5 ms·

The sooner we get away from the delusion that "twitter is basically a public service," the better. This timult has been good for people to internalize that it'

The sooner we get away from the delusion that "twitter is basically a public service," the better. This timult has been good for people to internalize that it's a private, for-profit company, whose leadership can change, whose moral compass is up for grabs. Not the right venue for official communications from governments and institutions, let alone you or me...

asynchronous 3y ago
This and Facebook. The way Americans + the rest of the world treat it, you’d think it was a public utility.
- whalesalad 3y ago
  Americans + the world = the world?
  - asynchronous 3y ago
    Edit for clarity
  - krustyburger 3y ago
    https://morbotron.com/caption/S02E07/121811 https://morbotron.com/caption/S02E07/121811
- dudul 3y ago
  Are Americans not part of the world? Edit: the parent used to read "Americans and the world". Ergo, my comment. The edit is as silly: "Americans and the rest of the world", why not say "the world" then?
  - elcritch 3y ago
    Sometimes it feels like that here.
whalesalad 3y ago
People don’t think the company is a public service - they think that about the function. The real delusion is mastodon being a reasonable replacement.
- bluejekyll 3y ago
  > The real delusion is mastodon being a reasonable replacement Personally, I've found Mastadon to be a fantastic replacement. What do you believe are the things that make Mastadon not a decent replacement? It definitely fits better with the public and open service that people wanted Twitter to be.
  - jeffbee 3y ago
    > What do you believe are the things that make Mastadon not a decent replacement Nobody uses it. Talking to yourself was not a mainstream use-case for Twitter users.
    - philipov 3y ago
      By that logic, nobody should have started using Twitter in the first place, because when it started, no one used it either. It's circular reasoning.
      - jeffbee 3y ago
        Most social networks try to provide the energy necessary to get a critical mass of users aboard, but Mastodon is the opposite. Mastodon throws up a torrent of Nerd Bullshit® to make sure that only the chosen few will tolerate it.
    - bauerd 3y ago
      The network effect you describe is not a property of the platform itself
    - bluejekyll 3y ago
      > Nobody uses it. Who is nobody? Almost all of the people I used to follow and discuss the topics I cared about on Twitter are now all on Mastadon. I find that I'm having similar discussions at this point with almost all the same people I used to.
trial3 3y ago
i think elon himself is actively trying to have it both ways - he's attempting to run it like the for-profit business you've mentioned but he's also continuing that "town square" idea/rhetoric: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1666945495334256642 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1666945495334256642
- maxlin 3y ago
  This is really only because he's moving it more towards something like an utility - it still is a for-profit company, one can't easily just change that especially considering the hostility towards freedom of speech in the world currently.
- orwin 3y ago
  I like the second tweet (sadly he does not mention crimethInc, but considering he banned them I understand why) (and yes, I'll keep mentioning that ban until I get the reason why) but the first one is so full of shit, even if I'm not a fan of the guy I don't think he wrote it himself. Maybe the new corporate CEO did, totally the kind of corporate shit I'd expect from a salesman (saleswoman in that case)
maxlin 3y ago
It is more like a piblic service than ever now. Maybe the "bias" is more visible for some people than before, but it's gone down to 10% of it was before (no mass bannings of conservatives and general oppressiveness against speech!!). Only shows the blindness towards those that think it's somehow more biased now. Jesus. The old board's moral compass was surely for sale, that is true. Never again.
- test77777 3y ago
  I know this will be perceived as “mean” or “bad discussion” but based on your comment history you truly have an unhealthy obsession with Elon Musk and that fact really scares me because on this site your vote equals ten of mine because you post all the time.
  - maxlin 3y ago
    I have a healthy appreciation of the person. If he was an AI, or an anonymous council, I would say the same. But these entities tend to be exceptional humans. I have had largely the same opinion of the man for ~10 years and understand where his decision-making comes from so with nowadays's trendy ill-informed hate-opinions I tend to drive discussion out of the distasteful anti-progress rhetoric that is undeserved. I can assure you my decisionmaking and posts come from a good place. In an increasingly skewed world straight lines don't look right anymore. For what it's worth, I don't think you're unaligned to the current state of the world saying what you're saying. > Because I post all the time I don't? I have had lengths of years of just lurking. Maybe I'm a bit more active nowadays but am far from as active as the top 20% or so on the platform probably. Also my vote doesn't count more than yours. But from what I've seen at times I think some botters votes truly mean more than ours. I still put the original thought and work to every single one of my writings while knowing that. Truth and hard work will always prevail.

asynchronous 3y ago

This and Facebook. The way Americans + the rest of the world treat it, you’d think it was a public utility.

whalesalad 3y ago
Americans + the world = the world?
- asynchronous 3y ago
  Edit for clarity
- krustyburger 3y ago
  https://morbotron.com/caption/S02E07/121811 https://morbotron.com/caption/S02E07/121811
dudul 3y ago
Are Americans not part of the world? Edit: the parent used to read "Americans and the world". Ergo, my comment. The edit is as silly: "Americans and the rest of the world", why not say "the world" then?
- elcritch 3y ago
  Sometimes it feels like that here.

whalesalad 3y ago

People don’t think the company is a public service - they think that about the function. The real delusion is mastodon being a reasonable replacement.

bluejekyll 3y ago
> The real delusion is mastodon being a reasonable replacement Personally, I've found Mastadon to be a fantastic replacement. What do you believe are the things that make Mastadon not a decent replacement? It definitely fits better with the public and open service that people wanted Twitter to be.
- jeffbee 3y ago
  > What do you believe are the things that make Mastadon not a decent replacement Nobody uses it. Talking to yourself was not a mainstream use-case for Twitter users.
  - philipov 3y ago
    By that logic, nobody should have started using Twitter in the first place, because when it started, no one used it either. It's circular reasoning.
    - jeffbee 3y ago
      Most social networks try to provide the energy necessary to get a critical mass of users aboard, but Mastodon is the opposite. Mastodon throws up a torrent of Nerd Bullshit® to make sure that only the chosen few will tolerate it.
  - bauerd 3y ago
    The network effect you describe is not a property of the platform itself
  - bluejekyll 3y ago
    > Nobody uses it. Who is nobody? Almost all of the people I used to follow and discuss the topics I cared about on Twitter are now all on Mastadon. I find that I'm having similar discussions at this point with almost all the same people I used to.

trial3 3y ago

i think elon himself is actively trying to have it both ways - he's attempting to run it like the for-profit business you've mentioned but he's also continuing that "town square" idea/rhetoric: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1666945495334256642 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1666945495334256642

maxlin 3y ago
This is really only because he's moving it more towards something like an utility - it still is a for-profit company, one can't easily just change that especially considering the hostility towards freedom of speech in the world currently.
orwin 3y ago
I like the second tweet (sadly he does not mention crimethInc, but considering he banned them I understand why) (and yes, I'll keep mentioning that ban until I get the reason why) but the first one is so full of shit, even if I'm not a fan of the guy I don't think he wrote it himself. Maybe the new corporate CEO did, totally the kind of corporate shit I'd expect from a salesman (saleswoman in that case)

maxlin 3y ago

It is more like a piblic service than ever now. Maybe the "bias" is more visible for some people than before, but it's gone down to 10% of it was before (no mass bannings of conservatives and general oppressiveness against speech!!). Only shows the blindness towards those that think it's somehow more biased now. Jesus. The old board's moral compass was surely for sale, that is true. Never again.

test77777 3y ago
I know this will be perceived as “mean” or “bad discussion” but based on your comment history you truly have an unhealthy obsession with Elon Musk and that fact really scares me because on this site your vote equals ten of mine because you post all the time.
- maxlin 3y ago
  I have a healthy appreciation of the person. If he was an AI, or an anonymous council, I would say the same. But these entities tend to be exceptional humans. I have had largely the same opinion of the man for ~10 years and understand where his decision-making comes from so with nowadays's trendy ill-informed hate-opinions I tend to drive discussion out of the distasteful anti-progress rhetoric that is undeserved. I can assure you my decisionmaking and posts come from a good place. In an increasingly skewed world straight lines don't look right anymore. For what it's worth, I don't think you're unaligned to the current state of the world saying what you're saying. > Because I post all the time I don't? I have had lengths of years of just lurking. Maybe I'm a bit more active nowadays but am far from as active as the top 20% or so on the platform probably. Also my vote doesn't count more than yours. But from what I've seen at times I think some botters votes truly mean more than ours. I still put the original thought and work to every single one of my writings while knowing that. Truth and hard work will always prevail.