meemsaf

We tend to think of Twitter as a thing, but like many 'things' we interact with in society, Twitter is actually a set of social relations mediated by things. Under its new ownership those relations are being radically reconfigured. It is no longer the same 'thing' it once was.

Because on a surface level—despite the ugly new icon and stupid new name nobody really uses—Twitter appears to still be the same 'thing' it once was, it is hard to tell when we no longer can or should participate in the social relations making it up.

In fact, the social relations making up Twitter have already changed a lot over the years. From a bit of a niche network where being anonymous was normal, since around 2015 it has become a kind of global town square, indispensible for politics and journalism. Those who have been part of this network since before that transformation have found it worth participating in after, while others left. Now, the unique modes of interaction Twitter offered in that phase are being actively undermined.

Worst of all, no real replacement for the set of relations called “Twitter” is in sight. Yes, there are many products, many 'things' which appear a lot like Twitter, and even aspire to create the same modes of interaction, or a better version of them. But that is not the same as offering the kind of central, global, public complex of interactions, involving major institutions and public figures as well as countless organizers, journos, activists, scholars, and other politically engaged people, all interacting with one another. Precisely the plurality of Twitter-esque products absorbing parts of this network prevents any one of them from actually becoming the new Twitter, at least for a long while. Because to be the new Twitter you need to be the new Twitter, not a new Twitter. There can only be one.

All this to say, I am here because there is still a critical mass of people here I want to engage with. It is not clear how long that will last. But after it ends, we will not have this again, not right away. And that is a terrible loss for us all.