What’s Next for the #BuyTwitter Campaign

Summary

The #BuyTwitter campaign began back in September when thousands of Twitter users excitedly latched on to the idea of buying Twitter and converting it into a user-owned cooperative. The idea was sparked by an op-ed in The Guardian penned by Nathan Schneider, author and platform co-ops expert, as speculations of a Twitter sale were making headlines.

The initial enthusiasm waned, however, as the idea faced high hurdles including an impossibly high sales price. Many dropped from discussions or became disillusioned. Others saw it as a starting point from which people could scale down their ambitions and think more practically about platform cooperativism, the notion that users should own and control the digital platforms they use.

This was the focus of a recent panel discussion on Google Hangouts that Shareable helped coordinate. The dialogue featured experts in finance, co-op conversions, and the intersection of the tech economy and cooperative ownership. The discussion was sobering, though equally lively and informative, about the limits and opportunities of the movement.