Also, to my fellow coffee publishers / educators, including @BARISTAMAGAZINE, @FreshCupMag, @RoastMagazine, @DailyCoffeeNews, @thecqi, @SpecialtyCoffee, @coffeechemistry, @cupofexcellence, @sprudge & many others: quality engagement is dying a fast death on Twitter. /6
Also, to the coffee companies I know and respect, so many of you, I can only list a few (like @lamarzocco, @Baratza, @CliveCoffee, @LoveGaggia, @wholelattelove, @Orphanespresso, @BrevilleUSA, @monogramco), Twitter is no longer "good" for your business. It is damaging. /7
Not only is Twitter becoming more toxic with its owner amplifying the bigots, racists, and anti-LGBTQ participants here, But your own Tweets may end up in a timeline with those types of posts, along with bait-and-switch chumbox ads, because traditional advertisers have left. /8
I believe we are now at a tipping point on Twitter. Those businesses choosing to remain active here may soon be seen as giving implicit endorsement of how Mr. Musk is running Twitter, and who and what he chooses to support and amplify. I choose to not do that any longer. /9
Perhaps you're wary of making the jump. Especially if u have 100K, 200K followers + here, moving to a new social media space + rebuilding a follower count may be daunting. But how many of your followers still exist and use Twitter? Your engagement numbers show the real tale. /10
If you choose to make the moral decision to leave Twitter, establishing yourself on a different social media platform, you will find the people there are very welcoming of companies/brands establishing themselves there. The #Fediverse is particularly inviting and engaging. /11
If you need further proof, have a look at this Mastodon post, announcing our disengagement from Twitter and going “all in” on the Fediverse for our social media engagement. 1.2k likes, 700 reposts and our follower count went from 425 to 2,500 people! flipboard.social/@coffeegeek/11… /12
If your company or brand does make the jump, I will do whatever I can to help promote the move. I still firmly see us all as a greater community of specialty coffee folks; anything I can do to help I’m there for you. Let’s all try to re-grow this great community over there. /13
I encourage the remaining active members of the #coffeecommunity here to see the light. Take the leap: set up an account on Mastodon or similar, establish it, then shutter your account here before a Twitter presence means potential damage to your brand (or sanity). /14
I especially hope the coffee journalism and social activism communities make this choice to leave this increasingly toxic and damaging platform, and make the move to greener, more inclusive platforms. /15
For now, here on Twitter, I bid you farewell. CoffeeGeek is going dark on this platform, for the reasons in this thread, and reasons outlined in this recent article on CoffeeGeek (click image below). All the best, and see you over there. /ciao coffeegeek.com/news/coffeegee…
@CoffeeGeek Thank you for your thoughts & explanation.