I made it big on Twitter. Now I don’t think I can stay.

For a agelong time, it was worthy it to enactment connected Twitter due to the fact that Twitter had the powerfulness to alteration your life. I broke large connected Twitter much than 10 years agone with a hashtag, #solidarityisforwhitewomen, and Twitter was large for my career. It gave maine entree to a planetary assemblage and allowed maine unprecedented entree to editors who helped signifier my modulation from being large online to being a published writer with a publication connected the NYT bestseller list.

But for the past fewer years, my usage of Twitter has drastically declined. I utilized to tweet 500 times a day. Then it was 500 times a week. Now? I station less than 500 tweets a month. Twitter has gone from the spot wherever I socialized regularly to a spot wherever I enactment from wont much than involvement oregon need. I walk much clip connected TikTok, connected Instagram, and successful backstage groups than I bash connected Twitter. I could archer you it is due to the fact that of harassment oregon deficiency of time, and immoderate of that is true. But the world is that I simply don’t request to beryllium connected Twitter to beryllium heard anymore.

If Twitter closed tomorrow, that would beryllium jarring and upsetting for a while, but past I’d determination connected to different platform. Or simply enactment wherever I already americium comfortable, with my toed successful societal media but not arsenic overmuch of my beingness taking spot there.

I ideate different radical are feeling the aforesaid mode today. After months of negotiations, allegations, and accusations, Elon Musk has officially purchased Twitter, and the questions we’ve each been asking are that overmuch much urgent: Will Twitter inactive beryllium escaped to use? Will argumentation changes marque it an untenable situation for leftists oregon liberals? Will it go a bastion of information for the acold right, oregon will it descend similar truthful galore different right-wing platforms? Will Twitter beryllium an endless parade of Tesla ads? Obviously, determination are immoderate questions lone clip volition answer. But for those who utilized Twitter to physique a career, to prolong their careers, oregon simply to connect, the existent question is: Where bash we spell from here?

Sure, conscionable staying connected Twitter is theoretically an option, but frankly, truthful is moving connected to the adjacent large platform. In presumption of societal media, Twitter is already aging retired of relevance; a batch of online creators are focusing mostly connected TikTok oregon Instagram. Much similar Facebook, Twitter stopped being chill arsenic soon arsenic its superior idiosyncratic basal got aged capable to walk much clip talking 401(k)s and owe rates than popular culture. Sure, immoderate of america hung successful determination to live-tweet Scandal, dissect Game of Thrones, and speech politics. But for galore of america that is our job, not conscionable our leisure activity. And it came with a cost, whether that was being dogpiled by trolls oregon simply feeling drained by the play of the day. And of course, immoderate radical mislaid careers oregon relationships due to the fact that of things they said online. Others were harassed disconnected societal media entirely.

There’s ever a hazard to being a semi-public figure—after all, portion the attraction tin beryllium great, it tin besides beryllium destructive. Being online is successful galore ways gambling with your future, due to the fact that you ne'er who oregon what you’re going to encounter.

Granted, my presumption of Twitter’s trajectory is shaped by my agelong past online. I came to Twitter from LiveJournal, a blogging level that officially died aft it was bought by a Russian company, SUP Media. But it was dying successful America agelong earlier SUP stepped into the frame. Users were already connected 1 of the LiveJournal clones—Twitter, Tumblr, etc. And we had nary thought that Twitter would triumph retired arsenic the pb spot to modulation to, truthful we opened accounts successful respective places. For the past 2 years astatine least, radical person been creating accounts connected Mastodon, Pillowfort, and a big of others. Because, fundamentally, platforms are astir the people, not the owners. And Twitter’s enactment was unpopular agelong earlier Musk was offering to acquisition the platform. Users who had relied connected Twitter for crowdfunding, organizing protests, raising consciousness of societal issues, and much were struggling with the mode the institution seemed determined to make features that made advertizing easier but connecting harder. It’s intolerable not to wonderment if what we’re seeing present isn’t conscionable the adjacent crook of the larger instrumentality of net culture. As exertion shifts, tin immoderate level beryllium the lone 1 that matters, oregon volition we ever determination connected to greener pastures erstwhile our needs change?   

Twitter held sway for truthful agelong it’s scary to contemplate the existent extremity of the enactment for this signifier of microblogging. But already, much than 50% of Twitter’s heaviest users don’t truly usage it anymore. It’s for a assortment of reasons, but that’s ever the lawsuit erstwhile a level starts to collapse. Going viral successful the mode that I did with hashtags successful 2011 whitethorn not hap again connected different platform, though each signs constituent to virality being a imperishable facet of online life. When influencing became a vocation extremity and not conscionable a fluke, the penning was connected the partition for each level that seems excessively large to fail. Where the celebs and taste influencers go, truthful volition everyone else. This is possibly my astir Chronically Online Hot Take, but Musk seems to person bought a millstone, not a taste touchstone.

Twitter’s value 5 years agone cannot beryllium overstated, but now, arsenic we look astatine the anticipation of a aboriginal without Twitter, volition thing truly alteration for the mean idiosyncratic who uses the net but doesn’t unrecorded connected it? Social media users who suffer interaction connected Twitter volition find each different again connected antithetic sites. I person friends I archetypal met successful AOL chatrooms successful the ’90s! They person recovered maine connected different platforms for the precise elemental crushed that I person a distinctive username. For those who are making their large interruption connected TikTok oregon YouTube, their assemblage volition person an adjacent easier clip pursuing them. But not each contented creators similar microcelebrity. Many volition get what they request from societal media and past gradually sunset their online career.  

For galore users, societal media is simply a instrumentality to usage to get what you want, but it isn’t a spot to unrecorded your life. In galore ways Twitter’s outsize popularity hinged connected our ignorance of the imaginable impact, but present that we cognize what it costs? I’m not definite we’ll miss it capable to support paying that price. Perhaps Musk volition marque wealth connected the deal, but adjacent helium seems to fishy that Twitter is dying. And portion helium whitethorn deliberation helium tin resurrect it, nary 1 likes a zombie.

Mikki Kendall is simply a writer, an occasional feminist, and the writer of Hood Feminism.