[Method-X]

For most regular non-tech people this is true. I think it’s best to control your own platform but you can still leverage Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc to grow your brand and make sure they’re onboarded to your own platform of sorts.

[rapnie]

> to grow your brand

Well, yes, if that is what you want to do. If you just want to be you online, and not 'grow a brand' it is best having a platform where you are in more control of doing so than these corporate advertising platforms that are indeed tailored to building brands.

[FormerBandmate]

Videos on YouTube will get 800x more views than views on yourownvideowebsite.com (assuming you aren’t a major Hollywood studio). Donald Trump went from 90 million followers on Twitter to 3.2 million followers on his own Twitter clone, and he has such a loyal following that people literally committed treason for him. Network effects are impossible to ignore

[spencerchubb]

That is such an incredible example. If Donald Trump doesn't have strong enough if a brand to overcome network effects, nobody does lmao

[webmaven]

> Donald Trump went from 90 million followers on Twitter to 3.2 million followers on his own Twitter clone, and he has such a loyal following that people literally committed treason for him. Network effects are impossible to ignore

You're not wrong, but please note that those are Trump loyalists that followed him to a service that Trump didn't actually use until quite recently:

https://www.pcmag.com/news/trump-makes-first-post-on-truth-s...

It kind of seems that far from being ignored, network effects were the main reason Trump was using Twitter in the first place.

[CM30]

It's probably worth pointing out that many people who followed Trump on Twitter weren't fans of his, but people who wanted to keep up with what he was saying (perhaps as critics, journalists, etc) and already had a Twitter account for other purposes. The folks who folowed him to his own Twitter clone were (by and large) actual fans who suppported him.

If you dislike Trump but want to monitor his actions, following him on Twitter might make sense. Joining a platform dominated by Trump supporters probably wouldn't.

[winternett]

Trump was a TV celebrity well before Twitter... That's not a good example.

These days YouTube does nothing to promote posters that aren't rich and/or famous already.

Having my own site and embedding my YT content is the only thing that helps me to be visible amongst a sea of celebrities who are already popular and promoted for free on the front pages of social sites like Twitter and YouTube.