It is of course debatable whether the word ‘follower’, a term that covers all social media platforms, is interchangeable, but many new suggested terms came under Musk’s tweet.
Based on previous examples, we can say that Musk can change this in a very silly or very logical way at any moment. We’ll wait and see that together. For now, we can only be content with the suggestions that come under the tweet and maybe we can come up with some terms ourselves.
The dialogue between Twitter user and Elon Musk, who did not want the word ‘follower’, was as follows:
The word ‘follower’ is now one of the words that are always in our lives.
Words that emerge according to the needs and functionality of language users continue to be maintained with their cooperation. Sometimes alternatives may be produced for some words, but often they do not. Just like in the ‘selfie-selfie’ example.
The fact that the word “follower” in social media terminology is an inclusive term for all platforms makes it difficult to change in many ways. To explain with the simplest example, for the word follower to change, even actions such as ‘follow, unfollow’ must have alternatives and fit into the terminology.
It is not yet known in which direction the possibility of changing the word ‘follower’ will go.
We cannot say that it is impossible for Elon Musk, who is on the agenda almost every day with the decisions he made on Twitter, to replace the word ‘follower’ with another term, but based on the examples we have encountered before, we can say that this situation can be changed in a rather absurd or very logical way. Also, other platforms could follow Musk in this regard, even if it’s not unlikely. If you remember, that’s how it was in the paid blue tick event.
Musk’s Tweet and alternative suggestions under it are as follows:
What are your suggestions for terms that can be used instead of ‘follower’? Let’s meet in the comments…