What on earth has been going on with Twitter since Elon’s takeover? It’s no surprise that Twitter has been complete chaos since Elon Musk bought the company towards the end of October. Here’s a rundown on the situation and what charity communicators can do to navigate the uncertainty around the platform’s future.
What happened again?
There’s been an air of uncertainty surrounding the app since Musk bought Twitter. This is mostly from the confusion caused by job cuts, office closures, and many app features being erased and then resurrected.
Many Twitter users have sought out other forms of social media, mainly to escape Musk’s weakened community guidelines, and to get ahead of the potential downfall of the platform.
But, there’s no replacement as of yet for the political and media ecosystem that is Twitter – an ecosystem that many charities rely on for advocacy campaigns, raising awareness, maintaining media relations and fundraising.
So, what does this mean for charities?
It’s a tough one for sure – especially in the run up to Christmas where fundraising asks are high, ads can be crucial for reach, and the digital space is at its busiest. The Catnip Comms team help charities with their social strategy every day and we suggest you:
- Continue posting organic content for any campaigns you have going. People are still using Twitter as ‘normal’ at the moment – so keep asking for your audience’s continued support.
- Talk to your audiences on Twitter about what support they need from you as an organisation. Some organisations have been conducting polls on which alternative social media platforms their audience are fleeing to, to help them plan ahead. Checking in with audiences and communities to ask, as well as watching to see what they are saying and where they might be going is vital.
- Keep an eye on what’s happening. The news on this takeover is turbulent with updates almost daily, so be prepared for the worst – even if we all hope that never comes. Matt Navara is a good person to follow on Twitter for these.
Building up your community on other platforms
We recommend keeping your other online communities thriving while we wait to see what happens with Twitter. Build up your audiences and communities on other platforms so you’re not overly reliant on Twitter – that way, if it falls, you won’t fall with it.
As well as cultivating your existing social communities, have a look into other similar platforms that you could move your organisation to. Proving popular at the moment is Mastodon – a “decentralised social network” consisting of different communities built with a focus on privacy and safety. Others include Tribel Social, Cohost and Counter Social.
That being said, many journalists are still on Twitter and it’s still key for media relations and advocacy, so while being aware of the potential fall, it’s still fairly BAU for now.
Navigating the future
Sadly, the influx of change at Twitter means it’s almost impossible to strategise the next step – apart from ‘wait and see’. But, for now, we’re optimistic that Twitter will remain a solid platform throughout this disorder. We recommend using these resources to help you navigate what’s to come:
- Should I stay or should I go? – Charities Against Hate
- Exploring the alternatives to Twitter – Charity Digital
- How to back up your organisation’s Twitter data – Digital Charity Lab
- What happens to your Twitter data now that Elon’s taken over – Vox
- The ridiculous but important Twitter check mark fiasco, explained – Vox
For more on the topic of digital comms check out CharityComms’ Charity Digital Conference content – soon to be available on demand.