Could Letterboxd go the way of Twitter? Social media is already in mourning
In a social media landscape dominated by obnoxious ads, algorithms, and AI, Letterboxd has stood firm as a cult favorite. The app, which acts as a digital diary for users to log and leave reviews of any movie they watch, has been described by a Letterboxd spokesperson as “less a social media platform, more a community.” It’s resisted adding the infinite scroll feature that now seems omnipresent online, instead letting users curate their own feeds of friends and popular reviewers. But news that a controlling stake in Letterboxd could be going up for sale has users worried that their online safe haven could go the way of other resold apps like X. Canadian holding company Tiny, which acquired a 60% stake in Letterboxd in 2023, is looking to sell its majority share of the platform, Semafor reported. Potential buyers include Versant, the parent company of CNBC and MS NOW, and Hollywood newsletter The Ankler. Under new ownership, Letterboxd could transform in any number of ways—and the platform’s current users aren’t excited about any of them. Social media catastrophizes When news of the potential sale hit social media, Letterboxd’s avid users were immediately up in arms. One user called Letterboxd “our last vanguard of good social media.” A common anxiety among Letterboxd users was that the app would get sold to some billionaire who couldn’t care less about the platform’s mission of offering “a single place to showcase your life in film.” Many clearly had war flashbacks to the infamous 2022 sale of Twitter to Elon Musk, which transformed a once-beloved social site into a much-maligned platform ridden with monetized blue checkmarks and reply guys summoning Grok under every post. “Letterboxd cannot go to one of the billionaires,” that user continued. “I can’t do it, I can’t take it.” “If some corporation buys Letterboxd and I start getting hit with 40 unskippable ads every hour I’m deleting the app and never touching it again,” wrote another user. “