this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2024
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Summary

Stephen King announced his departure from X (formerly Twitter), calling the platform “too toxic” and urging followers to join him on Threads.

King has frequently clashed with X owner Elon Musk over verification charges and political disputes, including Musk’s support for Donald Trump.

Other entities, including The Guardian, German football club St Pauli, and actor Jamie Lee Curtis, have also left the platform, citing concerns over toxic content, misinformation, and hate speech.

Rival platforms like Threads and Bluesky are gaining traction, with Bluesky reporting nearly 15 million users globally.

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[–] [email protected] 125 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Better late than never for all of these people, I guess.

Sunk cost fallacy hits people hard.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

I wish people would have left earlier as well, but it's not just sunk cost fallacy. Network effects are a rational reason to stay, and that's the issue. If he has a community, he loses the community. I get it.

That's why I wish celebrities would coordinate and all leave at once - it's far more likely their network will follow them in that case, both hurting X more and helping themselves more, and accelerating people leaving as the network effects disappear on X.

The physics metaphor applies pretty directly here: They need to create momentum to counteract inertia.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (3 children)

That’s why I wish celebrities would coordinate and all leave at once

I think that's a herding cats issue. Especially when you're dealing with a bunch of people with big egos. But it would be nice.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

SAG making a push for union members to leave it would definitely help.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not a terrible idea. I wonder what Fran Drescher's position on the election is? I'm betting she's not a big Elon fan as a union president.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

You hear that, @frandrescher? Head over to Bluesky and/or Mastodon and take your minions with you!

Note: I have no idea how to Twitter.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yeah, for sure. But there's been trends set off without explicit coordination in the past, especially where there's an unspoken, unacknowledged pressure built up over time.

I suspect many both celebs and normies are ready to leave, and they're waiting for an excuse, a signal that they won't be leaving alone and losing those networks. If Taylor Swift does it, and then some movie star follows, and so on, it can organically cascade.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

Big celebrities won't really be hurt by moving. It's the small and medium names.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago

A year ago that might have meant something. Now it's too late.

[–] jballs 11 points 1 week ago

Sunk cost fallacy hits people hard.

It's true. I never deleted my reddit posts and comments because I spent like 13 years with that account. A part of my brain says "don't delete those, you might need them later." It's like a natural hording instinct.

[–] [email protected] 66 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Anything but Mastodon/Activitypub, eh? These fellas rlly love sucking on corporate dicks, don't they

[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 week ago (3 children)

It really boggles my mind the cognitive dissonance of everybody constantly complaining about corporations screwing them over, then refusing to use the obvious solution to their problems.

[–] [email protected] 68 points 1 week ago (6 children)

I can absolutely believe that an old guy like Stephen King has never even heard of Mastodon. It's not like there's a big Mastodon PR team being paid to advertise its existence.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I can totally believe that he didn't know about mastodon, but even Bluesky is like a reasonable platform. Threads... I see literally no upside to using threads. It's on a timer from the beginning to turn into another X. Just look at how long Facebook has been a cesspool of Nazi propaganda.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I've been using Bluesky for a couple of days and I honestly think it's okay. I'm not big on microblogging in general, but I can follow just my long-distance friends and no one else and only have to see other people's crap if one of my friends shares it. So that's nice. My only issue with Mastodon was one of the same ones I had with Twitter- if I followed people I was interested in but didn't know, my feed just got too busy for me.

But that seems to work for a lot of people?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

Mastodon is like Costco. They don’t advertise much.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Someone should tell him

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

Look, this time Leopards Multiglobal, Inc will not eat our faces!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

We're here for fun. Celebs are on social media as part of their brand. It's them doing business, and they're going to use what the feel will reach the largest audience with the least effort on their part, and something with corporate backing likely has customer support for moderation, hacking, and whatever else. They're not here for a digital revolution, they're here to keep their name and income stream out there.

I imagine it's the same reasoning why a business will pay for Red Hat when they could run Linux for free. It may or may not be the best option, but they feel it offers tangible benefits.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

This is absolutely correct. And these businesses are typically paying employees to manage these social accounts so there is financial risk with choosing one that's not going to result in revenue. Why market on a platform with no audience or backing?

I'm not saying I like it, but that is indeed how things work.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

Yup, I just replied to another comment, what's so bad about having a place that's just regular people? I enjoy having my comments actually read here and getting to know some of you to some level. I'd lose interest in this place if it turned into new Twitter. I can't compete with Taylor or Beyonce or whoever the flavor of the week is. We can have both platforms if we so choose, so why wreck one for the sake of another?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Although federated social media has the "chicken or egg" problem with content and attracting users, I'm content with places like Lemmy and Mastodon staying the small size they are right now for a little longer.

Sure, I definitely miss content from other platforms from time to time. But I think your comment about businesses and celebrities rings true. I'm happy to be clear of the grifters and influencers for as long as possible.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Attitudes like yours certainly isn't attracting any new users...

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Mastodon is a far worse experience than Twitter and Bluesky, it's not a 1:1 transition.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

There is a slight learning curve to Mastodon. Is there a method for verifying accounts? Honest question there. I signed up for Mastodon years ago but I used it as often as I used Twitter which is to say never.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Twitter to Threads is like leaving Derry for Jerusalem's Lot.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

Hey, I get these references!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

So it's like moving from Salem's Lot to a house near the town of Ludlow, along a busy highway with a pet cemetery nearby?

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 week ago (1 children)

He has a Bluesky account already, and has posted...some.

Everyone I've seen (mostly in the tech space) seems to say that Threads feels soulless. I follow a few people there from my Masto account (yay, federation), and that's all fine and dandy. But I don't know if I'd trust Zuck in the long run since he already seems to be kissing the ring.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yes, kissing the ring for sure. I knew Zuck was gone as soon as he called Trump "badass" and that he "couldn't vote for a democrat" after the first assassination attempt.

Dude stood there and by his luck the bullet missed. This wasn't some courageous action, this was "standing there until the secret service tackled me." What exactly was "badass" about it?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

But you see raising his fist for applause was totally not narcissistic and was actually retroactive courage!!

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I've been calling it the Roman numeral for ten site formerly known as twitter. Are people just abbreviating this to 'X' now?

[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I've just been calling it twitter

I'll never deadname a person, but I'll deadname the shit out of a bigoted transphobic crybaby billionaire's shitty website.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Just make "X" catch on as a popular Euphemism for "Trans."

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

Please don’t, thanks

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I've been calling it Xitter, the X is pronounced sh

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Yep, and each post is a Xit, still pronounced with the mandarin X.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago

Formerly known as? It's still twitter.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 week ago

Bro should’ve went to Mastodon.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

If you're on Bluesky, maybe bombarding him with followers there would shift him in that direction https://bsky.app/profile/stephenking.bsky.social

Edit: For the record...
https://www.threads.net/@stephenking 268K followers
https://bsky.app/profile/stephenking.bsky.social 223.9K followers
https://x.com/StephenKing 7M Followers

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Also, good guy St. Pauli. They are also currently transforming into a co-op which is unique in German soccer. TRAILBLAZERS!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago

Sai King has left Twitter, so he has.

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