Technology

When I entered the journalism program at the University of Texas in 2010, I was instructed by one of the first professors I ever had to start a Twitter account. This was during the glorious dawn of the Web 2.0 revolution—an era of unbridled Obama-era optimism—and as the media made its digitized transition, conventional wisdom said that reporters needed to develop their own bespoke personal brands. Ever since that day, I’ve consistently correlated success with the fluctuating number in my follower count.

Wow. First of all, who starts college in 2010?! Let me tie an onion to my belt before we go further. Okay, secondly, that a professor required them to have a Twitter account is hilarious and makes perfect sense. What most people don't know is "journalism" as is taught in University of Texas and other broadminded institutions of higher learning, is essentially public relations. How to talk like a newscaster. How to write like an advertiser. Why all those studies that television is bad for people are bunk. Etc. Anyway, that's where our author is coming from.

I think that’s why Elon’s reign of terror has been so bitterly ironic: Everything we’ve been taught about Twitter—and, frankly, social media in general—has proven to be an enormous lie.

Well . . . yeah. Poor kid, never even had the chance to see what a sucker deal Twitter was from the outset.

I’m not sure what the curriculum for the University of Texas’ journalism program is today, but I doubt a compulsory X account is still mandated.

I wouldn't be too sure. The journalism program at UT is probably the same as it was in the 80s. In many ways, quite literally.

So what does this mean for the countless people who bought the hype? Who ground away at their Twitter accounts—triangulating pockets of virality until their followers doubled and tripled—putting the almighty bird at the center of their professional and personal aspirations? After all of their years stoking the algorithm, they’re the ones left holding the bag.

Aye, there's the rub. What does it mean for people who bought the hype? Who found out it's a bunch of flaming bullshit? After pouring years into feeding their lives into it?

So as far as the article goes: Pros - well written. Cons - some people never knew twitter was bullshit? What? Ugh.

But there's an interesting implied question - what do Trump people do when they find out everything the guy's ever said is utter bullshit? Well, we know they don't do anything. Sometimes they double-down. But that's part and parcel of modern republiQanism. What do ostensible liberals do when they discover something they believed in is bullshit? Like Twitter?

Indeed.