Users Concerned about Twitter Seek Alternative Services
2022-11-10
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1Twitter has already seen a drop in users since American billionaire Elon Musk bought the social media service last month.
2Some users and experts have expressed concerns about Musk's stated plans to limit existing restrictions on user content.
3Musk has said his goal is to protect the free speech of Twitter users.
4But critics say his plan could increase the amount of harmful content and hate speech appearing on the service.
5Musk also announced plans to start charging Twitter users $8 a month to keep a verified account.
6Bot Sentinel is a company that looks for inauthentic behavior on Twitter.
7It recently estimated the service saw 877,000 accounts deactivated between October 27 and November 1.
8In addition, Bot Sentinel said it identified about 497,000 accounts that had been suspended during the same period.
9The company's findings were reported by MIT Technology Review.
10"We believe the (rise) in deactivations is the result of people upset with Elon Musk purchasing Twitter and deciding to deactivate their accounts in protest,"
11Bot Sentinel chief Christopher Bouzy told the publication.
12Musk himself tweeted that "Twitter user numbers have increased significantly around the world since the deal was announced."
13Musk did not provide exact numbers to support his claim.
14Even if Twitter did lose nearly a million users after Musk's takeover, the social media service still remains huge.
15The company said earlier this year it had more than 238 million active daily users.
16One of the main alternatives to Twitter is a service called Mastodon.
17It was created by German developer Eugen Rochko in 2016.
18Mastodon looks like and operates very similarly to Twitter.
19It lets users post short messages and other content.
20The service does not have advertisements.
21But Mastodon is very different from Twitter because it uses a decentralized system.
22Each user must sign up to an independently operated server.
23The servers are largely run by volunteer administrators who link their systems together.
24Rochko has said one goal of Mastodon is to provide the public with a social media network that does not depend on a centralized organization, like Twitter and Facebook do.
25The service is also designed to provide more privacy protections.
26In a message posted on the service earlier this week, Rochko said Mastodon had reached more than 1 million active users in the days after Musk bought Twitter.
27Ethan Zuckerman is a social media expert at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
28He wrote in a message last week, "I've gotten more new followers on Mastodon in the last week than I have in the previous five years."
29Supporters of Mastodon note that no single company or person can force their will on the whole system or shut it all down.
30For example, they say if an extremist voice appeared on a particular server, it would be easy enough for other servers to cut ties.
31This would leave the account alone on the server with a shrinking group of followers.
32But this shared nature of Mastodon can lead to some issues.
33It is generally harder to find people to follow in Mastodon's unusual system than the centrally administered offerings of Twitter.
34Technical issues can also be more common on Mastodon, especially now that the service is experiencing fast growth.
35The design is also less developed than other services and some users have noted a more difficult sign-up process.
36Content moderation is also a concern to some.
37This is because the process is completely run by server administrators, who get to decide what users are permitted to post.
38Another alternative to Twitter is a service called Cohost, which promises its users their personal data will never be sold.
39Established social networks like Tumblr and the voice-based service Clubhouse have also seen recent rises in popularity.
40A few other start-ups are also gaining attention, including Counter Social and Tribel Social.
41In addition, there are the right-wing offerings such as Gab, Parler and Truth Social, the service launched by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
42I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Twitter has already seen a drop in users since American billionaire Elon Musk bought the social media service last month. 2Some users and experts have expressed concerns about Musk's stated plans to limit existing restrictions on user content. Musk has said his goal is to protect the free speech of Twitter users. But critics say his plan could increase the amount of harmful content and hate speech appearing on the service. 3Musk also announced plans to start charging Twitter users $8 a month to keep a verified account. 4How many people have left Twitter? 5Bot Sentinel is a company that looks for inauthentic behavior on Twitter. It recently estimated the service saw 877,000 accounts deactivated between October 27 and November 1. In addition, Bot Sentinel said it identified about 497,000 accounts that had been suspended during the same period. The company's findings were reported by MIT Technology Review. 6"We believe the (rise) in deactivations is the result of people upset with Elon Musk purchasing Twitter and deciding to deactivate their accounts in protest," Bot Sentinel chief Christopher Bouzy told the publication. 7Musk himself tweeted that "Twitter user numbers have increased significantly around the world since the deal was announced." Musk did not provide exact numbers to support his claim. 8Even if Twitter did lose nearly a million users after Musk's takeover, the social media service still remains huge. The company said earlier this year it had more than 238 million active daily users. 9What alternatives to Twitter exist? 10One of the main alternatives to Twitter is a service called Mastodon. It was created by German developer Eugen Rochko in 2016. Mastodon looks like and operates very similarly to Twitter. It lets users post short messages and other content. The service does not have advertisements. 11But Mastodon is very different from Twitter because it uses a decentralized system. Each user must sign up to an independently operated server. The servers are largely run by volunteer administrators who link their systems together. 12Rochko has said one goal of Mastodon is to provide the public with a social media network that does not depend on a centralized organization, like Twitter and Facebook do. The service is also designed to provide more privacy protections. 13In a message posted on the service earlier this week, Rochko said Mastodon had reached more than 1 million active users in the days after Musk bought Twitter. 14Ethan Zuckerman is a social media expert at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He wrote in a message last week, "I've gotten more new followers on Mastodon in the last week than I have in the previous five years." 15Supporters of Mastodon note that no single company or person can force their will on the whole system or shut it all down. For example, they say if an extremist voice appeared on a particular server, it would be easy enough for other servers to cut ties. This would leave the account alone on the server with a shrinking group of followers. 16But this shared nature of Mastodon can lead to some issues. It is generally harder to find people to follow in Mastodon's unusual system than the centrally administered offerings of Twitter. 17Technical issues can also be more common on Mastodon, especially now that the service is experiencing fast growth. The design is also less developed than other services and some users have noted a more difficult sign-up process. 18Content moderation is also a concern to some. This is because the process is completely run by server administrators, who get to decide what users are permitted to post. 19Another alternative to Twitter is a service called Cohost, which promises its users their personal data will never be sold. 20Established social networks like Tumblr and the voice-based service Clubhouse have also seen recent rises in popularity. 21A few other start-ups are also gaining attention, including Counter Social and Tribel Social. In addition, there are the right-wing offerings such as Gab, Parler and Truth Social, the service launched by former U.S. President Donald Trump. 22I'm Bryan Lynn. 23Bryan Lynn wrote this story for Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and MIT Technology Review. 24_______________________________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26content - n. the information or ideas included in a book, film, on a website, etc. 27verify - v. to prove that something is true 28inauthentic - adj. not real 29upset - adj. angry or unhappy 30significantly - adv. in a way that is large or important enough to be noticed or have an effect 31alternative - n. one of two or more things that you can choose between 32moderate - v. to make sure the rules of an internet discussion are not broken 33right-wing - adj. supporting the ideas of parties on the political right 34__________________________________________________________________ 35What do you think of this story? 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