Performative activism:
That's the reason so many self-identified "liberals" stay on Twitter.
Because it's not so much the cause that's important to them, it's the alleged social capital.
The power of Twitter has never been about how big its network effect was.
The power of Twitter has always been about its proximity to social capital.
You're not likely to talk to a politician or a CEO on Facebook. But you are likely to talk to them on Twitter.
This is why performative activism happens on Twitter.
Here's a perfect case study on performative activism.
In the midst of the #BLM protests, Pepsi released this ad starring Kendall Jenner.
Almost all of the imagery was swiped from BLM protests. Yet, not only did the commercial star an exceptional privileged person, it appeared that person (Kendall Jenner) was giving a peace offering to police.
It was obvious Pepsi didn't care so much about BLM as they did about its associated social capital.
Look, social capital is not a small thing.
It can make or break you.
There's tangible monetary benefits with knowing the right people, and demonstrating status and influence.
This is why so many people don't want to leave Twitter.
There's many people who will do their damnedest to preserve Twitter because that's literally the source of all their social capital.
They are somebody on Twitter. They are nobody if they go somewhere else.
@atomicpoet I believe the fear of having to rebuild is real. The Twitter product does a lot to reinforce that value. Simply posting the content to Mastodon might not do it.
