TL;DR Version

Twitter used to be a platform for discovery, curiosity, and real conversations. Over time, it shifted, to a space for customer complaints, then into a political battleground, and eventually into something stranger. Today, much of what passes for “debate” is driven by bots, automated replies, and talking points that feel like they were built in a conspiracy theory factory.

Research backs this up. Bots have been responsible for a disproportionate amount of political content for years, up to 30% or more, depending on the topic. The result is a platform where real engagement is harder to find, and actual people seem increasingly absent.

While platforms like BlueSky, Threads, and Mastodon have tried to offer alternatives, none have fully taken Twitter’s place. The numbers show steep drop-offs in activity after initial launches. Twitter remains, but mostly as something to watch, not something to participate in.

The conversation has moved on. What’s left feels more like AI yelling at AI in an empty room. You can still scroll through the wreckage, but it probably won’t talk back.

Long Version

Long ago, Twitter was a place where you could actually learn something. Someone would post a smart thread about design, startups, or baseball stats, and you’d come away knowing more than you did five minutes earlier. You didn’t need to follow 200 people. You just needed the right five.

Then came the customer service era. Airlines, banks, delivery services all created an open space for customers to yell at them in public. Brands jumped in and started replying like they were part of the show. The transition to a forum for tantrums had begun.

After that, it became the political town square. That wasn’t all bad. There were genuine debates. People argued, but you still felt like there was a real person on the other side. You could disagree without falling into total absurdity.

Then the bots moved in.

Studies going back to 2017 already showed this was coming:

  • A USC study found that bots made up roughly 15% of Twitter users and were responsible for about 20% of election-related tweets during the 2017 midterms.
  • A 2023 study published in PLOS One found that bots represented less than 1% of users, yet generated over 30% of tweets about Trump’s impeachment.
  • A Washington University analysis suggested bots comprised between 25% and 68% of users in political discussions, depending on the topic and timeframe.
  • According to Pew Research, the 500 most-active bots on Twitter were responsible for 22% of links shared to news sites, compared to just 6% by the most active human users.

“Bots made up just 1% of Twitter users, but generated over 30% of impeachment-related tweets.” — PLOS One, 2023

So when it feels like you’re not even arguing with real people anymore – or watching real people argue with each other – you probably aren’t.

Today the talking points coming from the far right are so disconnected from reality that it doesn’t feel like conversation. It’s more like one AI bot parroting another. They’re not even good at it. You end up reading stuff that sounds like it was assembled by a high-speed blender full of conspiracies. A Nixon/Mossad/illegal immigrant theory? That’s not satire. People (or bots programmed by people) actually push things like that.

Sure, some real MAGA folks are still out there, and the paid influencers will never give up this gravy train. But most of what shows up feels recycled and automated. It’s not back-and-forth. It’s not even trolling. It’s just noise.

Some folks hoped BlueSky would be the next version of thoughtful Twitter. It launched strong, getting over 30 million registered users. But the engagement numbers don’t back that up:

  • Daily posters fell from about 1 million in late February to roughly 670,000 by early June according to Business Insider.
  • A June O’Dwyer’s report noted a 50% drop in likes and posts since the platform’s November 2024 peak.
  • One Reddit analysis suggested that only 13 million of 36 million users had posted in the last 90 days.

“Twitter isn’t about influence now. It’s barely about engagement. It’s just bots yelling into the void.”

Mastodon is still around. Threads had its moment. But Twitter remains the car crash people scroll past, even if no one believes the driver is human anymore.

The platform isn’t about influence now. It’s barely about engagement. It’s mostly just bots yelling into the void. You can watch it. But don’t expect it to talk back.