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Despite the forecasts of some pundits, it is still too early to predict Twitter’s complete collapse. Still, it is not outside the realm of possibility. (Since we recorded this episode on Saturday, November 19, CBS has halted its activity on Twitter, blaming Elon Musk’s “turbulent and potentially devastating moves following his takeover of the company,” according to Variety. It is worth considering the consequences of Twitter’s demise. How big a loss to society at large would it be? We can take that idea one step further. With Facebook experiencing its own declines and Gen Z demonstrating a preference for smaller social networks over broadcast-style social media, what would happen if social media completely faded into the background? Also in the November episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report:

• Thousands of Twitter users are migrating to Mastodon, a Twitter-like interface with some important differences, the key being that it is not owned by a single entity. Instead, it is a federation of Mastodon “instances” (including one Shel has launched for communicators). The fediverse could be awesome, one report suggests, assuming we don’t screw it up — and average users are able to figure it out.
• Gallup has released a study on how connected people feel to others, whether it’s in person or online. It’s a field of study that has gotten scant attention in the past and the results could be useful to marketers.
• There’s some nation-building going on in the metaverse, with one Pacific island country building a digital twin to preserve its heritage as global warming raises sea levels, threatening to completely submerge it. Another country — a physical entity not yet recognized by the global community of nations — is working with an architectural firm to build a metaverse version that it hopes will be the primary place its citizens interact.
• Whether you believe it is ethical or not, there is a fair amount of ghostwriting going on in the social media space, notably with ghostwriters cranking out LinkedIn thought leadership posts for executives. But there’s more than that, with one social media ghostwriter, for example, earning close to $200,000 so far this year writing mainly Twitter DMs for employees. We’ll dive into this emerging cottage industry.
• Dan York’s Tech Report is a buffet of topics this month, ranging from the fate of Twitter Spaces to Walmart’s Augmented Reality effort, and from enhancements to TikTok Live to Google’s “Live View in Maps.”

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, November 21.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat each Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request the credentials in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. Neville’s “asides” blog, Outbox, is also available.

Links from this report:

• How big a loss to society would Twitter’s demise be?
• Twitter Is Collapsing, and Nothing Can Replace It
• European Parliament to summon Elon Musk
• Twitter has ‘50% chance’ of the major crash during World Cup, says insider
• The Age of Social Media Is Ending
• The Fediverse Could Be Awesome (if we don’t screw it up)
• I Want to Like Mastodon. The Decentralized Network Isn’t Making That Easy
• How Connected Do People Feel in the Age of Social Media?
• An entire Pacific country will upload itself to the metaverse. It’s a desperate plan – with a hidden message
• Island nation turns to metaverse to preserve its disappearing heritage
• Inside Liberland, the Balkan micronation becoming the first country to be built in the metaverse
• Social Media Ghostwriters Are a Thing Now. How This 24-Year-Old has Made $193,581 this Year
• Don’t Have Time to Write Articles and Social-Media Posts for Your Business? Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Hiring a Ghostwriter for Maximum Growth.
• What Will This Twitter Ghostwriter Do Now?
• Everybody wants to be a LinkedInfluencer. And the biggest power users are turning to ghostwriters.
• This Ghostwriter Made $200,000 Last Year Writing Tweets for Venture Capitalists

Links from Dan York’s Report

• Twitter Spaces update (Twitter thread from Evan Jones)
• Twitter Spaces for Communities (Twitter Thread from Twitter Communities & Spaces)
• Reddit Talk Updates: scheduled talks, vote in room, and Talk Host Program
• Reddit Now
• Reddit Public Access Network is Going Away
• Walmart unveils virtual fitting room to push shoppers to buy more clothes
• Use new AR features to shop for beauty products and shoes
• Google Maps’ new ‘Live View’ AR feature launches in London, NYC, LA, and a few other cities
• Snap and Amazon partner on AR shopping in the Snapchat app, initially for eyewear
• Snapchat for Web is now available to all users worldwide
• Snapchat rolls out more advanced video editing tools with Director Mode
• Discord launches activities with light games and a new app store
• Welcome to WhatsApp Communities (Twitter thread)
• The problem isn’t that Elon Musk owns Twitter – it’s that you don’t (Substack chat expansion)
• Introducing New Features to Facebook Groups
• Enhancing the LIVE TikTok community experience with new features, updates, and policies
• Inspiring creativity with our new TikTok editing tools

About Shel Holtz

Shel Holtz, ABC (Accredited Business Communicator), is director of Internal Communications at Webcor, a commercial general contractor headquartered in San Francisco. Before joining Webcor, Shel spent 21 years as principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. In addition to integrating technology into communications strategies, his expertise includes strategic communications planning, change management, organizational culture, business initiatives and communications research. Full bio

About Neville Hobson

Neville Hobson is a communicator, social strategist, consultant, digital change agent, writer, and podcaster. He is co-founder and co-host of the 'For Immediate Release' podcast. Since 2000, his career has focused on working with organisations globally to help them leverage his experiences, knowledge and subject-matter expertise of social networks, social media marketing, analytics and insights reporting, to create and build foundations for authentic engagement and to expand online reach and influence. Full bio