Twitter had a very rough 2023, and I only hope 2024 is the year that finally kills it

SoftwarePlatformsTwitter had a very rough 2023, and I only hope 2024 is the year that finally kills itWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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Workers remove the Twitter logo and name from the company�s headquarters in San Francisco following its rebranding.

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I know what you’re thinking: Why does any of this rolling clownshow matter to PC Gamer dot com? You come here to read reviews and get yourGorbachevs ranked, dammit, not to hear about what happened with some rinky-dink and eternally collapsing social media website in 2023.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Elon Musk leaves the September 2023 Senate bipartisan Artificial Intelligence (AI) Insight Forum in Washington, DC. He’s making just an awful face.

Well, it matters because Twitter is important. To gaming too. Yes, I hate to say it as much as you hate to hear it, but the fact is the site is still my go-to for breaking news, to follow journalists and academics, and to see the funniest and smartest people in the world be funny and smartfor free. For games in particular, it’s still the first place I check in the morning to see what the day’s news is, it’s where devs congregate and journos network, it’s where studios post their templated apologies and where modders post about their creations.

If you have any professional or personal interest in what this industry is doing, whether positive or negative, it can be difficult to look away.

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(Image credit: Getty Images)

A phone showing the premium subscription menu in the Twitter/X mobile app. The screen reads, “Premium subscribers with a verified phone number will get a blue tick once approved.” The X logo is visible behind.

Have you ever heard of theAbilene paradox? It’s the name for the phenomenon where a group of people embark on a course of action thatnone of themactually want, and I’m pretty sure it’s what everyone still on Twitter is stuck in right now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the site as animated as it was when Musk floated the idea earlier this year ofcharging users to tweet. Finally, we all seemed to think, something to force us all to make the jump away from Twitter at once, rather than waiting indefinitely for everyone else to go first.Let’s hope he either goes through with it or sells the site, because I’m pretty sure we’re all going to end up sticking around like frogs in boiling water unless some kind of hard, concrete barrier is actually put in front of us at this point, just letting every new awful thing crust into place around us while we focus on whatever’s left that’s still interesting or funny or true. But those things can be interesting, funny, or true on any number of competing services (find me on Hive! Remember Hive?) with the advantage that they aren’t afloat in a sea of sexbots, Nazis, and one big, billionaire manchild.

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