Yesterday, I compared Twitter analytics across the soc accounts that I run. Traffic has collapsed substantially, down 60% – 80%. I do not think we are down overall, as our web and podcast analytics are similar. To me, this signals the demise of #soctwitter. I might bring it up today in banter with our guests from the Peace, War, and Conflict section.

By the way, you can catch today’s live recording session on YouTube. We record at 12:15 PM Eastern today. The YouTube link is here.

An interesting observation is that the analytics suggest our properties were already down before Musk. I think #soctwitter was already in long-term decline before the Apocalypse. Musk seems more like the event the accelerated its demise. It was the point at which the group widely decided to euthanize it.

On one hand, it strikes many as just desserts, not just for Musk but also for all this engagement-inculcating stuff that flooded our timelines with clickbait. This is a business disaster that they will study in business schools for years.

On the other, the loss of #soctwitter is palpable. It was very helpful as a place to find grassroots opinion and debate in the discipline, and I relied on it when creating content. It was a good place to get a feel for the zeitgeist, and I can’t recapture it elsewhere yet. And ASA Connect will not be that place. It was also a great place to meet colleagues, and it generated a lot of rewarding collegial relationships. It was a medium that we used to congregate and build community.

Are you mourning the loss of Twitter? Will something better come along? What would that even involve? Add your comments below. They may be read during the show.