Former Twitter staff launch Spill to provide a safe haven for ‘Black Twitter’ after hate-speech soars with Elon Musk.

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DeVaris Brown and Alphonzo “Phonz” Terrell have created a new alternative to Twitter, Spill. They already have 20,000 people on their waitlist for Spill, Terrell stated.

Two former Twitter employees today announced the creation Spill, a social platform that caters to “culture drivers” as well as serving as a refuge to creators from Black Twitter.

TechCrunch spoke with Alphonzo Terrell “Phonz”, and DeVaris brown, who said that Spill was “a real-time platform that puts culture first”.

Terrell was Twitter’s global head for social and editorial until last month when he was one of the thousands of employees fired following Elon Musk’s takeover. Brown was a product manager at Twitter and worked on machine-learning for more than a year. However, in 2020, he created the Series A startup Meroxa which is a real-time data platform.

Terrell announced the app by tweeting, “While Spill can be used by everyone, we cater to culture drivers who often set new trends but routinely get overlooked or under compensated,” “Yes, that includes Black creators and Queer creators as well as a range of influential voices from outside the U.S.”

TechCrunch was told by the founders that they became close friends while working at Twitter as Black employees and wanted to create a place to celebrate the cultural contributions and influential content created by Black users.

According to The Guardian, Black Twitter has been called “a cultural force that must be reckoned” and is the source of many viral digital culture moments. The unofficial online network is responsible for popularizing hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName as well as the Kermit the Frog drinking-tea meme (among others).

“Even before leaving Twitter, over the past several months, I was talking to Black female creators, speaking to Black queer creators, and I’m like, “How do you make money?” Are you supported by any platform? Is the idea of Spill appealing to you? Terrell spoke to TechCrunch.

Named after the phrase “spill” and featuring a feature called “tea party”, the Spill app will make use of blockchain to pay users for their most popular posts. It will also include a feature called tea parties where users can meet up online or in person to share information.

Terrell said to TechCrunch that it’s not a web3 phenomenon. “But, the use of blockchain allows us to credit creators and set up a system for them to be compensated automatically.” Terrell told TechCrunch. It’s very effective if they have a spillage that goes viral, and we monetize it.

In October, hate speech has skyrocketed since Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter for $44 billion. Popular Black Twitter users have turned to comedy to grieve the loss of their online community.

TechCrunch’s Brown stated that “we’ll be more intentional about things that will be considered offensive because this is our lived experience, or learned experience.” It will be easier to identify those things that could harm the platform and make it unsafe for users or creators.

Terrell tweeted after the announcement that Spill had received 22,000 reservations for handles in less than 12 hours.

Terrell tweeted, “Thanks for the love, the feedback and the many offers of support – you don’t know how much this means.”

Spill advisors April Reign and Spill advisors DeRay Mckesson, Dantley Davis and Terrell Brown did not immediately respond when Insider asked for comment.

Business Insider has the original article.
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By: ktangalakislippert@insider.com (Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert)
Title: Former Twitter employees launch Spill, a refuge for ‘Black Twitter,’ after hate speech soars under Elon Musk’s leadership
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/introducing-spill-a-twitter-alternative-created-by-former-employees-2022-12
Published Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2022 17:37:00 +0000