There is no mass migration in social media

When talking about social media, it’s common to metaphorically say that there’s a “migration” from one platform to another. When Tumblr policies changed, users migrated to Twitter. When Twitter got bought by a billionaire, users migrated to Bluesky. Users migrate from Instagram to TikTok back to Instagram again. The language calls to mind birds flying south for the winter, or people moving from one country to another. I’ve even seen, though I’m not huge fan of it, people referring to “Twitter refugees” on Bluesky. People are hooked on this idea of metaphorically packing your bags and leaving one platform for another. Obviously, this is all non-literal figure of speech. I use the same metaphor myself sometimes. However I think it is worth noting that social media usage is not necessarily like migration, and the distinction matters. For most people, social media is a matter of personal choice, attention, and habit. I think it’s a waste of time to wait for your flock or your family to…