Battles between technologies, defensive efforts go wrong, are irrelevant. – Twitter vs Bluesky et al.

Twitter is going to change the blocking function 

So people you blocked can see what you are posting. Then they can set up new accounts and spam you/troll you whatever.

Musk-ovites will defend it blah bah.

Other people will set up accounts on other platforms (Threads, Mastodon, Blue Sky) and for a while do ‘double duty’.  But over time, as Twitter enshittfication accelerates, they will double-duty less.

And of course, because these are literally networks, network effects apply. Defection hits a “tipping point” (there are several tipping points, they overlap and interact in ways that are particularly clear afterwards, not during).

It reminds me of the sailing-ships steamships battles of the 1800s (esp the 1860-1880 period, iirc), which is kind of one of the ur-cases of “Sociotechnical Transitions.”

Basically the incumbent (sailing ships) tries all sorts of tricks to make itself more attractive, or more pure or whatever.  Bigger ships, fewer sailors so lower shipping costs, etc. Some of these changes work to keep customers from defecting, in the short term.  But those innovations come with costs (for everyone).  And if the other technology is innovating (it is) and becoming more attractive, then it’s a only a rearguard action, and eventually, well, you lose.

Fun to watch all this happen at top-speed. Someone should lay down a track with some Benny Hill music…