I spend a lot of time behind the scenes of platforms - lurking. Watching how behavior morphs, changes, what makes something rise, what people want.
Sometimes, I don't know why. I'm a believer in AI "changing everything" in the very near future; we're already in a world where I watch people get in arguments with bots and never get even a hint that they are yelling into a silicon wall... but I digress.
Of all the platforms that are out there, and I've lurked them all, there is simply no competition for X if you are interested in genuine communication.
Instagram is a tool; it's an advertising tool of unprecedented power. It is the refinement of its predecessors, a brilliant box that highlights shiny products, dream lifestyles, and phony 'creators' (influencers). Facebook is, well... who knows; I logged out a very long time ago and never really went back except to engage very specific communities with esoteric interests and dedicated communities. There is very little there that crosses generations or holds much interest... I found it intrusive, mainly due to the very personal and public nature of it. I left the platform on a personal basis almost a decade ago, never looked back, and don't miss it a bit.
TikTok is, well, I assume it is a tool of those who hate us. Maybe that's a conspiracy, maybe not- I don't really care. Vapid shorts, even the good ones, appear to be brain sucking distractions more than anything meaningful... and while no one considers YouTube a social platform, in some ways, it is- a directed channel for your interests. If I want to be entertained or learn something...that's where I go. It has, in many ways, completely replaced contemporary literature; it is the eBook, but no one talks about that really. That's a topic for another post.
Forget the rest... the 'Red' and 'Blue' platforms are all sitting in the shadows and of virtually no consequence whatsoever. The Left haters go to Parler or Gab or whatever else... the Right haters go to BlueSky or Mastodon- maybe there are others...? All of them are platforms with fewer registered users than many mid-level X accounts have followers. Utterly niche, quite useless in the scheme of real social media. I suppose they have loyalists and features and such, but who would know because they aren't worth the time to engage for anything other than an echo chamber. I have virtually no interest in being told what I already believe or what I can be fed as the propaganda du jour for whatever point of view I want to reinforce.
The only place that is truly interesting, that has a real future, that will dominate the social conversation is X. Maybe not for large corporations selling things... that remains to be seen. The ad boycott of X by major spenders is of little real consequence; it appears there is something else happening in the creator space; something that may make ads truly meaningless. It's exciting to me because it's new. Creators producing original content and developing subscriptions or direct purchases that simply cut advertisers out of the equation altogether. That is the idea, of course- to diminish the power of corporations by making their ad spend 'nice to have' vs absolutely critical for survival. It was the mechanism by which control was exerted, and once diminished, the conversation becomes a lot more real. Something we haven't seen in the United States for a long time. A breath of fresh air for many of us, but a big disappointment for those cultural influencers who felt they had just gotten a hold of the sticks and understood how to play the game.
Well, the game has changed, and I don't believe it's going back to any old model we knew before. In fact, I suspect the X model will change more than many can imagine, myself included. It will no longer be beholden to any government nor advertiser. Only the users control the platform outside broad guidelines which are more informed by the US Constitution than any 'regulation' or NGO that would like to control the tone and tenor of the platform. Those users, or rather, creators will assume a new role that is unlike anything we've seen other than YouTube channel owners that hit it big. The difference- they are more numerous, and will publish less polished content at a much higher rate.
A common theme to keep an eye on- every big YouTube creator has one thing in common: a means to continue to generate content and revenue if they are ever forced to walk away from the platform. X will release feature after feature that makes this easier, more seamless, and ever more powerful for individuals to speak to the world in a meaningful way (even if you disagree with them, a lot). This independence is at the heart of everything that makes X special...and it is. If you don't think it has a bright (the brightest) future, you're not paying attention.
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