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Tech & The Web

Post News Announces It’s Shutting Down

DepositPhotos/Post.news

One of a handful of hopeful Twitter replacements, Post News, announced it will cease operations within the coming weeks.

You know whenever a social media post begins, “It is with a heavy heart,” that things won’t end well. That’s how Noam Bardin, the founder and CEO of Post News, started a post on Friday morning.

“Despite how much we’ve accomplished together, we will be shutting down Post News within the next few weeks,” he wrote. He didn’t give a firm “sunset” date for the platform. But he did give users details on how they could download their previous posts between now and the platform’s disappearance.

Post News had an optimistic, if slow start

The platform launched in late 2022 with hopes of creating a civil place to debate. Bardin promised to “rigorously enforce” rules through content moderation and the community’s help. It sounded like the perfect place for users of X who wanted a site that had not degenerated into the dumpster fire it often became.

On top of the more kind atmosphere, it also tried to attract mainstream media sources — not the fake news “experts” other platforms seemed to embrace. USA Today and NBC News were among the first to join up.

It even offered a “tipping” model that allowed users to read content by unlocking a paywall. The paywall wasn’t very expensive: a “point” was worth a cent and people could read certain posts for anywhere between one to 10 points. I suppose they hoped that building the audience would lead to a high volume of tips. Every little penny eventually adds up, right?

But like many other Twitter alternatives, it started at a snail’s pace. People who wished to join had to sit on a waitlist. While Post News’ wait list was nowhere near as long as BlueSky’s, the site still seemed to suffer from growth problems once users got in.

In fact, I joined Post News in January of 2023. In that time, I amassed a total of only 52 followers.

But one of Post’s biggest challenges was the initial lack of an app. It finally released one but there was still no API that would allow third-party apps to post. You couldn’t schedule posts.

That meant you had to physically be on that platform anytime you wanted to interact. The problem with that should be clear: You can’t be everywhere all the time. BlueSky has an app and an API. I can schedule posts there, but not on Post News.

That forces what can sometimes be a difficult choice: Of the various social platforms where you hope to build an audience, you have to decide which to prioritize. Then Threads came along, and thanks to its connection to Instagram, its growth was meteoric by comparison. I joined Threads in mid-2023 and am already nearing 500 followers.

No API means a death sentence for social media?

I wish I could remember who said it. But I had a conversation a while back with someone about a social media platform. That platform might have been Post News, but it could have been BlueSky. At the time, neither had an API.

An API is an application programming interface. It allows two pieces of software — in this case, the social media platform and a third-party social media management tool — to interact. I’ve used social media management tools like Buffer to schedule posts to various platforms.

The person with whom I discussed social media told me that when a platform doesn’t release an API, it’s essentially doomed.

There are just too many competing for attention. When you can’t at least schedule posts ahead of time, the only time you have any presence on that platform is when you physically go to that site or app.

Some of us have full-time jobs. We don’t have a lot of time to drop in, even on a once-a-day basis, to all of them. Would that we could.

But since we can’t, we have to choose the platforms where we see the most growth — and the most potential for growth — and focus our efforts there.

While I liked Post News and its apparent civility, I just didn’t find a growth potential there.

I wish I had.

I hate to see a social media platform that doesn’t seem obsessed with bad behavior disappear.

the authorPatrick
Patrick is a Christian with more than 30 years experience in professional writing, producing and marketing. His professional background also includes social media, reporting for broadcast television and the web, directing, videography and photography. He enjoys getting to know people over coffee and spending time with his dog.