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How does allowing people to advertise on Twitter make that process better? I don't see it.

• azornathogron 4y ago
  It doesn't, and I was not claiming anything like that. In fact I wasn't making any claim about anything at all. I was just pointing out some broader context that the way ideas spread and consensus forms or changes is a messy and human process and always has been, and that it's something people have been thinking about for a long time already, so there are plenty of ideas to read about the topic for anyone who is interested in it. If you do want a claim, my personal opinion is that Twitter's choices to ban or allow certain advertising will make no noticeable difference to the progress of scientific understanding, because I don't think adverts on Twitter are a communication channel that matters for the spread of ideas within academic communities. I can imagine that over time it might make a difference to lay-people's beliefs about some things, although I'm not sure whether Twitter has a broad enough audience to really change much here. Since I personally am fully onboard the "climate change is real, and it's real bad" train, I don't have any problem with Twitter banning adverts that spread the opposite idea. If it was a ban on what general Twitter users can post then I would have a problem with it, but I'm ok with a ban on adverts. Maybe that's inconsistent of me, I don't know.