[Air-L] What if Twitter Ceased to Exist?

[S.A. Applin]

Hello, 

You raise an interesting point, but I would modify it:


Twitter did cease to exist. For all of human history until 2006.
For many, it doesn’t exist. There are a lot of people who don’t use it.

I think the interesting part of the story here, is how/why we embraced something like Twitter.

When the telephone first came to be, people saw universal value in its infrastructure. 
Governments got involved to insure that people would have equal access.

It endured.

Twitter is like a utility, but it isn’t a utility. It’s more like a directory/utility—and it is private.

I’m curious as to  why we invest so deeply in systems that are privately owned, and are subjected to the same openings and closings as any business—and how people just were in either collective denial about that, or could not forsee a time when it would change.

-Sally 


> On Nov 7, 2022, at 4:47 AM, John McNutt via Air-L <air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
> 
> While I do not think this is likely, what would happen if Twitter folded?
> If you've been studying technology for some time, you have seen many
> platforms come and go.
> 
> What would we lose?  How would we adapt?  Would it lead to a proliferation
> of new platforms?  It's worth thinking about.
> 
> Just a thought,  Best, John
> 
> -- 
> John McNutt, Professor Emeritus
> Biden Scholl
> University of Delaware
> Newark, DE 19716 USA
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