, people I know who study this (as in people who live in-country and other people who have literal degrees and a couple decades of work in both think tanks and working for the Obama administration) have spent a few decades of my life, at least, warning about the danger of letting China be part of our software and hardware infrastructure so completely.

My job puts me in contact with college kids (since I work at a university) and I think some of them would have to go to rehab if we took TikTok from them.

In this instance I don’t necessarily want to say, “Leave Twitter!” because I get the engagement benefits Twitter brings and I don’t expect GB to conform to my own politics. But if there was a reasonable way for staff to easily push that content to just one or two other platforms that would be pretty cool.

I think I'm only on Twitter now to watch the worlds richest man slowly come to terms with shitposting his way into buying a hole in his wallet.

I think his first step is to try and make money from it. Twitter is just a money void and I really don't understand (beyond advertising and selling data) how a platform like that makes money.

Not that Elon's a stranger to blasting money into the cold, black harshness of space. I have a twitter account but I really don't use it for much. I go years between tweeting.

@inspectorfowler: With how they've misrepresented bot numbers and revenue coming almost entirely from advertisers, is "the engagement" actually all that great? Especially when considering the mental health costs (to say nothing of the societal damage, but that's one of those things you can't REALLY measure), I'd be curious what a real mass-exodus of Twitter would actually look like and how it would affect things.

And yeah, as always: nationalism and jinoism are just as harmful to the country supposedly being championed (if not moreso) than it is to those outside who are "meant" to be kept there.

@shindig: Short answer: it doesn't. It has operated at a massive loss every year of its existence save 2.

I’m going to stay on Twitter (as a lurker) until a) the content from people I follow dries up or b) the viewing experience even on third party apps becomes completely miserable. I abandoned the Twitter app or visiting the actual website a while ago, but it was such a frustrating experience I probably wouldn’t even bother sticking with it if that becomes my only option.

In the meantime, someone on the staff set up a cohost page for Giant Bomb earlier today. That seems to be where more people are headed than the other alternatives, so that’s where I’ll be checking stuff while Twitter begins its death spiral.

@undeadpool: I dunno, actually. Some of them seem to really enjoy using it and I guess I've assumed it was part just having fun chatting about stuff and part because they get the business results they want, but that's an assumption. I'm glad they're looking into some options; I really do love seeing the random posts and opinions but a change of venue for that would be really cool.

Quora.

If it’s not healthy for you. Don’t have a Twitter account. Simples

I've never had a Twitter account and it's ok. You can still check in on people you're interested in following. In GB, that's what the staff tweets box is for.

@csl316: The issue is that if you click on those links and you aren’t logged in to Twitter, after you scroll past a couple tweets (let’s say Rorie puts like five cute dogs on there) it does a full page popover telling you to log in or get out. This seems to include the pinned tweet. I get this on desktop and mobile :(

@inspectorfowler: Yeah, I get the same but then decide the rest probably isn't important.

@inspectorfowler: Blocking content is Twitter's best feature. Saves me lots of time probably. I disabled my account this week but in reality I was almost never logged in.

They'll do what everyone else is doing. Complain and then either suck it up and either pay, or lose their verified status.

Anyone else who is pretending something else will happen is really just fooling themselves. Virtually nothing will change.

At this rate, Twitter probably won't exist in a year.

Why would they pay though? This is the fundamental issue with Musk's views on verification. He seems to view the blue check mark as some form of superiority but it never was that at all. Verification on social media has always simply existed for people/companies/organizations with larger followings to tell other users that you are who you say you are and prevent fraud. Making the blue check mark so that anyone can get it by throwing money around makes it meaningless.

Twitter was already on a slow decline for the last several years. The writing has been on the wall for a while now. Recent events have simply accelerated that decline. The platform had already lost a good portion of the remaining trust it had with users and this recent stuff seems to have genuinely pushed trust to the breaking point. It'll either end up imploding soon, or die off slowly over the next few years. Plenty of other social media platforms have died in the past and nothing is special enough about Twitter to save it from suffering the same fate.

Luckily for me, most of the people or organizations I actually care about following either already have other non-Twitter means of communicating or have recently set up accounts on other services that I'm following instead. I'm now at the point where I could delete my 13 year old Twitter account and not miss out on anything.

I think the problem with Twitter imploding is there isn't a great alternative for it. There's a ton of video game people on the site from developers to streamers to journalists to voice actors to various fan accounts. The situation is many people are already there and you can follow everybody from Giant Bomb, Polygon, or whatever other sites you follow, or all of the actors you like, or the makers behind your favorite games. The problem is you need something equivalent (which for Twitter is primarily text and basic video and image uploads) and convince everybody to leave. If only 10% of the people moved over to <New Social Media Platform> it just wouldn't be the same.

Speaking for myself as an example, I'm in security. One of the main things abandoning Twitter is more so for that and not people at Giant Bomb, Nextlander, or wherever else. Within security, there are people who are subject matter experts on exploits and vulnerabilities versus forensics versus social engineering versus malware, etc. etc. It's one of those things where you know of enough people from all over the place that it's quite valuable to keep track of what people are saying when something big happens. People tend to post stuff like that more so on Twitter than something like LinkedIn, which has to be a job recruitment and networking platform on top of other things.

With security, there's other stuff out there from LinkedIn contacts and groups, Discord servers, mailing lists, but it's just not the same. Being able to see something from any security person is a lot better than going off into a random Discord server. I don't keep up with a ton of social network stuff, but I think that's why something like Mastodon won't work.

Who knows, maybe Twitter will crash so hard Elon will sell it to get it off his hands and somebody will have to un-fuck what he did. Maybe Twitter will just die and everybody will have to go to TikTok, which has it's own problems.

I've scaled down my social media presence a lot in recent years, but I have a feeling this might be the thing that kills all social networking usage for me. The only exception is LinkedIn, which mainly feels like a failsafe in case I ever get laid off and I need to network with people quickly to get a new job.

@ben_h:

You're right, why would they? I'm not saying they have a reason to pay. I'm saying that they're going to most likely stay on Twitter regardless of whether or not they keep a blue checkmark.

Either that, or reduce their social media footprint significantly.

@csl316: @inspectorfowler: Nitter helps with this issue.

Or you could use a browser extension like Privacy redirect to automatically open every twitter link into Nitter.

Sometimes i need to click a link 2-3 times for it to load properly in Nitter, but it's quite nice to have access to people's feeds without needing an account.

Say what you will about his antics, Elon Musk got the US back into crewed space travel, otherwise, we'd still be paying Russia for trips to the ISS at $60 million dollars a pop.And yes, I had to look that number up.

@berfunkle: This is not a very heavy weight to tip the scales away from how much he fuckin sucks.

@efesell: You're right. Space travel/exploration is a waste of money anyway. Same goes for Starlink. Let the Ukrainians find other ways to communicate in their war. Not my concern.

It amazes me how people talk about Elon Musk like he is some kind of genius, when he is a trust fund baby with too much time on his hands. Twitter will fail, because that is Musk's plan from the beginning. He will continue to do things that will alienate people from using it. It doesn't matter to me, because I never have and probably never will use twitter, especially now.

@berfunkle: Ukraine paid him vast amounts of money for Starlink access, and he threatened to withdraw it when people were mean to him on twitter about his entirely pro russia stance on the war. The man is a fucking asshole.

@berfunkle: You're implying that space travel is somehow a win for Elon, when it's really just an indictment of how bad the US public spending is. Since you're looking up numbers, try looking up how much SpaceX has made in government subsidies and tax cuts.

Truth be told, I'd rather not punish every company or CEO that has done wrong or at least perceived to have done wrong. The list is too long. Might as well, smash your iPhone, PS5 and Xbox , if you think it helps.

Either i dreamt this exchange in the last handful of comments, or it has exactly played out like this before on this very site :D

Spacetravel is neat and that being less reliant on russia and having re-usable rockets be part of the conversation is great. Ad-hoc solutions to deploy a working internet-connection has been important to Ukraine. These are very useful endeavors worth investing in. That doesn't mean that as long as you invest in these things, we should not criticize too heavily when someone's actions are worth criticizing. I won't get fined any less for driving too fast if i also mention that i donated to charity.

@berfunkle: Launch them all into the sun, there's enough room.

I'm on Mastodon. I made an account previously but actually started using it recently. I really enjoy it there, but wherever the staff ends up, I'll follow them since I enjoy following most of them on twitter.

Cohost seems like a decent place too. I made an account there recently and actually followed one Jeff Gerstmann. I'll follow Giant Bomb shortly.

@splodge: he is very clearly not pro Russia in this. He's obviously seeing it from the "minimize casualties" point-of-view.

People really have become easily manipulated morons lately.

Also. Screw social media. Now and forever.

If Twitter fails on moderation to degree of Parlor, I'd understand moving but Elon + firing staff (whelp time to stop buying games if this is the reason to boycott) + verification fee (literally who cares?) sounds like weak reasons.

Comes down to Elon himself clearly. Been trying to remember why people loathe him so much. Is it just the union-busting stuff? There is also the soft Trump/republican endorsement (I don't think have ever said but always a wink wink I agree with those guys thing)

I find it hard to follow or care.

Social media is like soda pop, ist best to have the stomach to drink any and all of them...if you are at a certain party and they just have Coke and not Pepsi ist silly to insist on Pepsi. Does social media metter? No...of course not. Its about being SOCIALS mat about being important. But, what social media does is reach people where they are; so yeah GB should have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Tik-Tok, Tumber, Instagram, and -yes-even Pinterest.

Most small and medium sized businesses use 3rd party apps that allow one post to be put on three or four apps any way...so it is not like making a post wastes someone time when ist reaching three or four platforms at once. Social Media is like putting the cover sheets on all the TPS reports. Social media for individual people might be fun, but it is necessary work in a business - just do it.


Will any particular planform continue into next year for sure or do the job you need by itself? No, of course not! That's no the point, they point si to reach fans wherever they ar, to have the corporate-toes dipped in them all. FOr a media unit like Giant Bomb you just do a handful of them no matter what they ups and downs are. Quitting Twitter now won't do anything expect annoy them people still expecting you there. Giant Bomb does not have to worry about TikTok -they are games media- northing they post is a state secret.

People coming onto platforms like this to run to the defense of extremely wealthy people who could give two fucks whether you live or die is always so massively disappointing to me.

Its like watching your favorite sports team but you root for the opposing team to win.

@coldblood: No one defended him here? I asked why people hate him. Someone else said something about he did space stuff and that's good. Paypal is pretty cool. I like Paypal. I mean I use it. Doesn't mean I love Mr. Musk

If you are unaware of what a shitty person Elon is at this point, its on you for being oblivious. Here are just a few:

• Claiming in March 2020 that people worried about the coronavirus were “dumb”
• Predicting on March 19, 2020, that the U.S. was going to have “close to zero new cases” by the end of April
• Questioning the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, and baselessly asserting that there were “quite a few negative reactions” to getting a second shot
• Likening Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeauto Hitler
• Saying the U.S. government shouldn‘t provide subsidies to companies after receiving billions in subsidies from the U.S government
• Using Twitter to engage in securities fraud
• Tweeting, “Pronouns suck”
• Tweeting misogynistic things at Senator Elizabeth Warren because she said he should pay more in taxes
• Writing to Bernie Sanders, who also thinks the richest man in the world should pay more in taxes, “I keep forgetting that you’re still alive”
• Tweeting dumb, sexist jokes
• Tweeting a photo of Bill Gates and writing, “in case u need to lose a boner fast”
• Tweeting in 2018 that Tesla factory workers could lose their stock options if they unionized
• Baselessly accusing a British cave diver instrumental in rescuing a trapped football team of being a “pedo guy” because he, like others, said Musk’s idea to send in a submarine wouldn’t work
• Reopening a Tesla factory in violation of public health orders, where 450 cases were subsequently recorded
• Running a company (Tesla) that was ordered to pay nearly $137 million to a former Black employee who said the company ignored repeated complaints that he was called the N-word and that his colleagues “had drawn swastikas and scratched a racial epithet in a bathroom stall and left drawings of derogatory caricatures of Black children around the factory.” (In a message to Tesla employees, a human resources executive downplayed the man’s allegations, noting he was a contractor, not a full-time staffer, and that other witnesses had said that while they heard racial slurs, they were used in a “friendly” manner. The H.R. executive added that the company was “not perfect” at the time of the incidents, and “is still not perfect,” but has “come a long way.”)
• Running a company (Tesla), where a female worker said sexual harassment was “rampant,” alleging “nightmarish conditions” and a factory that “more resembles a crude, archaic construction site or frat house than a cutting-edge company in the heart of the progressive San Francisco Bay area.” (The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Washington Post, which noted Tesla “does not typically respond to press inquiries.”)
• Running a company (Tesla) that employees have called a “modern-day sweatshop” (In response, Telsa said it abided by California laws.)
• Attempting to “destroy a Tesla whistleblower”
• Reportedly exploding at “executives and lower-ranking workers” alike, and allegedly firing people who disagreed with him (Musk has denied allegations that he goes on firing sprees)
• Announcing Tesla’s headquarters would move to Texas one month after the state effectively banned all abortions
• Paying a private investigator $50,000 to dig up dirt on the cave diver he called “pedo guy”

This is a list I found from April by searching for 3 seconds. This doesn't mention his 20 kids he ignores or his blatant Trump & Republican support or his claim he would solve world hunger and then completely ignored when he was given examples how to do it.

He is a multi billionaire who could do an unimaginable amount of good things for the world, but he chooses to be a piece of shit and an internet troll. He is an awful human being.

I think using discord as an alternative to Twitter is a much better idea. Twitter isn't a good platform for finding anything unless you're in Twitter at that moment.

@marting: Ah yes, the dude who has been posting anti-Ukraine memes since March and is repeating Russian talking points wants to "minimize casualties"

I am fascinated by just how badly Twitter is being handled in what has to be its final days at this point.

@efesell: it's almost impressive how every single move being made is a giant self-own.

@beggary: Like there's a tendency to armchair general things like this and usually its misguided and misunderstanding what's actually in play..

But I mean... I think most of us could avoid at least some of those rakes.

Ironically, the man at the helm maybe shouldn't have an account. Even Trump had an online presence that was occasionally managed.

As inspectorfowler said earlier, I get benefits from both Twitter and TikTok daily, so I don't really want to quit them. On Twitter, I usually read news and stuff like that, and watch what celebrities do and talk about. On TikTok, I use to like and save some informative videos about cars/business/crypto trading. Also, I use TikTok as a platform to promote my services and my website, which works absolutely amazing for my site traffic and for attracting new customers. SocCeleb helps me with that a lot, the service provides followers, likes, views, and everything you need to become more popular.

About a week ago everyone was talking about Hive as the Twitter replacement but I am increasingly skeptical of that. I've been using it for a week or so and it needs a lot of work. Hive is not ready for prime time at all. It's very, very slow. The Twitter-like bit of it works okayish but it's still slow to load initially and when loading more posts. Overall it just seems like it's barely holding together with the influx of users. There's also issues with username duplication and other things that are big problems that need fixing.

Then there's the Discover page. Oh boy. As it is right now, the Discover page is not something I'd be comfortable having open on my phone in public. By default, the app is supposed to filter out NSFW content, but you can enable NSFW if you want to. I left it as the default and don't have NSFW enabled because I use my phone in public places. Well, let's just say their NSFW filter needs a bit of work. Sometimes I'll open the Discover page and there'll be more sausages showing up in the New and Trending tabs than there are at Oktoberfest. They tell you that you have to mark your posts as NSFW but it seems like a lot of people aren't bothering. As a result NSFW posts are showing up on the main page because Hive's dick equivalent of hotdog/not a hotdog is having trouble detecting hotdogs.

I like the intentions of Hive's creators and it seems like they have some cool ideas but given the problems the app has, I can't see it replacing Twitter. It also doesn't have a desktop client or web version, so you literally can't use it unless you use a phone or awkward workaround like BlueStacks.

This detail makes Hive DOA for me. Call me an old man but 99% of the time I don't want to do things like browse the internet or twitter on my phone.

@nophilip: I find this interesting because personally I never use a computer anymore outside of work since it's 20 times more convenient to do most stuff on the phone in my opinion.

I feel like even If I were sitting AT my computer I would still turn to my phone for Twitter..