Oh, what a time to be alive! In an absolutely earth-shattering decision, Australia’s national broadcaster, ABC, has proclaimed it’s shutting down nearly all of its Twitter accounts. Apparently, changes at the app under the oh-so-delicate touch of Elon Musk’s leadership have made Twitter seem “not worth it.” More like, “not worth the tweets,” am I right?
You see, ABC, the savior of regional Australians and a beacon of news, has been feeling rather unloved on Twitter. Why bother with a platform that once defined the real-time news world when TikTok, the place of deep intellectual discourse, is forecasted to grow over the next four years? Goodbye, Twitter, and hello to dance moves and filters!
According to ABC’s profoundly enlightening statement:
“We want to focus our effort and resources on where our audiences are.”
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Earlier in the year, ABC did a test run, closing some of its largest Twitter accounts. It seems this resulted in more traffic to other profiles. Groundbreaking. It’s almost as if they discovered that focusing resources on platforms where they have more engagement might actually work!
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But here’s the kicker:
“Closing individual program accounts helps limit the exposure of team members to toxic interactions on Twitter.”
Toxic interactions? On the internet? Say it isn’t so!
Under Musk’s fearless leadership, Twitter has reduced trust and safety teams, leaving the journalists exposed to cruel words and ruthless trolls. How shocking that the same platform where Musk himself loves to play “tweet-battle” with critics might allow for some extreme online interactions!
What’s more, Twitter is now introducing charges for Premium accounts. At $8 a pop, it’s clearly an outrageous sum for ABC’s 56 regional offices and their individual Twitter accounts. This is obviously the end of the world as we know it.
So, what does this minor change mean for Twitter? For a start, it might actually mean that Twitter could lose its place as the top source for live updates. The horror! If more reporters switch to Threads, will the Twitter bird lose its wings?
Under Musk, Twitter seems focused on becoming something “different.” Maybe something more like a digital circus? A place for video content and expanding into new, uncharted territories of memes and GIFs? Losing its place as the top source for live updates may not seem a big deal for Twitter. Or is it?
Either way, ABC’s departure from Twitter is like a gentle breeze on a hot summer day – mostly refreshing but hardly noticed by most.
Source: Social media today.
