To the extent that it ever was useful, Twitter is about to become the opposite of that.

One of the reasons I don’t hitch my digital wagon to online services such as Twitter and Facebook is that their whole businesses rely on manipulating you and infringing on your privacy. As many have pointed out, you are the product.

I run my own domains (though hosted), where I could migrate all my data very easily elsewhere at any time.

Twitter’s changes will as Nina points out make it utterly useless for news or digital activism. Which, of course, is the point because as Twitter sees it, the less controversial a platform can make itself the more money it can bring in. And just as important the more it can force you to look at what it wants you to see, the more cash for them.

I never used Twitter for just these reasons. Same reasons I never used Facebook, Tumblr, LiveJournal, and any of those other platforms. I don’t like being the product and avoid it if at all possible.

(This is not an implied criticism of those who do use those services. I understand the reasons. They just aren’t good enough for me.)