Ask HN: Are there viable alternatives to Twitter?

18 pointsvaguetruth3y ago22 comments

22 comments

Just posted it here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31160302

I still don't get what Twitter's value proposition is. What do you get out of it as a consumer?

I remember how Twitter started. It was this obscure alternative to RSS feeds, that many news channels suddenly started pushing (why?). I remember how they would actively include a segment in nightly news on talking about what has been posted on Twitter, back when it wasn't really anything newsworthy. It did not seem like organic growth to me.

nabaraz3y ago

- Breaking News - FinTwit - If you are into investing and trading - Almost everyone is on Twitter. I follow some interesting people on philosophy, art, painting, cyber security etc. - Memes

If you spend some time and mute all the politics, it is a must-have media.

Jaruzel3y ago

I'm not endorsing it at all, but on Twitter at the moment people seem to be talking about https://counter.social

FalconSensei3y ago

Depends, what you want in the alternative that Twitter is lacking, or what's on Twitter that you don't want on the alternative?

I use Mastodon as a secondary social network. But way less than Twitter

sodality23y ago

Mastodon, scuttlebutt

rvz3y ago

Other than Facebook and Instagram, There are no serious or viable alternatives to Twitter

smt883y ago

I'm not sure why I'd want or need one. Socializing with (often hostile) strangers has always been the worst part of social media to me, and Twitter is almost exclusively that.

georgehill3y ago

but why?

I don't understand why people are upset with Elon's takeover

srameshc3y ago

I am sure many people don't like Elon and that a billionaire who isn't so nice at times is going to control a platform they love.

adrianwaj3y ago

People want to keep doge off their screens.

aaaaaaaaata3y ago

DOGE is a problem, but global warming pariah BTC, and WEF project ETH are fine?

firebaze3y ago

Supposing this is about Elon Musk buying twitter, what specifically are you afraid of?

McLaren_Ferrari3y ago

People want to be able to criticize Enron Musk without being doxxed or worse. He has done it in the past and didn't even own twitter back then, so it's only logical to think that there'll be a huge collection of info on critcs.

He's the most thin skinned person in the world, takes everything personally and he's all around mentally unstable.

Also Musk PR dept. will be able to leverage twitter infrastructure.

Basically what Putin wants to do with Ukraine, Musk will do with Twitter, it's only natural that the digital outflow of people is going to replicate the real one we are seeing in Eastern Europe.

People are repulsed by autocrats. And if they have an opportunity, they leave. It's a win-win because it both improves one's life and diminishes the relevance of the autocrat.

whatisanaccount3y ago

> Basically what Putin wants to do with Ukraine, Musk will do with Twitter

This is your brain on propaganda folks

Blackstrat3y ago

Today’s Twitter is left wing biased and a vast purveyor of false information. Musk can’t make it any worse.

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