Sensing an imminent breakdown, communities mourn a bygone Twitter – NPR

For a website with a user base known for its use of humor and irony during dark times, the tone on Twitter lately has been noticeably sentimental. Gregory Bull/AP hide caption toggle caption Gregory Bull/AP For a website with a user base known for its use of humor and irony during dark times, the tone on Twitter lately has been noticeably sentimental. Gregory Bull/AP Twitter’s recent trending hashtags, like #RIPTwitter and #TwitterDown, have signaled a virtual wake for the website as if it were already dead. Users on the site have been steadily eulogizing the social network in the chaotic days since Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform. But the death knell sounded louder by Thursday, which saw yet another exodus from what’s left of Twitter’s workforce. That night, the top five Twitter trends in the U.S. all related to what people see as the imminent end of the site as they know it. Among the flood of tributes, a consensus has emerged about what makes the platform worth mourning: Twitter has been a uniquely accessible space where otherwise marginalized groups have felt heard and built community. Twitter has, for years, been a go-to site for news, advocacy, entertainment and
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