The Social Media Realignment

 
 

The exodus has begun. I didn’t tumble to it immediately, as my tweets gathered all the attention of a pumpkin ale on a December shelf. But then I started noticing my sleepy little BlueSky account getting new followers: 19 on Wednesday, 27 on Thursday, 43 on Friday, and 53 so far today. That’s 18% growth in four days! Then I happened to look at my Twitter followers—down 200 over the same period.

Social media has been fragmenting for years. It started with the decline of Facebook, as movers decamped to Instagram and TikTok. Elon Musk’s 2022 Twitter purchase splintered things again, as startups replaced it. Facebook added Threads to the metaverse, and several startups competed to replace Twitter (including the former and future President’s). The latter never quite died, though, limping along despite a creakier interface and more aggressively political owner. The election, however, seems to have cracked something open. The era of platform neutrality is over. I suspect users on X are getting new followers as well, as conservatives and Musk and Trump fans flock there from other sites. Meanwhile, it looks like beer Twitter is in the process of becoming Beer … well, not Beer X.

 
 
 
 

Breweries never really embraced Twitter, and for years have chosen Instagram or Facebook as their primary hubs (though based on my recent effort to build a database of Oregon breweries, Instagram seems to be the main default, especially for smaller operations). Twitter has always been the primary place for journalists and writers, and that includes those writing about beer. So far I haven’t seen a lot of breweries embrace BlueSky, but if you want the latest chatter and links to articles, it’s a great place to start. I’ll keep posting links to blog posts on X until the end of the year and then phase my account out at X.

Links in case you want ‘em, including Celebrate Oregon Beer social media accounts.

  • My account on BlueSky

  • My Account on Instagram

  • Beervana Blog Facebook Page

  • Celebrate Oregon Beer Facebook Page (will have news and events information about Oregon breweries and hops)

  • Celebrate Oregon Beer Instagram account (Currently spotlighting events and new releases from brewery IG accounts; eventually will include more photos and reels)

  • Celebrate Oregon Beer on BlueSky (Like Twitter, it will feature more conversation)

Jeff Alworth2 Comments