For those interested in the evolution of online communities in the public square, we are living through a fascinating time in history. Everywhere you look, a tech entrepreneur or investor is making a move to disrupt the social media market. Elon Musk has bought Twitter and has changed it almost beyond recognition. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former British Prime Minister Liz Truss are rumoured to be interested in starting new social media platforms. Kanye West was reported to be interested in buying Parler. Donald Trump has launched Truth Social, hot on the heels of Gettr, set up by his former spokesman Jason Miller, and is now using it as a presidential mouthpiece. Peter Thiel and JD Vance have invested heavily in Rumble.

There is a widespread perception that many of the new platforms are right-wing, even though freedom of expression isn't really a right-leaning idea. Why have we reached the point where simple ideas about the public square are seen as right-wing? Many would argue that the former executives of companies like Twitter have brought that situation about themselves by implementing overly censorious content moderation policies and stoking hatred of ‘cancel culture’, leaving many users feeling like they have no choice but to migrate to a different platform in order to express themselves freely and access influencers without big tech execs getting in the way.

What, then, is going to happen next as this situation develops? These competitor companies within the new battle for the public square will continue to evolve, compete, and develop their offerings. Will we see parallel left-wing upstarts which offer similar benefits to companies like Parler and Gettr – uncensored discourse and more power to the user – but without the apparent dominance of right-leaning voices and political polarization?

There are some platforms like Bluesky and Mastodon, which the Guardian describes as “home to a devoted base of left-leaning communities”,1, which could fill this gap in the market, but none seem to have taken off yet to the same extent as their right-leaning counterparts. Or perhaps platforms which are mainstream now, such as Twitter, will evolve into the left-leaning platform themselves as everyone who considers themselves right-leaning leaves for other services.

What we are watching happen to the social media landscape is similar to what is happening to online film and TV streaming platforms. For a while, Netflix was the one and only prominent streaming platform. Now, Netflix's fortunes seem to be declining, and it has lots of new competitors (Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Disney+, Paramount, and so on). There are almost too many to count, all boasting vast libraries of exclusive content you can’t find anywhere else.

On the one hand, this is a good thing for users because they now have more competition and more funds being invested in original content, which benefits everyone who watches it. On the other hand, whereas before you only needed to pay one monthly subscription (Netflix), nowadays you have to choose between paying for several subscriptions or missing out on a lot of content. In much the same way, the diversification of the social media world comes with pros and cons – the splintering of the public square provides more platforms and forums for free expression, but it risks dividing up the public square into different sectors, which could fuel echo chambers and political polarisation.

New disruptor platforms are often a candle in the wind. Remember Gab? Not long ago, Gab was the go-to Twitter alternative for dissatisfied free speech enthusiasts.2 Not Gettr, Rumble, Parler, Truth Social, or any of the others that have popped up since then. Nowadays, Gab barely gets a mention in discussions of new social media platforms because it is crowded out by the many new entrants. In a few years’ time, will we similarly have forgotten about Truth Social, Rumble, Parler, and Gettr?

There is clear desire for something fresh in this area, and lots of ambitious people are trying their hand at solving the problem, whether it’s through getting involved in existing platforms like Elon Musk or throwing their weight (and their money) behind new ones like Peter Thiel (Rumble) and Donald Trump (Truth Social). But it is not obvious that any of these people have cracked the formula just yet.

The inconvenient truth is that public discourse badly needs something which mainstream platforms like Twitter are failing to provide (even with disruptors like Elon Musk at the helm), and where politicised upstarts will likely fall short too. It remains unclear at this point whether anyone will meet that challenge, or whether the splintering will continue.

Meanwhile, it is at least enjoyable to watch Elon grapple with the realities of implementing the ideas he has been shouting about from the sidelines for so long. If he succeeds, we will all be better for it. Either way, the brutal jungle of the free market will make its view known before long because one thing is for sure: users are no longer happy to go along with the old way of doing things. When it comes to online communities and the public square, radical ground-up changes are coming.

References

1 Siddiqui, S. (2022, November 1). Mastodon grows in popularity as Elon Musk's Twitter takeover causes unrest. The Guardian.
2 Ray, S. (2021, January 14). The far right is flocking to these alternate social media apps — not all of them are thrilled. Forbes.