Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems. And today we bring you a special episode in which we will only talk about a very big problem: Twitter.
2023 will go down in history as the year Elon Musk ended Twitter. First, he went big by buying the company, laying off most of the employees, and destabilizing the platform; then he did it in a small but important and symbolic way by changing the name of the company to X and trying to completely break with what came before.
Now that the story of the company called Twitter is officially over, it seemed important to stop and ask: what was Twitter anyway, and why were so many powerful people obsessed with it for so long?
Whom the edge, we don't usually look back; After all, we are a site about the future. But sometimes it's important to stop, mark a moment, and consider why a technology or tool made us all feel a certain way. And Twitter certainly demands that level of consideration.
The important thing to know about Twitter is that its leaders never really understood the platform, especially in the beginning. Twitter users were where all his best ideas came from, so labels to technology-49113278″>retweet. It was the users who made Twitter a home for both absurd humor and main social movements. Twitter users also made it the beating heart of the news industry, where news almost always broke first and quickly and where journalists and their blue ticks became part of a new social class that dominated online conversation. , for better or worse.
And, fittingly, it was Twitter users who finally killed it. Twitter's fundamental story is defined by two of its most dedicated power users: Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Both men were addicted to Twitter, they defined it, changed it, broke it, and finally put it to rest. What remains now and what will come next remains an open question.
To break this all down and make sense of it, I spoke to two people with extensive experience in media, Twitter, and how they interact.
Marty Baron is the former executive editor of Washington Post. He led the newspaper during the Trump administration, when two different challenges reached a fever pitch. The first was that of President Trump. use of Twitter waging an almost daily information war. And second was the battle between individual journalists building their brands on Twitter and the needs of the newspaper as an institution.
Watch the episode and wait for more. Decoder episodes like this in 2024. We're working to bring you second episodes of the show each week that provide more analysis, storytelling, and interviews. Stay tuned.
