As Twitter continues to fragment here in mid-2023, so many of its users continue scattering to the would-be replacement or otherwise alternative social media platforms. But I see a pretty common refrain among many folks I follow - whether on Mastodon or Bluesky. Some flavor of:
How am I going to rebuild my audience?
I get it. For journalists, writers, photographers, or other media personalities (or even folks who gained a following simply for their actual social media content) it feels like a critical problem. Where do you put your "posting energy" (I just threw up in my mouth a little...), or do you have to do 2x, or even 3x the work to reach even a fraction of your former audience? Additionally (and crucially on Bluesky lately), why put energy into rebuilding an audience somewhere that will allow the same kinds of abuse and bigotry that Twitter failed to stamp out (and readmitted under Musk)?
But like, what about a normie like me? I also want a place that doesn't tolerate abuse or bigotry, but I don't have an audience, let alone one to rebuild. I just want a stable place where I can get some form of what I got out of Twitter. Joking with my friends. Updates from local agencies/policy people. And yeah, even following a number of those folks with audience concerns.
I guess I can't have what I want unless enough of the "audience" people find what they want, and maybe that’s just another reason why the age of a few social network giants is in flux, if not falling apart.