18 months later, it looks like this piece from Eugene was... not correct? 

To be fair, lots of other people were calling for Twitter's death at this time. And Eugene's claim was vague enough to escape prosecution: 

"This past year, for the first time, I could see the end of the road for Twitter. Not in an abstract way; I felt its decline. Don’t misunderstand me; Twitter will persist in a deteriorated state, perhaps indefinitely. However, it's already a pale shadow of what it was at its peak."

For him, Twitter ~does~ feel dead. But that's like graduating college and returning to campus and saying "none of my friends are here anymore, this place is dead." 

Social networks, like any social institution, can evolve and change. You may not like it, but that doesn't mean it's dead, or even less relevant. That's just part of growing up.

18 months later, it looks like this piece from Eugene was... not correct? 

To be fair, lots of other people were calling for Twitter's death at this time. And Eugene's claim was vague enough to escape prosecution: 

"This past year, for the first time, I could see the end of the road for Twitter. Not in an abstract way; I felt its decline. Don’t misunderstand me; Twitter will persist in a deteriorated state, perhaps indefinitely. However, it's already a pale shadow of what it was at its peak."

For him, Twitter ~does~ feel dead. But that's like graduating college and returning to campus and saying "none of my friends are here anymore, this place is dead." 

Social networks, like any social institution, can evolve and change. You may not like it, but that doesn't mean it's dead, or even less relevant. That's just part of growing up.

https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2023/7/6/how-to-blow-up-a-timeline

Building /bright-moments - minting onchain art IRL | /purple #15 | FID 129 #magikarp

Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus

I do think "Twitter" is dead. The product is very different now and serves a different function, i.e. we talk about here wrt social media vs social network.  Admittedly I haven't read the article you linked but it feels consistent with his views, the Twitter he knew is dead and X has been born in its place.

I think there are broadly 2 ways to value a social network: based on the users it has and based on the users it could get. I’m curious to see how / if musk can solve for the second one as the first fragments.

It's no longer the town square where everyone gathers and respected people stand up and give their input on things, but the global anti-establishment tide would have inevitably destroyed that former place regardless of who was at the helm of Twitter.

The old era of tech and hierarchy of trust between educated experts and curious followers is over. For many who never lived through it, it will seem strange that it ever existed. I don't know what comes next but we must remember change is inevitable and in fact is what makes life worth living, even when that change follows a path we did not once desire.

i’m really curios how many humans are left

This is preposterous. 

And honestly this is what I struggle with.

I want to be like, “all in” on tech and rah rah let’s build new institutions together network states let’s gooo

I want to be a part and then I see this stuff and I’m like …. Ugh I can’t 😭

I could write an essay as to all the reasons why. I used to work at a media agency. Twitter never was a must buy even in the Jack days. And that’s the tip of the iceberg. The declining product quality, the content moderation deficit (I’m sorry but no one wants an ad next to a beheading or the n word), adjacency to low quality ad inventory, and the fact that Elon told Bob Iger GO FUCK YOURSELF all play a role here. 

I encourage you if you are a small business owner to try and spend money with Twitter for ads and see how it goes, report back. Heres one experience https://x.com/dennishegstad/status/1786395935800525004 

Elon is not trying in the slightest to make the offering good, is openly antagonizing buyers, and then plays victim?

"persist in a deteriorated state" seems pretty accurate considering elon's allies are proposing using state power to force companies to advertise there

"persist in a deteriorated state" seems pretty accurate considering elon's allies are proposing using state power to force companies to advertise there

https://warpcast.com/keccers.eth/0xc2316b73