this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2023
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I feel like part of what caused it to explode is that some celebrities joined up early and it provided a tangible way for fans to interact directly with them. This was totally novel and completely unprecedented. Prior to Twitter you could watch Entertainment Tonight and read People magazine. Twitter let you directly contact celebrities.
I really couldn't care less about celebrities, which I have always thought is part of why Twitter has always felt kind of pointless to me.
But I fully recognize that for some people that's a huge draw and I do think it's a big part of what makes Twitter popular.
For a moment in time, Twitter livestreaming the Arab spring and other mass demonstrations was more effective than the CIA at toppling regimes
This assumes the CIA wasn't involved in it.