Are netizens ready for a Twitter meltdown?

Bengalureans from across the fields respond to the chaos faced by the microblogging platform ever since Elon Musk took over it

The RIPTwitter hashtag has been trending for a week with people fearing a complete meltdown of the microblogging platform. Ever since Elon Musk took control of Twitter, the platform has been in a turmoil, with thousands of employees being laid off.

For journalists like Kiran (name changed), the platform is irresistible as he is “constantly engaged by people across the world who are expressing their thoughts on a host of topics”.

A popular opinion is that the platform is for introverts as it “gives a platform for those who don’t open up much”. However Kiran refutes: “On the contrary, a lot of extroverts are hooked to it, just like me. Extroverts cannot stop interacting and there is nonstop interaction on Twitter.”

Instagram or Facebook “cannot provide the same experience as they are mostly visual medium”, he adds.

Celebrities like Kannada film actor Samyukta Hornad “don’t believe that Twitter is going anywhere”. “However, if it does shut down, I would be affected. Twitter is a timeline of all my emotions and important moments in life — be it about my first award, my first love or about my dog, I have written posts on Twitter,” she says.

Samyukta is uncertain about what she would replace it with. “Facebook is almost dead and Instagram has, to some extent, become self-indulgent,” she says.

‘Important platform’

Rajkumar Dugar, founder of community group Citizens for Citizens, predicts a revamp of the platform, adding that there are no signs of Twitter ceasing activity. “My group works on trying to find solutions to issues such as traffic, and access to public transport, among other things. Nowadays, most public representatives and politicians read posts on such initiatives and that helps,” he says.

“If a shutdown does happen, the only alternative would be Koo,” he adds.

‘Irreplaceable’

Water conservation expert Vishwanath S is convinced that Twitter “will continue with some changes”. “It keeps me in touch with old friends from across the globe and those with new ideas,” he says.

‘Curiosity factor, more joiners’

Kamran aka @CitizenKamran actively posts about potholes and roads in the city on Twitter. “Currently the chaos is getting the platform free publicity and even those who didn’t know about the platform are aware about it now,” he adds.

In case of a shutdown, “people would migrate to a new platform”, according to Kamran. “I am on Facebook, Instagram, and Koo,” he says. “Paid blue ticks will be another showoff and ego massage that may attract more people,” he opines.

‘New leadership more damage than good’

Tinu Cherian, a communications professional and head of PR for a global IT company, says he was “one of the early users of the platform starting in 2009”. He hopes that Twitter doesn’t close down.

“It will be a ‘waste of effort’ for many users like me, who have put effort in building followers and ‘social media influence’. It is sad to see what Twitter is going through,” he says.

Tinu is uncertain if the new owner Musk’s intention is to “sink” Twitter, but it “definitely looks like he is doing more damage than any good to the platform”, he adds.

Thinking about alternatives, he says that Koo is promising, but it needs to get widespread acceptance even in India and better UI/performance as well. “It will need to shed the impression that it is supported by right-wing political ideology,” he offers.

What happened?

On Friday, there was a buzz online that Twitter ‘might go down’ due to mass resignations. It was further fuelled by Elon Musk’s cryptic meme on the platform which depicted Twitter buried in a graveyard. The platform went abuzz with several netizens posting memes and more using the #RIPTwitter. On November 20, he posted ‘Twitter is ALIVE’, and it received more than 1.4 million likes, leaving Twitter fans somewhat relieved.