WEYBURN - Recently, when I glanced at my social media apps, I noticed a strange X symbol where once existed a Twitter bluebird. According to reports, Elon Musk launched rebranding because he wants to create a “super app” called X – his vision for a new kind of social media platform that he has been talking about creating for months. In his vision, Musk is hoping users call their Xs instead of Tweets.
This rebranding might be part of a grander vision for his business, but in a way it is also a response to the recent launch of Meta’s Threads. Meta is a social media company that includes Facebook and Instagram, and after the launch of Threads, they gained 100 million users in a week for the new platform.
Of course there was backlash and accusations from Elon Musk towards Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta. As if there is nothing else in this world these multi-billionaires could do with their time, besides debating whose social media platform is better or is a copycat.
In the end, it is just one more social media platform, and while that can connect people across the world, there seems to be a disconnect with the people in your immediate social bubble at the same time. I have seen so many quiet coffee conversations, where the people at the table are spending all their time on their phone and social media apps, instead of engaging and having real conversations with the people sitting right beside them.
For those Canadians who want to give Threads an opportunity - please remember that it is likely you won’t see Canadian news on the new social platform because it is part of Meta. Unfortunately, both Google and Meta announced they will no longer share Canadian news links on their platforms in response to the new Online News Act (Bill C-18), recently introduced by the Canadian federal government, designed to make these social platforms pay for their use of Canadian journalism.
I have definitely seen a few Facebook friends note that they have recently seen the alert on their social media page that ‘some content from news publications, such as posts, stories and reels can’t be viewed in Canada’. This reaction from Google and Meta to the Online News Act will drastically affect how Canadians get news and information that matters to them.
According to a recent report, social media is the third most-used method to access news in Canada, after the internet (69 per cent), which is the main source of news for Canadians.
Weyburn Review/Weyburn This readers have the options of bookmarking SASKTODAY.ca, subscribing to our online newsletter, picking up a physical copy of the paper at the newsstands, or following us on other social media like Linkedin. It should also be noted that X is not listed as one of the platforms that will pull Canadian news.
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