“Barely breaking even” — Is this the end of X?

February 1, 2025 Kurtis Salsi

Hits in the headlines #86

In May last year, the change was finally complete. The beloved (although rapidly declining) bird logo was replaced with a single letter, and with it the steady decline of the company began. This is in reference to X, formerly Twitter, of course. Once not only a beloved social media platform, but a place that many went to get their news updates. But, those who stuck around will likely tell you of the problems the platform has faced since the switch. Importantly, with slower user growth and more controversial figures on the platform, advertisers have begun to reel in their budgets and pull out of advertising on the platform altogether. The search for an alternative has been ongoing, ever since the company was taken over in 2023 by a then slightly controversial figure – now, certainly a hated figure, by many. However, finding a similar platform that offers a close enough (but improved) experience has been a challenge. A leaked email could signal the end of the company as Elon Musk tells staff they are “barely breaking even”. Is the social media platform still too big to fail? Or is this the end of an era for the social media landscape?

The second link contains an article about death, grief and technology that wants to change this process. If this topic is sensitive for you, please do not read the article.

In a very different story, in 2022, an entire country lost internet access for over a month. While that might not sound so extreme, you should really ask yourself: How important is the internet to your daily life? It’s very likely that the answer is “extremely important”. So much is reliant on the internet, yet most people don’t ever have to think much about it. This includes the enormous cables that connect countries, even across oceans. While technology might be changing now and people are gaining access to the internet through things like Starlink, it remains a physically connected network for most of us. So, what happens when one of these cables is damaged? Well, entire countries can lose their internet access. In the video linked, you can watch the story of one nation that had this exact experience, the challenges they faced, and what has changed since then.

Why not use this as a chance to learn some new language?

Try to note some new language that you see or hear in the articles or video and bring it to the class.

Remember, I always encourage you to send in your interesting articles, videos, or podcasts. You can message me directly, or email me here.

Have a great week.

See you in class!