The Era of Zombie Twitter

The avian emblem may have perished, but the once-vibrant Twitter, now known as X, endures as a shadowy presence, catering to communities, news dissemination, and viral trends.

The chronicle unfolds. Back in 2006, a handful of already triumphant tech moguls embarked on an experiment named Twitter, a platform for sharing concise textual snippets.

The concept was revolutionary at the time: While blogging was prevalent, it demanded commitment, even brief posts were lengthy.

Email and Facebook maintained a semiprivate aura, a means to communicate solely with friends or perhaps an ill-fated uncle.

The ubiquity of smartphones was lacking, and the notion of exposing your meals or misguided political convictions to the world was audacious.

Nevertheless, Twitter didn't thrive akin to its social media siblings. Facebook metamorphosed into a behemoth, engulfing Instagram (which swelled to accommodate 2 billion users) and WhatsApp.

In its conquest, Facebook appropriated a now-undeniable notion from Twitter: encouraging users to post publicly as frequently as possible.

This concept proliferated universally, influencing even platforms like LinkedIn, originally intended for professional networking.

Despite this, Twitter established a unique stronghold among media professionals, the Black community, academics, and corporate entities.

Then, in the previous year, Elon Musk entered the picture, dismantling the platform. As users sought stability or attempted to distance themselves from toxicity, Musk's intervention resonated, even though true stability or a pristine atmosphere had never truly existed on Twitter—a realm known for its instability and rampant abuse.

Alternative platforms like Mastodon, a perplexing decentralized network, emerged. Not to mention Bluesky, another emulation instigated by Twitter's co-founder, Jack Dorsey, alongside Spill and likely several others. While some Twitter users became digital refugees, many persevered, held captive by the platform's network effects and the inertia of habit, even in its deteriorating state.

Elon Musk's endeavors extend beyond business as usual and have even impacted Twitter—whether for better or worse is a matter of perspective.

The Making of a Zombie - Meet Threads

Mark Zuckerberg, who once playfully proposed a physical showdown with Musk, now senses an opportunity.

His Instagram team cloned another feature, just as they had previously with Snapchat and TikTok.

This creation, Threads, debuted on app stores recently. (Rumors have circulated that Musk is already contemplating legal action against Meta.)

Threads mirrors Twitter to a certain extent but allows users to import their Instagram profiles and connections. Subsequently, you can start posting. It's essentially a manifestation of what the universe craves from your mind and fingertips.

Twitter is... Dead Now?

By dinnertime, those of us who have fostered unhealthy relationships with Twitter had already begun this process: posting, following, hearting, and "rethreading," which is the equivalent of retweeting on Threads.

Even we marketers activated notifications to savor the gratifying buzz of approval as our compatriots flocked to the newest, albeit least trendy, online club: a Twitter duplicate run by Facebook.

This endeavor evoked satisfaction, akin to the feeling when we embarked on the same journey just ten months ago on Mastodon and merely two months ago on Bluesky.

More Like the End of an Era

The gradual decline of Twitter, a real-time, global news network, feels like an authentic loss, making the prospect of its potential resurgence encouraging—even if it's engineered by Meta.