i like it but i just want the cycle to continue until twitter goes under. it’s existence as a public sounding board for the continuous spew of garbage from the likes of trump and others is enough for me to toast to its farewell. i really don’t feel it’s done any good, but much harm.
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· 1 year ago
I thought the same way about Twatter, until I realized how for many people in areas of social and political crisis and unrest, that's pretty much the only way to report on government oppression and such. That made me even madder about how Jack Dorksey used to run that platform, not to mention the psychotic off-brand Batman villain who recently just bought it, merely as a toy.
I'm actually optimistic @party05 . Twitter has been a cesspool for years, and no doubt acted and continues to act as a conduit for "mind viruses", along with many other issues. But I think that the communication structure of Twitter and other such sites is essentially brand-new, culturally speaking. We don't fully understand what they are and the effects that they have. However hoomans are, on balance, fairly intelligent and I think we'll sort it out. Musk appears to have at least rid the site of child sexual abuse material and exposed how the FBI pressured old Twitter to remove completely legal speech and delete/suspend accounts of American citizens without their knowledge or any due process
For another point, we still see "mobbing" and other such "pile-on" behaviours, yet this is now psychologised. It's virtual, done in the form of rhetoric, rather than physical mobbing and lynching - which obviously still happen. But now much of the mobbing is angry tweets instead of pitchforks
Double catch there for sure. The first catch being that if Twitter went under it would most likely be swiftly replaced by something else to fill a similar roll, that would somehow find some way to likely be socially worse.
Those who hated My Space and Friendster might wish they could undo their falls if they knew that Facebook and Instagram were around the corner.
Thank goodness the “real” Napster was killed, platforms like Apple Music and Spotify have stopped the loss of IP control and revenue to the artists from people taking their songs for free and saved the industry!
Oh… they just replaced the taking of IP control and revenue by consumers with the taking by large corporations, helping cement their immense power and moving the mainstream from a system where friends and larger social groups discover and spread “hot” songs and artists to one’s where corporate promoted artists have the focus? Oops. And so on. Cable for streaming and blah blah.
The second catch is that we kind of get trapped- it’s a cliche analogy but it’s like a drug addiction. So much if this stuff is poison but quitting cold Turkey doesn’t just cost the “high,” it can leave you unable to function in society. It’s all linked. There are cars and homes and even essential work tasks that have functionally you can’t access without a Google or Facebook or some other account membership.
In many places craigslist is dead in certain segments and all the items have moved to Facebook market or other platforms help by giants.
Amazon is much hated but for many with disabilities or many elderly, Amazon prime or fresh services are essential to providing essentials they need at prices friendly to a fixed budget. I have a close friend who has an elderly father in a care home far from her so amazon is his lifeline.
So there are all these pocket cases and bright spots to much of this technology. The “smart home” may seem like some pointless convenience for those too lazy or rich to flip a switch but it also is a wonderful accessibility tool for those with different abilities, Twitter can provide access to communications for those who have no other options, not too many people who aren’t a fan of Batman villains thought “star link” was anything to applaud but many saw good in it as it helped the people of Ukraine defend their country. Then we saw more of the bad when a single private citizen showed that their own moods and a nations willingness to suck up or bend to their will can now possibly be influenced directly and openly by one brat not sharing their toys.
Mr. Musk can be impulsive and flighty but I doubt it was really a toy. Lasting and real power and wrath have long in history followed those who could control information.
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· 1 year ago
@cakelover "Musk [...] exposed how the FBI pressured old Twitter to remove completely legal speech and delete/suspend accounts of American citizens without their knowledge or any due process" - What in Cthulhu's name are you talking about?
For another point, we still see "mobbing" and other such "pile-on" behaviours, yet this is now psychologised. It's virtual, done in the form of rhetoric, rather than physical mobbing and lynching - which obviously still happen. But now much of the mobbing is angry tweets instead of pitchforks
Those who hated My Space and Friendster might wish they could undo their falls if they knew that Facebook and Instagram were around the corner.
Thank goodness the “real” Napster was killed, platforms like Apple Music and Spotify have stopped the loss of IP control and revenue to the artists from people taking their songs for free and saved the industry!
Oh… they just replaced the taking of IP control and revenue by consumers with the taking by large corporations, helping cement their immense power and moving the mainstream from a system where friends and larger social groups discover and spread “hot” songs and artists to one’s where corporate promoted artists have the focus? Oops. And so on. Cable for streaming and blah blah.
In many places craigslist is dead in certain segments and all the items have moved to Facebook market or other platforms help by giants.
Amazon is much hated but for many with disabilities or many elderly, Amazon prime or fresh services are essential to providing essentials they need at prices friendly to a fixed budget. I have a close friend who has an elderly father in a care home far from her so amazon is his lifeline.
Mr. Musk can be impulsive and flighty but I doubt it was really a toy. Lasting and real power and wrath have long in history followed those who could control information.