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Truly incredible that it is not recognised that Twitter is part of the problem and not the solution. Somehow extensive journalism and investigation by governme

Truly incredible that it is not recognised that Twitter is part of the problem and not the solution. Somehow extensive journalism and investigation by government bodies seems to have been completely lost in the noise. Twitter and Facebook have been weaponised brilliantly by the Russians. They are a big part of how we got here.

ashwagary 5y ago
If abuse is dealt with adequately (which is a tall task), this approach allows more worldwide discussions which is a productive mission. Being able to remove ones self from heavily controlled corporate echo chambers is refreshing to thinkers that strive for objectivity.
dash2 5y ago
Actually I think Twitter has been at its best, at least since the start of the invasion. I’ve been able to access expertise, military and political; see eye-witness video from Russia and Ukraine; follow the news minute by minute. Bullshit has been called out. People have worked to geolocate war crimes. Russian trolls have completely failed to control the narrative. Ukraine’s indomitable tractor drivers have nicked tanks. And the best evidence for this is the Russians shutting it down.
- practice9 5y ago
  And Twitter is the only platform that actually suspends the reported Russian disinformation bot/troll accounts (Youtube is bad at this)
- WanderPanda 5y ago
  This is exactly my experience as well. Extremely high quality information with bullshit directly being called out (even in the case of pro Unrainian fake news like the „ghost of kiev“ thing). I was waiting for the russian propaganda bots all the time but they never showed up (except for one youtube video where the whole comment section was full of whataboutism). Compared to what you get from curating a hand full of twitter accounts with a good track record / reputation traditional media and government outlets are pure noise in my experience.
- wolverine876 5y ago
  > Bullshit has been called out. Research and, IMHO, reason show that unless you have real domain expertise or direct experience of the event, you can't distinguish well-crafted bullshit from truth. > I’ve been able to access expertise, military and political Those are accessible outside Twitter. Better, the expertise is less diluted by noise, and you get expertise + focused work (papers and articles, with editors, etc.) not hot takes. Just read foreign policy publications like Foriegn Policy or Foreign Affairs. > Russian trolls have completely failed to control the narrative. ... And the best evidence for this is the Russians shutting it down. That may be true in this case (I am not so ready to conclude it), but we know well that it hasn't been true in many others and won't be true in yet more, and people can't distinguish. Also, that does't mean others don't control the narrative - people who using the crisis for their own ends or even people you coincidentally support.
  - dash2 5y ago
    It’s true that expertise is available outside Twitter, but Twitter has been great at letting me find it. The mechanism is retweets from people I trust. Note, trust also helps distinguish bullshit from truth. I don’t know what a Javelin is, or how the war in the south is progressing, but the right journalist can find the right expert who does. I don’t say these problems have been solved perfectly, just that they’re better than I expected.
anonporridge 5y ago
True, but a conversation about that can't exclude the fact that state sponsored information streams have been weaponized ever since the first states started providing official information.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Slikey 5y ago
I believe Twitter is trying to be better though and it appears they do chip away at this. They have also been in a difficult situation between cancel culture and free speech absolutism. Determining the reasonable solution is hard when the extreme edges and vocal minorities are yelling at you. My personal hope is that Twitter will further crack down on the very low hanging bots / trolls / alt accounts - there are many especially young accounts with handles like @Name359345809 which don't contribute to the platform in any way.

ashwagary 5y ago

If abuse is dealt with adequately (which is a tall task), this approach allows more worldwide discussions which is a productive mission. Being able to remove ones self from heavily controlled corporate echo chambers is refreshing to thinkers that strive for objectivity.

dash2 5y ago

Actually I think Twitter has been at its best, at least since the start of the invasion. I’ve been able to access expertise, military and political; see eye-witness video from Russia and Ukraine; follow the news minute by minute. Bullshit has been called out. People have worked to geolocate war crimes. Russian trolls have completely failed to control the narrative. Ukraine’s indomitable tractor drivers have nicked tanks. And the best evidence for this is the Russians shutting it down.

practice9 5y ago
And Twitter is the only platform that actually suspends the reported Russian disinformation bot/troll accounts (Youtube is bad at this)
WanderPanda 5y ago
This is exactly my experience as well. Extremely high quality information with bullshit directly being called out (even in the case of pro Unrainian fake news like the „ghost of kiev“ thing). I was waiting for the russian propaganda bots all the time but they never showed up (except for one youtube video where the whole comment section was full of whataboutism). Compared to what you get from curating a hand full of twitter accounts with a good track record / reputation traditional media and government outlets are pure noise in my experience.
wolverine876 5y ago
> Bullshit has been called out. Research and, IMHO, reason show that unless you have real domain expertise or direct experience of the event, you can't distinguish well-crafted bullshit from truth. > I’ve been able to access expertise, military and political Those are accessible outside Twitter. Better, the expertise is less diluted by noise, and you get expertise + focused work (papers and articles, with editors, etc.) not hot takes. Just read foreign policy publications like Foriegn Policy or Foreign Affairs. > Russian trolls have completely failed to control the narrative. ... And the best evidence for this is the Russians shutting it down. That may be true in this case (I am not so ready to conclude it), but we know well that it hasn't been true in many others and won't be true in yet more, and people can't distinguish. Also, that does't mean others don't control the narrative - people who using the crisis for their own ends or even people you coincidentally support.
- dash2 5y ago
  It’s true that expertise is available outside Twitter, but Twitter has been great at letting me find it. The mechanism is retweets from people I trust. Note, trust also helps distinguish bullshit from truth. I don’t know what a Javelin is, or how the war in the south is progressing, but the right journalist can find the right expert who does. I don’t say these problems have been solved perfectly, just that they’re better than I expected.

anonporridge 5y ago

True, but a conversation about that can't exclude the fact that state sponsored information streams have been weaponized ever since the first states started providing official information.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Slikey 5y ago

I believe Twitter is trying to be better though and it appears they do chip away at this. They have also been in a difficult situation between cancel culture and free speech absolutism. Determining the reasonable solution is hard when the extreme edges and vocal minorities are yelling at you. My personal hope is that Twitter will further crack down on the very low hanging bots / trolls / alt accounts - there are many especially young accounts with handles like @Name359345809 which don't contribute to the platform in any way.