Thought Slime did a breakdown of the timeline, for folks who want more details, and I recommend checking it out.
But what does that have to do with creators in general, and authors specifically? Well, I'm glad you asked, Internet, because thanks to this one obscenely wealthy jerk, a lot of us have taken a colossal hit regarding how we earn our livelihoods.
Before we get into the nitty gritty this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Lastly, to be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree!
When Rich People Flap Their Wings, Creators Get Screwed
There's a lot of folks out there who probably think Twitter is stupid. That it's a useless platform they see no value in, and that the idea of some rich guy tanking huge parts of his fortune just to buy the blue bird site before ruining it and losing his investment is pretty funny. And on the one hand, I can see that perspective. However, there is another perspective that I think more people should understand. One that, if this affected you or someone you love, you would be profoundly angry about. The sort of angry they write coal miner protests songs about, where the strikers pass around ammunition and picket lines become firing lines.
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| We could use some more songs like that for the digital age. Just saying. |
Now, Twitter has never been one of the top dogs in social media. It's been one of the top 10 sites out there, but it doesn't have the reach of Facebook, LinkedIn, or even Reddit despite all the times it shows up on the news. However, for all the negatives and hurdles it presented, Twitter was a reliable place for people to find and build communities. This is particularly true for authors, RPG creators, and other types of creative professionals. There are some people who had tens of thousands of followers on Twitter, and who used it as the preferred way to interact with fellow professionals, or to get word out about their latest releases. In some cases people had put years of careful effort into building up their following there. I've personally spent the past year and a half trying to build my following there, and I was just about to hit the 2k mark. Some of the folks I know who are more active there have audiences in the 10k and 25k range of followers.
And now all of that time and energy has been kicked in the teeth just because some guy with more money than sense bought the website as a flex, and has proceeded to piledrive it straight into the ground.
So all of that investment put in by hundreds (if not thousands) of creators? A lot of it is bleeding out as Twitter hemorrhages users. In the short-term this means that they're losing the ability to reach people, which means they are losing the ability to sell books, and pay their bills. Long-term, these same creators now have to dedicate whole swaths of new energy to completely rebuilding and retooling their market approach to try to get on a new platform. Which can be extra hard, given that the strategies that worked on Twitter aren't likely to work on Facebook, Discord, Hive, Mastodon, or any of the other places folks are being forced to go.
This Wasn't a Wildfire. This Was Arson.
Platforms die, and empires crumble, that is the way of the Internet. However, Twitter didn't die due to changes in environment, or some organic evolution of the digital space around it. It is actively being killed by the buffoon in charge who seems bound and determined to cause as many problems for everyone as he possibly can. From firing important members of the staff, to refusing work-at-home policies for disabled employees, to not paying rent as a cost-cutting measure, the ever-lengthening list is getting cartoonish at this point.
Will Twitter continues to exist in some form? Maybe. If it doesn't, will other websites rise to take its place? Sure, eventually. However, if you're just trying to run a business, and the new landlord drives a truck through your shopfront before setting everything on fire, and then turning around to take a leak on the ashes, you're well within your rights to be pissed off about these circumstances. Especially because after doing all that, the jerk has the audacity to demand that you start paying rent for the digital real estate he's actively destroying.
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| Now that I've ripped out those support beams there's so much ROOM in here! |
There was no reason for this to happen. But it has. And people who are stuck in this one-man-made disaster need what anyone caught in a serious catastrophe needs... help.
So if you hear creators struggling to get back on their feet, and you like what they do, help them out as best you can. If you have the budget to support, pledge to Patreon or buy them a Ko-Fi. If you don't have a budget, follow them on the social media platforms they've migrated to. Share their posts to help spread the word, leave comments, and do what you can to get them noticed again.
This isn't a matter of, "You just need to work harder!" That's what Musk said to the remaining programmers after he fired half the staff as overhead. These creators already did the work... now they need help rebuilding. Otherwise it's very possible their stores, projects, channels, and more are simply going to cease to be.
Something to keep in mind.
If You'd Like To Start With Me...
For folks who've stumbled across this post, and would like to help me haul myself up a rung or two, here's a handy list of the places you can go where your efforts would be much appreciated!
- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)
- My Daily Motion Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)
And if you happen to have some spare dosh lying around, consider become a Patreon patron, or leaving a tip by Buying Me a Ko-Fi!
Like, Follow, and Stay Tuned!
That's all for this week's Business of Writing!
If you'd like to see more of my work, take a look at my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife as well as my recent collection The Rejects!
If you'd like to help support my work, then consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi, or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page! Lastly, to keep up with my latest, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well!
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