How a social network falls apart

Twitter is in a period of decline. The site still functions, people are still using it, but there’s a familiar stink that lingers on the website. It reminds me of the twilight days of two other social media platforms I’ve used: LiveJournal and Tumblr — onetime vibrant communities that grew in popularity until everyone seemed to be using them, which then began a long, slow death.

Pop onto LiveJournal and Tumblr today, and you’ll still see inscrutable blogs, endless GIFs, and earnest writing. But something is missing — although there’s still content and posters, the sites no longer feel like the communities they once were.

LiveJournal began as an online diary service in 1999, but by the time I signed up for the site in the early 2000s, it w...

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