Philadelphia-based stand-up comedian, Alex Pearlman, found himself waking up to a collapsed portion of Interstate 95, which he believed people needed to know about. In the past, Pearlman would have turned to Twitter to spread the news, but on that particular morning, he decided to make a TikTok video instead, which quickly gained over 2 million views.
A decade ago, Twitter gained popularity by positioning itself as a “global town square,” a platform where anyone could connect with millions of people in an instant. It played a fundamental role in facilitating the Arab Spring protests and the Black Lives Matter movement. Twitter’s new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, recently echoed this characterization, describing the site as “a global town square for communication” in an email to staff.
However, Twitter no longer fulfills this function. Under the ownership of Elon Musk, Twitter has suffered from a series of disastrous missteps that have led to a loss of users and relevance. While Meta’s new Threads app is making a strong debut, most social media experts agree that TikTok has taken over as the new global town square and has held that position for some time now.
“Twitter is definitely no longer anyone’s public square,” said Chris Messina, who recently posted the hashtag #DeadTwitter on Threads. Messina added, “Twitter is Elon Musk’s private playground where he’s about to charge everyone for entry and access #DeadTwitter.”
Since Musk took the helm last fall, he has alienated users with updates that are hostile to the platform’s most active users. He removed Twitter’s legacy check marks, which created doubt and had significant financial consequences for brands that were easily impersonated under the new system. Musk then introduced blue check marks that could be purchased for $8 a month, allowing scammers to dominate replies to popular tweets. Engaging content has been overshadowed by pay-to-play blue check mark replies, some of which promote crypto scams and explicit content.
Musk also flooded the “for you” timeline with his own tweets, pushing away users who were interested in following friends and other topics outside of Musk’s influence.
Ryan Fay, a theater director in Atlanta, expressed his loss of trust in verified accounts, saying, “Before, if I saw someone was verified, they had to have done something notable. Now, I can’t trust anyone claiming to be a journalist with a check mark because they paid for it, and I don’t know if they have any credentials or knowledge. Seeing a blue check now means this person is using Twitter to try to sell me something or run some scam.”
Musk further exacerbated the situation by firing Twitter’s trust and safety team, allowing for a surge in harassment and abuse on the platform. He has also banned prominent journalists and activists, while making derogatory comments against LGBTQ individuals. As if that wasn’t enough, he recently imposed limits on the number of tweets users can read, blocking nonpaying users from accessing more than 600 tweets per day.
These issues have caused users to lose faith in Twitter. Daniel, a 17-year-old high school student from Philadelphia, shared that Twitter is no longer the go-to platform for his generation. “People my age are turning to Instagram and TikTok before Twitter,” he explained.
Twitter’s struggles extend beyond Musk’s ownership. The company has been losing celebrities and high-profile figures in entertainment and media for years as they migrate to visually-focused platforms. Additionally, Twitter has faced challenges in retaining younger users.
Twitter’s main struggle lies in its outdated follow-based network structure. Users must manually seek out others to follow, and if a user has no followers, it becomes difficult to be heard. On the other hand, TikTok delivers content through a sophisticated algorithmic feed, allowing even users with zero followers to reach millions with their initial video.
TikTok also offers users a vast amount of information in each short video. “People on TikTok are consuming much more content compared to Twitter,” noted Daniel, the high school senior. “TikTok presents multiple things that interest you.”
Walid Mohammed, founder of marketing agency Bread Winners Club, now prefers TikTok as his primary source of news and entertainment. He explained, “I used to rely on Google, then on Twitter, and now I use TikTok for information and news.”
Teenagers claim that popular memes and catchphrases emerge first on TikTok and only reach Twitter weeks later. This delay has made Twitter feel less culturally relevant. Neeraj K. Agrawal, director of communications at Coin Center and a heavy Twitter user, described Twitter as “the place where us boomers talk about what the kids are up to on TikTok.”
Amanda J Feuerman, an adjunct instructor in social media marketing at UCLA, highlighted Twitter’s failure to attract younger generations, while TikTok has become “a trusted source for information” for them. She added, “You have a whole new generation of news influencers being invited to the White House. Biden certainly isn’t inviting Twitter influencers to the White House. I think this lends credibility to TikTok.”
For a significant period, Twitter served as the go-to platform for government officials and public figures to communicate and reach their constituents. However, TikTok has also taken over this role. For example, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro turned to TikTok to share updates on the I-95 bridge collapse, collaborating with news influencers to provide real-time information about the incident and the government’s response.
Annie Newman, Shapiro’s director of digital strategy, acknowledged the changing landscape of community engagement and information sources. She stated, “Reaching people where they are requires a proactive, all-of-the-above approach… we’re going to keep engaging directly with Pennsylvanians where they are — whether it’s their local newspaper or their favorite TikTokers.”
Grant Goodman, an actor in Georgia, mentioned that people now send him more TikToks than tweets. “I receive TikToks about geography, law, politics, entertainment, and more,” he said. “There’s a lot of interesting, knowledgeable individuals covering various topics that I used to depend on Twitter for.”
Goodman believes that Musk’s chaotic changes have rendered Twitter unusable. He explained, “Since the Elon Musk takeover, I see all these terrible people in my feed. The worst replies are now prioritized at the top.”
Meme accounts are also migrating away from Twitter. The owner of @RightWingCope, an anonymous Twitter account documenting right-wing internet trends, mentioned receiving more links to political TikToks than tweets. He sees this as a sign of TikTok becoming a new hub for politics, stating, “People are communicating political stories more through TikTok than ever before. A TikTok video is much more engaging and digestible than reading a Twitter thread.”
Twitter used to be a platform for pop culture and comedy, but the surge in hate speech and harassment under Musk’s leadership has permanently altered its tone. Comedian Alex Falcone noted, “Twitter no longer has that sense of community and playfulness.”
While Twitter may still have its loyal user base, it’s evident that TikTok has taken over as the new global town square. Twitter’s failure to adapt to younger generations and its emphasis on pay-to-play features have led users to seek alternative platforms like TikTok for news, information, and entertainment. Whether Twitter can reclaim its relevance remains to be seen.
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