4 ms·

I don't disagree with you! However, proposing that the government (for instance) should be able to forcibly socialize a platform "for the greater good" opens up

by pcstl 4y ago

I don't disagree with you! However, proposing that the government (for instance) should be able to forcibly socialize a platform "for the greater good" opens up some very risky avenues.

jimkleiber 4y ago
What if it doesn't have to be a government forcing but rather a user demanding? Any way that users unionize or demand "no attention without representation"?
- avar 4y ago
  Yes, stop using Twitter. It wouldn't work as a company without unpaid user engagement. Comparing it to unionization or political representation is ridiculous. Most users of Twitter are getting exactly what they want from it: entertainment from a product that's provided "for free".
  - jimkleiber 4y ago
    I believe a total boycott is one approach to try to get a group of people to change their behaviors. I think unionization is another approach that people take, who, for whichever reasons, don't want to leave, and try to gain collective bargaining power to change how the group of people behaves. I think political representation is another approach that people take to change the structure of decision making so that when people don't like something, they have more options than threatening to leave. But as you say, maybe most, or even the vast majority, of Twitter users don't care and just want it for the "free" entertainment. And that's fine, I'm not saying that people who are satisfied with the current behavior should take any approach to try to change them. I guess I just don't think "well, if you don't like it, you should just leave" approach works very well in situations where it can be quite detrimental for people to leave. Maybe it seems easier because it's "just an app" but some people build much of their professional and social lives on some of these platforms—I know many of these platforms have mediated my professional and social lives during the pandemic—and just up and leaving everything behind may not be the approach that people always want to take for change.

by pcstl 4y ago

I don't disagree with you! However, proposing that the government (for instance) should be able to forcibly socialize a platform "for the greater good" opens up some very risky avenues.

jimkleiber 4y ago

What if it doesn't have to be a government forcing but rather a user demanding? Any way that users unionize or demand "no attention without representation"?

avar 4y ago
Yes, stop using Twitter. It wouldn't work as a company without unpaid user engagement. Comparing it to unionization or political representation is ridiculous. Most users of Twitter are getting exactly what they want from it: entertainment from a product that's provided "for free".
- jimkleiber 4y ago
  I believe a total boycott is one approach to try to get a group of people to change their behaviors. I think unionization is another approach that people take, who, for whichever reasons, don't want to leave, and try to gain collective bargaining power to change how the group of people behaves. I think political representation is another approach that people take to change the structure of decision making so that when people don't like something, they have more options than threatening to leave. But as you say, maybe most, or even the vast majority, of Twitter users don't care and just want it for the "free" entertainment. And that's fine, I'm not saying that people who are satisfied with the current behavior should take any approach to try to change them. I guess I just don't think "well, if you don't like it, you should just leave" approach works very well in situations where it can be quite detrimental for people to leave. Maybe it seems easier because it's "just an app" but some people build much of their professional and social lives on some of these platforms—I know many of these platforms have mediated my professional and social lives during the pandemic—and just up and leaving everything behind may not be the approach that people always want to take for change.