No One Likes Twitter Anymore?

X (Twitter) has become a contentious space since Musk took over in May 2022. 

To such an extent that it even forced a group of (ex-)Twitter workers, users, and allies to create Better Platform, a project that is centered around the belief that platforms we depend on should serve the public interest.

Fiscally-sponsored project of Open Collective Foundation, they’re collecting stories of people who are reminiscent of the days when Twitter was actually a place that didn’t lead to mental health deterioration. Their goal is to create A People’s History of Twitter and organize a people’s assembly about the future of news and content creation on Twitter and beyond.

To participate in the project all you need to do is fill out this typeform.

In it, you’ll be asked to tell your “Twitter relationship” story unless you choose other ways to collaborate with the platform. You’ll also be required to answer several questions such as have you had a life-changing experience and more.

You can then share your stories on other platforms, including X (Twitter) itself.

Better Platform is just one of the many ways for social media users to express their dissatisfaction with what’s going on X (Twitter) as well as other platforms these days.

In a new story, the NYT tells the case of Nicholas Campiz, who fled Kyiv after Russia launched a full-scale war on Ukraine on Feb.24, 2022, who shares his experience of using Twitter before and after Musk.

“As more Ukrainians hopped onto Twitter to tell their story, you had a lot of good accounts from them,” he said when describing those days.

Though he’s now living in Florida, he keeps his finger on the pulse of events but he’s not quite as sure that what X (Twitter) offers him today is as good. After HAMAS attacked Israel on Oct.7, Campiz did not feel like the social media platform provided him with an equally good type of information. According to him, his timeline on the app was filled with posts from accounts he didn’t recognize and content that had been debunked.

“Twitter was invaluable because you were able to get connected to accounts that were providing good information,” he said. “I feel really helpless in this Israel-Gaza thing because on Twitter now, the ability to do that is just gone.”

Campiz’s stories are echoed in many other instances, with the Guardian recently publishing an extensive review of Musk’s “fascinating character study” and “an unnerving insight into the more disturbing side of social media”. Needless to say, the study is not filled with praise for the tech mogul.

Does this rising unlove bother him?

Though we can’t answer this question for him, there’s one thing that’s indisputable. According to Bloomberg, Musk’s X is worth less than half of the price he paid for Twitter. It is now worth $19 billion a year after the $44 billion purchase. As a result, employee restricted stock units are awarded at $45 a share.

And money speaks loud in a billionaire’s world.