Twitter’s failure to police has killed the site

Stats I’ve been reading about Twitter indicate declines in new users, and in site use by established users.

It’s no surprise. If you want to get abused by strangers, just post something on Twitter. You’ll get ripped apart, called names, categorized, and if you’re really lucky receive death threats in milliseconds.

Five years ago, I had to close my original Twitter account after a Second Amendment rights group took a portion of one of my Tweets out of context and apparently instructed its members to go after me. I forwarded the messages to the Twitter administrators (which included four death threats against me, and two against my father). No response. Fingers in ears. La la la la la la.

Today, I help administer a Twitter account for a band I play in. We have more than 1,000 followers, accumulated over four years, and make a point of not following back commercial accounts and blocking flooding bots.

Years ago, the majority of our real human followers tweeted at least a couple of times a day. Now, only about 40 of those thousand-plus followers are part of the conversation.

And it’s no surprise. Even as a band that simply posts where and when it will be playing, or announcing new tracks, we’ve been subject to abuse. Nobody bothers telling the Twitter administrators anymore, as we know the response will be dead air.

Free speech is one thing, but Twitter has allowed people to engage in hate speech. The site signed its own death warrant and it deserves what it gets.