While it's always nice to see someone freed from the shackles of social media, today's notable escape attempt is bittersweet. Prolific video game news hound Nibel (opens in new tab), who just recently launched Patreon, decided to pack it all in.

Looking at Nibel's feed was a daily routine when I was a news editor at PC Gamer, and while Twitter is no place for original reporting, Nibel's sharing of stories with headlines and sometimes bullet points made their feed the day's biggest repository of stories and proved equally valuable.

You've probably seen plenty of hat tips to Nibel in our articles, and it would be hard to find a site that hasn't benefited from their speedy news sharing. But a successful Twitter account does not necessarily translate into real-world success; despite gaining nearly half a million followers, Niebel has not found a way to sustain it.

"Unfortunately, I haven't been able to create an interesting and sustainable Patreon. This is evidenced by the stagnant Patreon numbers and the removal of the first (of many) pledges during the first weekend. 'I realized that the value of my Twitter activity was miscalculated and that for the vast majority of people, it just wasn't worth supporting. It is not me that is popular, but my useful work. It's not worth it in and of itself, but it's a pleasant time saver.

What Niebel did was not simple, as evidenced by the many other unheard-of Twitter accounts that share news. Staying on top of the big news at all times and knowing how to assemble it and pull out the most important details is a skill Niebel has that many people who run news-sharing accounts don't have. But it's hard to get people to pay for something they already get for free.

While Nibel underestimates their value in their introspective post, I agree that the main value of the account was a "pleasant time saver."

Nibel has created a very useful resource, and I think it's important for people to know that they're not paying for something that's already free. Especially for those who just want headlines, it is inconvenient to sign up for Patreon, join the Discord server, and do all the extra stuff.

I can relate, and anyone in journalism can too. Even the most valuable reporting is often not considered worth paying for, and since the decline of newspapers and magazines, this problem has become even greater. All news is available online for free. But while websites can rely on advertising revenue, affiliate links, and sponsored content, Twitter accounts that share news have no such options.

Niebel's final tweet reads: "After some introspection, I have decided to focus my time and energy on other things and leave Twitter. This marks the end of my video game coverage and my active participation on this platform. Thank you all for a great time.

Even though I stopped posting to Twitter in July, I continue to browse for work, and it is odd that Niebel's news no longer graces my feed. I can't bring myself to unfollow them when they post their last tweet.