It’s been a turbulent week since Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion. According to Musk, the company is losing $4 million per day. He will make major changes to make the company profitable. Since the purchase, Twitter has fired around half of its employees – 7,500 people. It will cost 8 dollars a month for users to get a blue badge showing that the account has been verified. Several large companies have put advertising on hold to see which direction the company takes. But does Twitter, with its 436 million users, really have any competition? One actor in particular has experienced tremendous growth in recent weeks. – Lack of financial muscle Founder, managing director and chief developer Eugen Rochko wrote on Sunday that they have gained 489,000 new users in less than two weeks. REPORTS GROWTH: Founder Eugen Rochko at Mastodon. Photo: Mastodon The platform now says it has over one million monthly users. But in comparison, Twitter reported in July that it has 238 million daily users. There is thus a huge gap in the number of active users. At the same time, Mastodon is already struggling with technical problems due to increased traffic. Since the platform is a collection of many different servers, this means that some may be down, while others are working. (Read more about this further down in the article). – In theory, they could have been a competitor. But they are not a commercial company, they are run on a voluntary basis. They will therefore not have the same financial muscles, says Ida Aalen, media scientist and author of three books on social media. SKEPTICAL: Media expert Ida Aalen does not think Mastodon will be very big. Photo: Patrick da Silva Sæther / news What is Mastodon? On the surface, Mastodon resembles Twitter. Users can post short messages (max. 500 words), photos or videos. Here it is called toots instead of tweets. The messages can receive replies, “likes” and be reposted. Users can follow each other as on Twitter. But beneath the surface, it’s different. – Many compare the technical solution to e-mail. We are connected to different servers when we communicate with each other, says Aalen. Creating a user is easy, but finding people to follow can be more difficult. The first thing that meets you when you enter Mastodon is the slogan “Social networks that are not for sale”. They also write: “Your news feed should be filled with what matters most to you, not what a company thinks you should see. This is a radically different social medium, where the people themselves are in control”. Mastodon is developed by a non-profit organization run by Eugen Rochko, who created Mastodon in 2016, and is supported via crowdfunding, as well as by individuals and groups who run servers. How Mastodon regulates hate speech Part of Mastodon’s success is that it is divided into smaller communities, where individual moderators have rules and can regulate hate speech better than on larger platforms. But it can also be a disadvantage and lead to anarchy. The founders say they want a diversity of opinions and topics. If a person posts something racist, there are in practice two ways in which that person can be banned: The person can be banned from the server (can also be called the group or community) they are on. Or the server as a whole may be isolated from the others due to the rules or lack thereof. Media researcher: “Healthier”, but “boring” Ida Aalen describes Mastodon as a simpler version of Twitter, where messages are presented chronologically instead of an algorithm deciding what comes to the top. – It’s a bit more boring to be there, for better or for worse. The reason why social media presents the content algorithmically is that the user spends more time on engaging content, she explains. That is the explanation for the drowning of Facebook updates about what people watched or ate for dinner. – The companies know that what gives the most commitment is strong emotion, and strong emotions are often negative emotions. It is often messages that divide, unfortunately. MASTODON: Unlike Twitter, the microblogging service Mastodon is created by a non-profit organization. Photo: Mastodon Aalen points out that many go on social media to kill time. – There is a lot of stupidity that the algorithms push to the top, but it is not boring. It’s like a cotton candy diet instead of vegetables and fresh air which you know is healthier. – So you don’t think Mastodon is the big new thing? – No Unfortunately. I think that is financed by some other kingdoms. I’m rooting for this, but it’s no easy fight, Aalen replies. Few competitors When the acquisition was in order, Musk tweeted “the bird has been released”. His stated vision is fewer restrictions on the platform. Ida Aalen doubts that it is a formula for success. – It is very unlikely that Twitter will continue to be an important platform for discussion and debate if everything becomes legal. Then the regular user will not want to be there, says Aalen. NEW STRATEGY: Elon Musk wants fewer restrictions on Twitter. Until now, the advertisers have been waiting. Photo: ADREES LATIF / Reuters She points out that a handful of Twitter competitors have tried this direction, but that they have not been able to grow. – Only 6 per cent of the American population regularly visit some of the alternative platforms, she says. – The beginning of the end Musk’s strategy has so far been met with a wall of criticism. Although Musk says traffic has never been higher, advertisers are hesitant. The acquisition was described in Fortune magazine as “one of the most overpriced acquisitions in the history of the technology industry”. Right now, Twitter is losing money. – I think it is the beginning of the end, concludes Aalen.
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Twitter alternative has gained half a million new users – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
