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Ben Cope Insights

Twitter tempers and the evolution of the public sphere 

To shape influence in a changing digital world, communicators must embrace and adapt to decentralised platforms. Flexibility and a shareable narrative may help.

When Donald Trump filed a legal complaint accusing Keir Starmer of “election interference”, the Prime Minister, who’d sat down for a two-hour dinner with the Presidential nominee weeks before, must have wondered if it’d been something he’d said.

From the outside, the episode appeared like another example of Trump’s fickle erraticism and Starmer’s missteps getting him burnt again. But the reality was far more interesting and offers insights about the future of our industry.

On 17 October, an anonymous Twitter user, with the account name Max Tempers, posted a screenshot of Sofia Patel’s, Head of Operations at the Labour Party, LinkedIn post, claiming Labour was paying for staff to campaign for the Democrats.

Within hours, Tempers’ post had gone viral, was shared by larger accounts, and had become a right-wing talking point. It didn’t matter that it’s been common practice for British politicians to join the US campaign trail in previous elections, when the facts were presented with a new narrative, many changed their mind.

This sequence of events wouldn’t have been possible until very recently. Elon Musk’s transformation of Twitter corresponds with how the public sphere is evolving more broadly. Communication has become more decentralised and personal. Big advertising budgets don’t buy the influence they used to and securing coverage in traditional media isn’t synonymous with impact. Our industry needs to catch up.

For years, tales of traditional modes of communication’s death have been exaggerated. Long after the advent of social media, newspapers continued to lead the news agenda in politics and business, bar a few idiosyncratic industries like crypto. Consumer communications and marketing have been an exception. Recognising a shift in authority, they pivoted from ‘broadcasting’ their brands to co-creating them through influencer partnerships and consumer engagement. B2B communications is yet to make this leap to the same extent.

But Twitter’s overhaul requires a change of approach. Whatever your politics, the fact that a small anonymous account can now influence the US Presidential election should make us question our strategies and the impact we’re satisfied with.

That’s not to say we should all be setting up alt Twitter accounts. It’s impossible to ignore the desertification of Twitter into a right-wing cesspit of monetised attention. Despite my decision to stay on the platform, it’s no longer true that ‘all the world is here’.

So, where else should we be looking, with obvious competitors like Threads or BlueSky failing to establish themselves? LinkedIn has the opportunity to fill the void. Comments to a recent post by my colleague Serra Balls shows that this is already starting to happen. With a concentration of high-agency professionals, it could become the venue of valuable conversations. But, as of yet, LinkedIn is more structurally suited to humble brags than town hall discussions.

Then, there’s the growth of private messaging. As Twitter has become increasingly toxic, I’ve noticed a significant uptick in WhatsApp group chats discussing politics and business in recent months. This should set alarm bells off for any comms professional. How can you possibly influence private conversations?

To move with the times, we should learn lessons from our colleagues in consumer comms and marketing by co-creating narratives with influencers in an increasingly contested space. The importance of crafting compelling storytelling will grow, with a focus on content and messaging being shareable rather than ‘place-able’. We’ll have to continuously review a much more fluid stakeholder landscape, with dotted lines between influencers changing real time. The US election campaigns have made more use of podcasts than traditional media. Will you do the same, as stories move fast from unexpected places and your relationships matter less?

What could Max Tempers share next, and how can you make it something that benefits you? Can you identify, or even be the next Max Tempers? And how will you influence the comments under LinkedIn posts and private messages WhatsApp groups?

These are the challenges for the next generation of communicators. At Eterna, we’re committed to facing up to them for you.