Stephen Fry leaving Twitter is like 'Colonel Sanders feeling forced to leave Kentucky'

9 months ago

Stephen Fry has declared that “the fun is over” on Twitter.

The actor, comedian and presenter’s decision to issue a statement that called leaving the site a “massive relief” hits the social media platform at a time when its fortunes are already struggling.

Having failed to gain any new users in the last three months, Twitter usage actually dropped at one point at the end of 2015, before picking up again at the start of the year. However, share prices have continued to tumble and user numbers are now stuck at around 320 million, with rival Facebook having reached 1.5 billion and still growing.

Some 8% of the company’s global workforce was also cut last year, and a raft of new features have been introduced amid criticism the site lacks direction and does not deal with abuse effectively.

Fry’s statement, then, is an even bigger blow as he was one of the first prominent UK users of the site, championing it to many.

Industry expert Rik Henderson, senior news editor at technology site Pocket-lint.com, said Fry’s departure hurts because of his prominence of the site.

“Stephen Fry feeling forced to leave Twitter is like Colonel Sanders feeling forced to leave Kentucky. He is synonymous with the medium and an integral part of why many people flooded to the social network in the first place.

“It is a sad day when such a strong proponent of Twitter feels compelled to shut down his account because of the views of a vocal minority, but it is also indicative of what Twitter has become. For good or bad, it is an important tool for normal people to vent their opinions publicly, something Stephen Fry himself has championed for years, and sometimes those can be hurtful or damning. The saying ‘everyone’s a critic’ has never been more true than in the Twitter age.”

Henderson added that he thought Fry would return to the site, something fellow technology expert and Gadget Magazine editor Jack Parsons agreed with.

“Fry has quit Twitter several times over the years, including four months last year and for spell in 2014,” he said.

“He even threatened to leave after another user called his tweets boring way back in 2009 when the social network was relatively new, so I think claims about Fry quitting Twitter – like Twitter dying – have been greatly exaggerated.”

However, freelance technology writer Ian Morris believe Fry’s point hits at Twitter’s main problem.

“This couldn’t come at a worse time for Twitter really,” he said.

“New figures show that the service has stalled somewhat and, while it’s well-funded, without more growth it will become the next MySpace. What Fry represents as a loss to Twitter is kind of a big deal, another former champion of the service abandoning it at a time when it needs cheerleaders to get people involved.

“Fry’s objection is specific, and understandable. But you don’t have to look far to see people being bullied and abused on the service. Some of them are celebrities, and some of them are not, but it happens far too often, and Twitter simply isn’t reacting quickly enough with new tools to help people flag up problem accounts. Fry leaving isn’t catastrophic in its own right, but it does show that Twitter’s loyal audience can, and will, pack up and leave if they’re pushed too far.”