You might not have heard it, but Twitter got a new owner one and a half years ago or so. Since then many unpleasant things happened on and around Twitter. (Well, some folks like the new direction.)
So here goes my question: Should the IFTF and IFComp 2025 change from Twitter to LiberaChat? And no matter if you say Yes or No, tell the reason why.
Please keep the discussion relaxed and polite.
I found the following discussion about individual IF people leaving Twitter, but that’s not my question:
They’ve had a Mastodon account since the Musk buyout, and my sense is it’s their primary social media channel these days (I’m not on Twitter much to confirm).
I’m not sure what LiberaChat is but from a quick search it looks like it’s an IRC-focused thing which seems like an awkward fit? I could see an argument for BlueSky now that it seems to be taking off, but I’m not sure whether there are a ton of IFers there specifically, and adding a whole other social channel for speculative benefits doesn’t seem that urgent a need to me. But I’m not a big social media person so definitely would defer to others with more informed views!
Social media platforms definitely appear to have a limited lifespan of usefulness to users. No one now would be strongly arguing for IFTF to try and forge a Facebook presence. Twitter is probably in long term decline as it enters its enshittification period, but for now while there are still a good lot of people there, there’s no harm in keeping up general announcements on the associated accounts.
Yeah, I know they have a Mastodon account. I mentioned LiberaChat because many projects have changed from Twitter to it. My idea is that the IFTF gets rid of Twitter/X totally. But I can understand if some people consider Twitter/X ok. (I don’t.)
I’m with @Joey on this. Twitter/X is definitely in decline. My personal “conspiracy” is that Musk was forced to “buy it” to try to save it, or at least to slow its demise.
I don’t think anyone is going to take the IFTF having a Xitter account as any particular endorsement of Elon Musk. The point of accounts like that is outreach, and there are still plenty of people on that platform to reach out to, regardless of its owner’s political views.
I do not have any strong opinions about this, I don’t think it matters if IFTF has an X account or not. I would assume that any important IFTF news would get posted here, actually, or possibly on IFWiki. I’m not going to look for it on Facebook, X, or other social media platforms. intfiction.org is social media for IF fans!
(Queue up the Red Dawn (original Patrick Swayze version) somber music, “BECAUSE WE LIVE HERE!!!”)
Twitter is an awful place but some people I follow (who are definitely not fans of elongated muskrats) still have a presence there. Honestly I spend less time on feed-based sites and more time on Discord. Might be time for an official server?
We’ve (as in the moderators here) specifically avoided making a Discord server before, because we think this forum serves that purpose better. But of course plenty of people have made their own!
We renamed the NarraScope Discord server to “IFTF Discord” a while ago.
We haven’t launched any big initiatives to have IF Stuff Happen there, other than NarraScope. But it is there and it is official. Link on narrascope.org if you want to join.
(I don’t think Discord is a good replacement for the forum or for Twitter-as-was. Discord is its own thing.)
I wish people would move off Twitter already and let it die, but clearly that’s not going to happen. Been following the IFTF’s Mastodon account in the mean time. Libera Chat is a whole other beast; if anything, it could be an alternative to Discord. But like anything else, setting up shop there would be a lot of work. We’re not lacking for social media options in this community: forum, wiki, game database and so on. Though of course it’s always fun to play with new toys.
I care more that the website’s blog (and perhaps by extension the email newsletter) is kept up to date. That centralized content can be spun out to whatever social media is dominant in an ever-changing and currently-fracturing landscape.
This is the correct answer. People using Twitter for announcements need to be aware that’s it’s now largely inaccessible to those without an account (we see a login screen or a random selection of old tweets), but as long as you also post your news somewhere that people can read it without an account, then what’s the harm? I doubt the IF community is adding much to Musk’s bottom line or server bills…
But it’s worth recognizing that his personal politics have become X’s moderation policies, which are legitimately of concern.
Yeah I mean, I don’t feel comfortable there as a trans woman at all. It’s a horrible, horrible place if you’re LGBTQ+.
Yeah, my advisor has repeatedly suggested that I make an account there to network, and I really don’t want to touch it with a ten-foot pole. I just need to find an effective enough alternative.
Alternatives will never become effective if we don’t use them. And there’s no miracle alternative. Just pick a few and use them. Plural, because we need resilience and diversity. Heck, personal websites are coming back in fashion. You’d be surprised how often you run into the same people in those circles. “Social network” was never supposed to mean a single, centralized social networking website.