Lifewire: Why Twitter users are flocking to Mastodon

UC social media expert Jeffrey Blevins on the alternatives to Twitter

In a Lifewire article, it’s said that social platforms such as Mastodon have added about 30,000 new users in the hours after the Twitter sale.

Twitter, however, might be too entrenched in the social media sphere to be abandoned by users, says Jeffrey Blevins, who heads UC’s Department of Journalism.

The main advantage of Twitter is that it is established, he said, adding that “it’s also easier to build a large group of followers on Twitter because most people have their accounts set to be public (unlike Facebook, for instance, where you have to accept someone's friend request to see their activity).

"Also, because of the hashtag function on Twitter, it's easier to search and comment on specific topics across networks; that is, people outside of your own group of followers, or accounts that you follow," Blevins said.

Read the article  

Featured image at top of Jeffrey Blevins. Photo/UC Ceative + Brand/Colleen Kelly. 

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