If the nasty people can say nasty things then of course, Twitter must fail:
The Twitter we once knew is dying. While the site is still functioning (for now), the signs of collapse are clear. The value of a social network is its users and the communities they build, so as Elon Musk burns trust and core users leave the platform in droves, Twitter as we knew it seems to be gasping its final breaths, even if the site itself manages to cling to life.
Stands to reason, dunnit?
Reality being that they’re desperate that it does fail – so that they can say that if nasty people get to have free speech then that’s not free speech, is it?
I’ve a mind to sign up to Twitter (but not actually use it) in support of Free Speech. But if Twitter does fail because the Woke abandon ship then that’s good too.
Twitter…. The gift that keeps on giving…
Hand me the Salt Shovel!!
I’m not seeing Twitter dying. It seems busier than ever.
Does the Guardian count Trump as one of those “core users” who are “leaving in droves”?
The Guardian. Shouting at capitalists from the sidelines since 1821.
Democratic control = activists take over
Owned by the people = activists take over and give each other jobs
Essential infrastructure = stuff you need that activists have taken control of, given each other jobs and you still have to pay for it all
Keeping the Russian influence out = activists have taken over and are censoring things they don’t like to hear
Simple…
It’s enabled me to join and help build the Australian digital rights movement; working together to stand up for human rights online.
Just not the rights of people who don’t agree with me.
I note from the comments BTL that not many Guardian readers care what happens to Twatter.
All those people leaving Twitter are they the same who left the USA because Trump won in 2016?
If it’s true that Twitter is sweeping out all the shite, there may henceforth be a more pleasant atmosphere.
in this day’s installment of Sinfest: more Twitter fun.
Samantha Floreani is a digital rights activist and writer. They are the program lead at Digital Rights Watch.
What a stupid cow.
Hello, I’m Sam!
I’m a digital rights activist and writer. I live on the unceded land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Eastern Kulin Nation.
My name’s Steve and I live on the Ning Nang Nong where the cows go “bong!” and the monkeys all say BOO.
I must say that I was a bit dubious when I heard Elon Musk was planning on buying Twitter, given that Twitter HQ was little more than a “Nest of Marxists” as St. Margaret of Thatcher would no doubt have said had she still been knocking around and compos mentis.
I naturally assumed that he would be consumed by the Twitter blob in some form, but he’s done pretty well and seems to have gotten rid of the worst by either firing them or offering generous terms to phuq off versus working for a living.
Provided he can keep things running, he might even start turning a profit in a year or two. Who’da thunk it?
So yes, I’m not surprised that the usual (Commie) suspects are having conniptions that instead of crashing and burning after the lefties abandon it for points West, there exists the possibility of Twitter 2.0 rising from the ashes and making a profit.
Well done Elon!
The wailing, gnashing of teeth and head explosions of our supposed moral betters over Twatter is giving me overwhelming feelings of delicious schadenfreude. Let the fucking thing blow up so they can complain some more.
The thing I find most galling though, is that these same people had no interest in free speech and other individual freedoms until something they like is threatened. Fuck those guys.
People can write letters I disagree with, therefor the whole postal system will collapse!
People can make phone calls I disagree with, therefor the whole telephone system will collapse!
People can publish newspapers I disagree with, therefore the whole journalism system will collapse!
People can send emails I disagree with, therefore the whole email system will collapse!
jgh, indeed.
The funny part is seeing all those same journalists coming back to post on Twitter that they’re getting blacklisted on Mastodon for “hate speech.”
So basically, they’d rather debase themselves on a micromanaged series of safe spaces that even they are too edgy for, than accept that sometimes they’ll read things they don’t like.
About the author: Samantha Floreani is a digital rights activist and writer. They are the program lead at Digital Rights Watch.
What the fuck is a “digital rights activist”?
And note the pronoun trouble.
What It is really upset about is the fact that her team won’t be able to continue as Twitter’s hall monitors.
The funny part is seeing all those same journalists coming back to post on Twitter that they’re getting blacklisted on Mastodon for “hate speech.”
That is amusing, but I have a feeling more than one of them quickly came to the realization that their readers don’t give enough of a fuck about them to follow them on platform other than Twitter.
Come to think of it, Mastadon sounds like Richard Murphy’s idea of digital heaven. A platform of informers informing on each other.
Counter-argument:
@Sam
Holy shit, that’s worse than I thought. The amount of micro-management is baffling.
…versus working for a living
Assumes facts not in evidence, M’lord.
It’s not baffling at all. 90% of Twitter staff were as useful as tits on a boar.
Truly a case of the lunatics running the asylum.
If Musk actually does turn this shit show around it’ll be one of the greatest business stories this century.
@TBH
Not that I’m such a hotshot myself, but when it comes to companies like Twitter which are this far gone, turning things around isn’t rocket science. I once had a CEO (one of the few I actually respected and was impressed by) say that simply getting the fundamentals right will put you ahead of 90% of your competition. That’s what Elon’s doing right now. Getting rid of the fluff and at least a great deal of the bullshit. The less time users have to spend wondering if their accounts will be suspended, the more time they’ll spend posting. The more people posting, the quicker advertisers and potential partners will come around. Of course, the best course of action is to be as independent as possible from advertisers, at least the ones influenced by BlackRock.
It’s not that Twitter wasn’t a successful platform already. It’s that they started intentionally failing by adopting failed practices. I imagine the only reason this process is at all hard for Musk, is because he has two other behemoth companies with more important implications. If no one bought Twitter, then maybe within 5 years someone else could’ve bought it for far less money and made the exact same changes. I’m just glad Elon expedited the inevitable.
Samantha Floreani is a digital rights activist and writer. They are the program lead at Digital Rights Watch.
I suppose there’s no chance young Sam is (are?) also on OnlyFans, is there?
Asking for a friend…..
;¬)
@DiscoveredJoys
I’ve a mind to sign up to Twitter (but not actually use it) in support of Free Speech. But if Twitter does fail because the Woke abandon ship then that’s good too.
This is broadly my wife’s view, too. She can’t really understand my interest in twitter. But that’s mostly because she doesn’t use it. It is extremely useful for finding stuff that the mainstream media simply will not report.
It is also an excellent place for discovering like-minded folk – though there is the echo chamber risk. Of course, the latter applies to the other side, too: until recently, it was somewhere that the woke and the filth could organise and communicate with each other unimpeded, while similar activity on the part of their opponents (ie us) was prohibited or at least disrupted.
The ability and appetite of the left (for want of a better word) to organise is what has led us to the sorry state we’re in now; we need to learn their lessons and copy them. Twitter is a good place to start IMO.
I see his Eloness has discoverd the Twitter stash of #StayWoke T-shirts
I na closet ‘natch!