The Age of Social Media Is Ending
It’s all over. Facebook is in decline, while Twitter is in disarray. With its ad business in jeopardy and its metaverse dream in jeopardy, Mark Zuckerberg’s enterprise has lost hundreds of billions of dollars in worth and laid off 11,000 workers. Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter has forced advertisers to withdraw their money and power users to abandon the network (or at least to tweet a lot about doing so). It’s never felt more likely that the age of social media is coming to an end—and soon.
Now that we’ve washed up on this unexpected beach, we can see the shipwreck that brought us here with new eyes. Maybe we can find some solace: Although it became second nature, social media was never a natural way to work, play, or interact. The practice progressed through a strange mutation, one that was so subtle that it was impossible to notice at the moment.
It’s all over. Facebook is in decline, while Twitter is in disarray. With its ad business in jeopardy and its metaverse dream in jeopardy, Mark Zuckerberg’s enterprise has lost hundreds of billions of dollars in worth and laid off 11,000 workers. Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter has forced advertisers to withdraw their money and power users to abandon the network (or at least to tweet a lot about doing so). It’s never felt more likely that the age of social media is coming to an end—and soon.
Now that we’ve washed up on this unexpected beach, we can see the shipwreck that brought us here with new eyes. Maybe we can find some solace: Although it became second nature, social media was never a natural way to work, play, or interact. The practice progressed through a strange mutation, one that was so subtle that it was impossible to notice at the moment.