The bumpersticker you see above was created by KLOS in Los Angeles back around 1980. Chances are, there’s not a soul working at the station today who remembers it.
Back when KLOS was owned by ABC (the company where I programmed and served as research director), and the station was in a dog fight with Metromedia’s KMET, that legendary station that helped make Southern California rock radio historic in so many ways. In its glory days, KMET had a catch-phrase – or catch-sound – the memorable “WHOO-YA.” It was like their secret handshake. KMET was so cool, they posted a number of their billboards and bus sides/backs upside-down to attract attention and generate buzz.
Around the same time, KLOS had something pretty big going, too – a whacked-out morning guy named Frazer Smith from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who was lighting it up in morning drive. Preceding the shock jock era, Frazer was like a comedian on the air making fun of the world of entertainment all around him. And to give his show a signature phrase, Frazer spawned “Too Hip, Gotta Go,” a slogan that matched the Hollywood ‘tude of the day. Originally, Frazer handed out yellow calling cards (pictured). The sticker was just an abbreviation – and it worked.
During a set of focus groups I moderated for the station, the concept was to create a bumpersticker with the slogan – without call letters or dial position. Crazy, right? Except our research clearly showed the racetrack shape the station (and other ABC O&O FMs) screamed KLOS to Los Angelinos, allowing for Frazer’s slogan to become that inside joke you could display on your Civic, your Cutlass, or your Datsun 240Z.
I was thinking about Frazer’s phrase over the weekend as I was mulling over what in the world I was going to do with my Twitter account. Now, in the big picture of things, I’ve got a lot more on my plate and in my life than my social media status. But Twitter has been aggravating me for some time now, and I started to consider doing something about it.
To provide you with some context, I was fairly early on the platform, celebrating my “Sweet 16” a couple months ago. I became enamored with Twitter early on. And while the world got caught up in Ashton Kutcher being first to reach the one million followers milestone on Twitter in ’09, I saw a different purpose.
During those days, Facebook was about reuniting with your high school graduation class and LinkedIn might help you find that next job, Twitter was a different social animal. It was often about thoughts and ideas. And cleverness and snark. Traditional news organizations flocked there to create a higher sense of immediacy than waiting for the 6 o’clock news or tomorrow’s edition of the paper. For sports fans, Twitter became a mecca – a place where fans exchanged info and gossip and the stars opened accounts that allowed them to interact with fans.
I had the chance to speak at a very cool event hosted by Jeff Pulver, founder of the “140 Characters Conference” named after the original limit set on characters per tweet. No other social platform limited your entries in this fashion, forcing users to be more concise, more precise, and more clever with their missives on Twitter. It was a challenge, it was fun, and it was clearly a high point of my social media experience.
Jeff brought the conference to Detroit and I got myself on the crowded but exclusive agenda. Jeff was fascinated by the Classic Rock radio format, so I actually knew what I was talking about. Lindsay Warren wrote a blog post about the conference, and you can read it here.
As Lori Lewis would tell you, I was slow pretty much everywhere else in the social sphere because of my preference for Twitter. Facebook was where you shared cat memes, LinkedIn was where you shared resumes, but Twitter was where you showed off your ideas and your wit. It wasn’t always pretty, and it could also be a place of raw emotion.
But it was brief. And I clearly remember in the early days, training myself to write coherent, smart thoughts in the 140 character limit. It required practice to get it right, training that by the way coincided with the early days of PPM. I always thought of Twitter as a sort of test ground for communicating a thought clearly, cleverly, and on a short runway – a lot like being on the radio.
Twitter also became the place where Donald Trump made his mark using the handle @realDonaldTrump. Even while president (the first time around), he deftly used Twitter as a workaround. Remarkably, Trump
didn’t have to hold news conferences or even put out press releases if he didn’t feel like it.
Twitter became his social megaphone, and the media followed along, regularly monitoring every single tweet he published like “breaking news” stories. In the legal proceedings Trump has faced, his tweets have followed him, often being used in open court as evidence of his thinking.
But that was OK because pretty much everyone had a voice on Twitter, from the left, the right, and everywhere in between. No “ism” dominated the platform – it had an organic feel to it that was unique in the social space. You could easily gravitate to the voices you found most interesting or in alignment with your beliefs. And Twitter’s overlords generally left users alone – assuming you didn’t violate their rules. And ultimately, making those calls may have led to the original Twitter’s demise.
The platform was very much an acquired taste, cast in the shadow of Facebook and later Instagram. Then TikTok came along, marginalizing Twitter yet again. As new social media challengers entered the fray and new features were added to existing platforms, Twitter seemed almost quaint in its consistency and lack of change.
Plagued by an inability to grow its subscribers, coupled with hiccups in monetizing its following, Twitter languished. And that opened the door for another billionaire to sweep in and suck up the platform.
And in 2022, that’s precisely what happened. Tesla/Space X CEO Elon Musk made what seemed like an absurd offer for Twitter – $44 billion to be precise – and while later trying to weasel out of the deal, facing a law suit and trial, Musk relented and bought Twitter in October 2022.
Things haven’t been the same, of course. And during just the past six months as the presidential election hit a crescendo, Musk’s Twitter has become a highly partisan and often toxic place to be. As many acknowledge, the algorithm has definitely been tweaked to ensure the CEO’s pointed messages are always front and center on your feed – whether you follow Mr. Musk or not. Actually, it feels more like someone took a pipe wrench to it because I feel like I see more Elon these days than I see many of you.
After all, it’s his playground now. Early on, I learned the stark difference between the digital assets you own (your database, your newsletter) and those you just rent – especially the social media outlets like Twitter. We all are just squatting on Elon’s space. And even though we are the product – the tweets we produce, our information and behavior – he’s the puppet master who makes the calls. In fact, he can change the rules any time he likes – and for the past two years, he’s done just that. Hey, he’s the one who ponied up the $44 billion for this thing.
For some sad reason though, so many things that were once fun, engaging, or interesting in our country have become highly partisan. You remember when the NFL fell into that abyss during the Colin Kaepernick episode of kneeling during the National Anthem. Of course, the bookend event occurred last week when the Niner’s Nick Bosa showed up for a postgame interview sporting a MAGA hat.
And even the world of music now has artists lined up on the left and on the right, regardless of whether their songs are any good. When did it become de rigueur that you were a card carrying member of MAGA if you love Kid Rock, and you’re a leftie if you enjoy Bruce?
When I think about Twitter now, I can’t help think about Musk – how he’s taken control of a platform that we tweeters used to run (or so we thought). He’s not just the owner of Twitter – he’s the
poster boy.
And I’ve grown weary of it. Over these 16 years, I have slowly attracted north of 10,200 followers to my page. And while confetti did not cascade from the ceiling when I broke the 10K mark – as Lori warned me it would not – I felt like I accomplished something. OK, maybe it wasn’t my community, but a lot of people who read this blog are connected to me there. Or were.
Because I’m saying good-bye to all of you – on Twitter. I’ll still be “socializing” on LinkedIn and Facebook. And I promise to give Threads a try again. And if you’re wondering why I don’t delete Facebook because Mark Zuckerberg is as big a jerk as Musk, the difference is I don’t know who he voted for – and I don’t care. I may dislike him and even despise aspects of how the platform is managed, but he doesn’t shove his politics in my face.
Now, if you’re wondering whether I’d delete a different account if its CEO openly supported Kamala Harris, or Jill Stein, or RFK, Jr., or Bernie Sanders – I’d like to think I would. When corporate chieftains use their power to try to influence millions of their users, something’s out of whack. And I’d like to think if the Koch Brothers or George Soros bought a social platform I was on and used it as personal and political bullhorn, I’d be looking for the exits, too.
Elon Musk will not miss me. Unless there are a few billion “me’s” who “gotta go” rather than put up with his histrionics. After all, I’ve been around 16 years and never paid Twitter a dime,
even when that blue checkmark was offered to me for the low, low price of just $8 a month. Sorry, I’d rather send my dollars to a food bank like Capuchin Soup Kitchen here in downtown Detroit.
And in no way am I encouraging any of you to follow me. You’re all big boys and girls in control of your social presence. Do what’s right for you.
I’ll miss your clever tweets, your memes, your humor, your deep thoughts, and your camaraderie on Twitter. Some of you were downright entertaining, even at 280 characters a tweet.
But it’s time.
Gotta go.
Reach me on LinkedIn and Facebook @fnjacobs
Threads jacobs.fred
And this just in: A number of you suggested Bluesky. I have joined up and snagged @fnjacobs
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Welcome to the club.
I joined Twitter within the few months of it launching in 2006. I saw in it the promise of community, connection and conversation with people who shared similar interests and values. A decade in the toxicity began, and here we are in 2024, and it has become a dark and poisonous cancer. Musk has turned the “public square” into a cesspool of lies, hate and clown “media” all in the name of “free speech.” It has become an assault on our intelligence and more importantly, Democracy.
Timothy Noah, in The New Republic writes: “Everybody is asking: What can I do to defend the principles under attack right now in the United States? You can get the hell off Twitter. Remaining there hasn’t been the moral choice for some time, but it really can’t be defended now.”
For now, I’m over on Threads and Bluesky. And who knows how long those will last. Deactivation is the activism we need.
Turkish proverb: When a clown moves into a palace he does not become a king. The palace becomes a circus.
Right there with you. BlueSky has grown exponentially (at least as far as people and topics I follow) in the past week. Right now it seems to be a safe and sane landing place with a similar feel to the best years of Twitter. For now.
I deleted twitter for a few reasons. When the blue check went up for sale, it lost it’s value as an identifier that there’s a decent chance you are hearing from who you think you’re hearing from. The bot situation was getting out of control, but what pushed me over the cliff was when they literally removed the opportunity to block accounts. At the very least, blocking an account gave a user a content control fallback that was absolute and completely up to the user. Without that option, it’s clear to me they (he?) didn’t feel the users were worthy of such control. With the exception of a list feature, threads is literally a twitter clone. And there’s LOTS of people there.
I have been playing with the idea of deleting it as well. Too toxic! Glad Im not the only one – I feel validated and will delete it in 3, 2 1
Donce!
I get it Fred. It had to be said. Congratulations.
I did get a little time back, Lex, although it may just go to Blyesky. Hope you’re doing well.