The transformation of social media through commercialization and the nature of open media
Elon Musk’s statement that he was considering charging a small fee to combat bots led to speculation that Twitter, renamed X, would be paid for all users. Still, that was not his intention in the end, and the row seems to be settled for the moment.
Nevertheless, we can say with certainty that as long as Twitter is an open medium run by a private company, it will not look how users expect it to look.
Contents
Two aspects
Twitter’s specification for posting and forwarding short messages is an idea by founder Jack Dorsey in 2006. It quickly gained popularity when demonstrated at an event in Austin, Texas in 2007.11. Courtney Boyd Myers, ‘5 years ago today Twitter launched to the public’, The Next Web, 15 July 2011 (retrieved on 23 September 2023). It has since become a significant medium for conveying first-hand reports of disasters and incidents and for creating buzz.
Twitter, Inc. developed its advertising business from 2012 onwards, starting with opening an office in Detroit. However, the company was hardly profitable compared to its name recognition, and accumulated losses expanded. It is assumed the reason is the limitations of targeted advertising, which no longer contributes to gaining recognition, owing to the segmentation of tastes. The elimination of harmful accounts and selection of content, which the company aimed to improve the credibility of Twitter as an advertising medium, not only increased labour costs but also led to frequent unintentional freezing of even general accounts. It has also made users suspect that the medium is being operated arbitrarily.
The above history reveals two aspects of the medium: it is both a short-text-based community and an advertising medium. And it can be seen how the former function, which the founders initially envisaged, was undermined in trying to achieve the commercial aims of the latter.
Turns advertising tool for enterprises into for influencers
This trend has not changed after the acquisition by Elon Musk. In anticipation of improved profitability, Musk is enhancing the functionality of the paid subscription service X Premium, formerly Twitter Blue. Features include account verification marks, priority display of posts, and reduced character limits. A competitor, Facebook operator Meta, is following suit.
A spokesperson for Meta told The Wall Street Journal that the paid service aims to ‘help up-and-coming creators grow their presence and build community faster’.22. Alexandra Bruell, ‘Facebook parent launching “Meta Verified” subscription service’, The Wall Street Journal, 19 February 2023 (retrieved on 23 September 2023). In short, the shift in business model to a user-pays model has ultimately meant that the source of revenue has merely replaced companies with individuals involved in the content business, so-called influencers.
Initially, social media was supposed to be set up for users to interact with each other. However, operators inevitably must differentiate advertisers or paying users from other users in the commercialization process. As a result, the pooled crowd of accounts is forced to revert to a mere spectator as an advertising audience. Such difference in perception of social media—one wants to interact, and the other wishes to monetize—lies at the root of the uproar over complete charge.
Decentralization cannot be a solution
Based on these reflections, Jack Dorsey is developing a new social medium that does not rely on a single platform applying current e-mail mechanisms. Several other similar services are emerging. However, these mechanisms may not solve the current problems of Twitter.
Indeed, the commercialization of social media has led to its transformation into an advertising medium. But fundamentally speaking, we cannot ignore the property of open media. As the example of mischief videos, the motive to gain recognition is always at work in open communication. Decentralized social media is not exempt from this inclination.
It would be little more than a mailing list even if it were possible to transfer accounts to other platforms. Suppose large networks such as Twitter are opened up to decentralization protocols. In that case, the current challenges will be accelerated rather than eased, just as the e-mail newsletters in the inbox are mostly spam.
1. Courtney Boyd Myers, ‘5 years ago today Twitter launched to the public’, The Next Web, 15 July 2011 (retrieved on 23 September 2023).
2. Alexandra Bruell, ‘Facebook parent launching “Meta Verified” subscription service’, The Wall Street Journal, 19 February 2023 (retrieved on 23 September 2023).