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We live in a world where Twitter is the place to get information about official government policy (US) or emergency alerts regarding life-or-death situations (N

We live in a world where Twitter is the place to get information about official government policy (US) or emergency alerts regarding life-or-death situations (NS). If Twitter were not a common infrastructure, it should have been downright illegal to use it like one, at least for government agencies and officials. That ship has sailed long ago. We might as well try to make sure everyone has unfettered access to Twitter. Because sometimes, the alternative is literally death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Nova_Scotia_attacks#Lack_of_emergency_alert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Nova_Scotia_attacks#Lack_...

superfrank 6y ago
No it isn't. Personally, I'm very up to date on what is going on in the world and I've never had a Twitter account and maybe go to the site once a month. Pretty much the only time I even see Twitter is when it's linked in news articles. It's completely possible to get almost the exact same information you get from Twitter elsewhere. Even in the link you provided, it says that they used Twitter as well as Facebook to broadcast their message. Twitter is not a utility. It's one of many news aggregators and it's completely possible to live without it.
mxskelly 6y ago
What? I have never used Twitter in any serious capacity. There are plenty of ways to get all this information and thinking that Twitter is the de-facto place to get emergency life or death situation notifications is downright laughable. As far as I can tell, I haven't gotten swept up by a tornado yet because I don't have Twitter to see severe storm alerts. If your only source of news or alerts is a single service run by a corporation that isn't beholden to anyone but themselves, that's your problem.
eesmith 6y ago
Your NS example shows why Twitter isn't common infrastructure and wasn't an effective method for getting information out in life-or-death situations: > .. many questions were raised about why Nova Scotia failed to use Alert Ready, Canada's mandatory emergency population warning system, to warn the public about the attacks but instead chose to use social media platforms Twitter and Facebook to provide updates, RCMP officials said they had been dealing with an unfolding situation and details were being updated frequently. However, the areas affected had poor cellular Internet service and were mostly populated by seniors who might not have used social media. Relatives of the victims pointed out that the use of Alert Ready could have saved lives. I stopped using FB 8 years ago because the attention-seeking design was making me depressed, always wanting to check was was going on. If we say that Twitter and FB are the places to get information about official government policy then 1) we need to let minors under the age of 13 have Twitter account (not allowed under the current ToS), 2) we need to have some way to ensure that personal information is not sent outside the country (currently allowed in the current ToS) or sold in any form - basically, the same protections as if you were to go to a government-hosted site - and 3) we need some way so people can see only essential government information, without advertising or viewing other sources designed around "engagement". I don't think Twitter wants to take on this role.

superfrank 6y ago

No it isn't. Personally, I'm very up to date on what is going on in the world and I've never had a Twitter account and maybe go to the site once a month. Pretty much the only time I even see Twitter is when it's linked in news articles. It's completely possible to get almost the exact same information you get from Twitter elsewhere. Even in the link you provided, it says that they used Twitter as well as Facebook to broadcast their message. Twitter is not a utility. It's one of many news aggregators and it's completely possible to live without it.

mxskelly 6y ago

What? I have never used Twitter in any serious capacity. There are plenty of ways to get all this information and thinking that Twitter is the de-facto place to get emergency life or death situation notifications is downright laughable. As far as I can tell, I haven't gotten swept up by a tornado yet because I don't have Twitter to see severe storm alerts. If your only source of news or alerts is a single service run by a corporation that isn't beholden to anyone but themselves, that's your problem.

eesmith 6y ago

Your NS example shows why Twitter isn't common infrastructure and wasn't an effective method for getting information out in life-or-death situations: > .. many questions were raised about why Nova Scotia failed to use Alert Ready, Canada's mandatory emergency population warning system, to warn the public about the attacks but instead chose to use social media platforms Twitter and Facebook to provide updates, RCMP officials said they had been dealing with an unfolding situation and details were being updated frequently. However, the areas affected had poor cellular Internet service and were mostly populated by seniors who might not have used social media. Relatives of the victims pointed out that the use of Alert Ready could have saved lives. I stopped using FB 8 years ago because the attention-seeking design was making me depressed, always wanting to check was was going on. If we say that Twitter and FB are the places to get information about official government policy then 1) we need to let minors under the age of 13 have Twitter account (not allowed under the current ToS), 2) we need to have some way to ensure that personal information is not sent outside the country (currently allowed in the current ToS) or sold in any form - basically, the same protections as if you were to go to a government-hosted site - and 3) we need some way so people can see only essential government information, without advertising or viewing other sources designed around "engagement". I don't think Twitter wants to take on this role.