The dramatic saga that unfolded after “Chief Twit” Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter last month made some users consider leaving the microblogging and social networking service. While some users stubbornly refuse to leave the platform as a protest, internal documents show that Twitter is losing “heavy tweeters,” its most active users making up 10% of users but posting 90% of the platform’s tweets.

Twitter under Elon Musk… So Far in 2022

April

– Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk announced he now owns 9.2% of Twitter

– Musk offers to buy Twitter for $44 billion

– Twitter’s Board of Directors attempt to block Musk’s takeover but Twitter eventually accepts Musk Buyout May Musk’s buyout ‘cannot move forward’ until number of bot accounts are verified

June

Musk threatens to terminate deal to buy Twitter if spam bot demands aren’t met

July

Musk terminates his deal to buy Twitter but he’s promptly sued over it

October

– Musk agrees to buy Twitter for $44 billion, averting trial

– Musk completes takeover of Twitter, fires ceo and other top executives

– Twitter reportedly planning to charge $20 per month for verification, even for those already verified

November

– Musk defends Twitter verification fee, then says it will only be $8

– Twitter begins laying off up to 3,700 employees, is now being sued for it

– Twitter adds an ‘official’ non-paid grey verification checkmark, then Musk kills it

– Musk reportedly tells twitter employees that bankruptcy isn’t out of the question

– Twitter could be at risk for billions of dollar in fines from the Federal Trade Commission

– Twitter Blue suspended after wave of account impersonators creates chaos

– Twitter’s two-factor-authentication reportedly fails for certain users

– Musk sends a companywide email to remaining employees threatening lay offs if they did not “work long hours at high intensity” or support his vision for “Twitter 2.0”

Here are other social networks to check out if you’re among those who are thinking about quitting Twitter or have already stopped using it.

Mastodon is free and open-source software for running self-hosted social networking services.

> A decentralized version of Twitter

> You don’t join Mastodon per se; you join a specific server

> Moderation policies are determined by each group

> You post toots (rather than tweets) with a 500-character limit per post

> You can attach images, a video, or an audio file

Released in March 2016, owner Eugen Rochko – said that the platform is “protected” by the decentralised structure, explaining: “The code is free, open-source software, and nobody can change the license or take it back retroactively, and all of the different servers are owned by other people.”

Discord is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and instant messaging social platform.

> More an invitational discussion service than a free-for-all social network

> Made up of separate servers that allow participants to participate in text discussions, video and voice calls, and exchange files

> The interface can be heavily tweaked and regulated by the administrators of a server

Launched in 2015, Discord is still a privately held company, regardless of buyout talks with companies such as Microsoft. Founders Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy both shared a love of video games, cherishing the friendships and connections that formed while playing them.

Reddit is a social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website.

> Modeled off of classic message boards, and so doesn’t look or act the same as a Twitter feed — instead, it is divided into subgroups, known as subreddits

> A subreddit has its own rules, and the moderator can kick you out if you don’t adhere to them

> Following an upvote or downvote system, depending on the subreddit, you can posts text, photos, videos, and external links depending on the subreddit

Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian started Reddit in 2005, and Condé Nast Publications acquired the site in October 2006. Reddit split from Condé Nast in 2011, and now operates under Advance Publications.

Plurk is a free social networking and micro-blogging service.

> Deemed similar to Twitter in some ways but friendlier

> With a 360-character limit, Plurk utilizes a horizontal timeline, with messages summarized by single verbs (“feels”, “loves”, etc.) > Media files can be shared, Plurks can be liked, and emoticons used

> Engaging with the site grows karma, unlocking more emoticons While it is difficult to track down the names of the creatorsm, it is known that the current CEO is Alvin Woon.

Launched in 2008 as a Canadian startup, the company has been headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, while it has landed an undisclosed amount of funding since 2013.

Sources:

https://www.theverge.com/…/twitter-social-network…

https://www.reuters.com/…/exclusive-where-did-tweeters…/https://en.as.com/…/who-is-eugen-rochko-mastodons-owner-n/

https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/Reddit

https://www.cnbc.com/…/discord-ceo-on-microsoft-bid-we…

https://discord.com/company

https://www.the-sun.com/tech/4851066/who-owns-discord/

https://www.makeuseof.com/…/twitter-alternative-social…/

https://thenextweb.com/news/plurk-investment-deal

https://www.nbcnews.com/…/twitter-elon-musk-timeline…

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