Pew Research Center: ‘Majority of U.S. Twitter Users Say They’ve Taken a Break From the Platform in the Past Year’

Pew Research Center:

A majority of Americans who have used Twitter in the past year report taking a break from the platform during that time, and a quarter say they are not likely to use it a year from now, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted about five months after billionaire Elon Musk acquired the site.

The saving grace for Twitter might be that people don’t always follow through with what they tell pollsters. They might answer honestly with what they think they’ll do, or should do, but they don’t really know what they will do. Commission a poll in December and ask people how many books they plan to read next year, or how often they plan to hit the gym, for example.

But with that caveat out of the way, this survey is pretty damning. A lot of Twitter users no longer enjoy Twitter, and Twitter is meant for enjoyment. Musk’s only hope is that people will continue using Twitter even if they don’t enjoy it, and I don’t see that happening. Facebook gets away with that to a large extent because so many people feel obligated to use it to stay in touch with family and friends. Twitter doesn’t carry any sense of obligation.

★ Wednesday, 17 May 2023