Around a year ago, Alphonzo Terrell received a notification that he had been laid off from his position at Twitter. Terrell, who had spent three years leading Twitter’s social and editorial teams, was one of approximately 3,700 employees let go from the company on November 4, 2022, just a week after Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. On the same day, Terrell tweeted that it was “time to build something new” and reached out to his friend and former colleague, DeVaris Brown.
Terrell, known as “Phonz” online, stated in an interview with CNN in September that he called Brown and said, “I think it’s time to build, and if we do this together, I think this can be really successful.” Within hours, Terrell and Brown had formulated plans to launch a new app capitalizing on their experience building online communities while addressing common issues associated with traditional social media platforms. Their vision was to create a platform that embodied the qualities most social media platforms struggle to achieve: positivity, safety, and inclusivity. They named their project “Spill,” inspired by the phrase “spill the tea,” which is often used to refer to sharing gossip or information.
Terrell has been working at the intersection of technology, media, and culture, mostly behind the scenes, for years. However, now he is making a significant bet on a concept that other social networks have attempted but have consistently fallen short of achieving: establishing a safe, rewarding, and financially successful platform for historically marginalized users, including Black and LGBTQ+ communities.
While Spill is open to everyone, Terrell believes that by focusing on serving marginalized communities, implementing new content moderation strategies, and creating payment structures for content creators, the platform’s overall user experience will be enhanced. Spill’s mission is clearly outlined in its community guidelines, which state the intention to create “an inclusive space that centers the experiences of the people that are typically left behind by social media platforms,” while also allowing room for discussions and debates.
The platform’s leadership believes that such a platform is even more crucial in the aftermath of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Under Musk’s leadership, policy updates, changes to content moderation practices, and controversial statements have reportedly led to an increase in hate speech on Twitter, prompting many users to seek alternatives. As the user base of Twitter, now known as X, fragments, so does the Black Twitter community, which played a significant role in Twitter’s growth and culture. Terrell aims to provide a home for these users on Spill.
Terrell, now serving as Spill’s co-founder and CEO, explained, “Having worked at Twitter, I was very familiar with where the challenges of that platform were. Our core thesis with Spill was to focus on the culture drivers — Black women, the queer community, other culture-driving communities around the world that are often setting the tone, the trends, the lexicon, all the amazing magic that will happen on social platforms, but getting the lion’s share of hate, abuse [and] not getting credited or rewarded the way they should for their contributions.”