Why is everyone quitting Twitter?
My thoughts on digital burnout, the creator life cycle, and what you should do if you want to build an audience in 2023.
2 years ago…
Twitter was the place to be.
The party was poppin.
The champagne was fresh.
And the growth was insane.
Now?
It’s starting to feel more like a run down night club trying to regain its golden days by offering $20 steak Tuesdays.
It just ain’t the same.
I asked the community why they thought people were leaving Twitter…
Here are some responses:
“Lots more harassment (condoned + even fueled by the owner).”
“Algo change leads to lower reach, leads to less engagement.”
“Yearly cycle of people quitting. It happens every summer.”
“Creators are burnt out from constantly creating content.”
“I don’t want to pay more for reach.” (Twitter Blue)
“I just don’t find building an audience is worth it anymore on Twitter.”
All the responses seemed valid, but it left me with more questions.
Is it because the Twitter nightclub is being run down by bad management? (Elon)?
Is it because creators are too burnt out from engaging on Twitter 24/7?
Or is it a combination of all the factors leading to a negative flywheel effect?
Let me know why you think Twitter is dying 👋
Love it? Hate it?
Quitted a long time ago? Never even picked it up?
Creators aren’t quitting Twitter. They’re quitting the social media treadmill and it’s perfectly normal.
I have a different theory of why people are quitting Twitter.
It’s called the “Creator Life Cycle”.
Similar to how careers are built over time in multiple stages, a creator’s career can be broken down into separate periods.
Here are the 4 stages of the Creator Life Cycle
1. Hustle & Grind 🏃♂️
The beginning of your creator journey is filled with enthusiasm, excitement, and a ton of energy.
Here are some characteristics:
Publish
Engage
Repeat ad nauseum because this is literally your life now
Most new creators don’t make it past this point and burn out before they had a chance to really see the fruits of their efforts.
2. Refinement 🤔
At this stage creators begin to have a sense of what’s working.
Here are some characteristics:
You’re niching down harder
You’re doubling down on what works
You’re developing a solid system of publishing
But… you still feel like you have to tend to social media.
This means setting aside time to engage and build up your audience.
You may even get the feeling that you’re chained to social media and the algo.
3. Establishment 💪
At this stage you have a sizeable audience and you’re coasting on passive growth.
Here are some characteristics:
You’re spending more time on email newsletters
You’re doing more 1:many conversations instead of 1:1 like webinars
You’re spending less time on social media.
You’re less dependent on the rapid growth of your audience
You’re also starting to leverage your audience a lot better.
4. Legacy👴
You’ve reached Tony Robbins level of fame and all you do is jet around the world delivering talks while your team of hot shot executives take care of everything.
It’s not that creators are suddenly dropping off Twitter…
Creators are simply moving on to the next stage of growth!
They’ll be spending more time:
Growing their current audience
Building up relationships in their email list
Refining their current offers
There’s just no more need to hustle and grind like they did before.
They’ve already put in the hard work of building their audience and now they can spend less time on the bird platform.
Should you still build an audience on Twitter?
Yes!
Despite all the changes that Twitter has been going through I still think it’s an amazing place for you to carve out your own corner of the internet.
Here’s the thing…
There will always be another “shiny new platform” that people flock to.
Remember when clubhouse was popular?
Now I don’t know a single person that still has the app on their phone.
You don’t need to find the perfect social media platform to build your business upon.
You just need to stick with one platform long enough to see the returns.
One word of caution however…
I recommend that each and every creator start a newsletter.
Just in case your Twitter account implodes one day, you lose access to your login, or you get suddenly banned— at least you’ll have your email list to keep in touch with people.
A Personal Note From Me
Thank you so much for reading Day One Creators!
Although I haven’t been hustling hard to grow this newsletter it brings me joy every week to send out this simple email to all 200+ of you.
There have been moments where I’ve felt lost in my journey, down in the dumps, or just completely burnt out—
and a handful of awesome folks emailed me, DM’ed me, or reached out to share their own story…
Which blows my mind every time I think about how serendipitous it is.
If you didn’t know…
I never intended Day One Creators to be a mega brand that made $$$. (Although one of my dreams is to become a info-product seller.)
I started Day One Creators because I felt pissed at myself for quitting writing so many damn times. (more info about that here)
Now that I’m in a semi-established part of my creator journey…
I’ve been thinking of pivoting the format of the newsletter into something more upbeat, inspirational, or fun.
Should I do more long essays?
Should I do more personal stories and updates?
Should I write more how-to’s?
What do you think? Lemme know!
One Dope Link
My friend (and course instructor) Sowmya has an AMAZING newsletter with an ABC framework to help creators unblock their creativity, unlock their potential, and manifest their dreams.
I’ve been working through her exercises and it’s been absolutely wonderful.
My twitter wasn't growing before, nor is it growing now. 😂
I have a few friends/acquaintances on twitter. I interact with them. Tweet what I want to say. And have a good time. Of course, I try to get better at writing tweets and maybe learn a thing or two.
That's all.
I don't care if people are leaving. And frankly, I don't think people will leave twitter because addicts don't stop using a drug unless there's a better drug.