3 ms·

Competition? The social network market is split between a few big monopolists that will buy up or destroy any new upstart. And even if we assume a free market,

Competition? The social network market is split between a few big monopolists that will buy up or destroy any new upstart. And even if we assume a free market, I don't follow your logic. Twitter has vastly more lax moderation since Elon Musk took over and people are LEAVING it. It clearly shows that many users actually prefer better moderated platforms.

intended 2y ago
The underlying competition I am referring to is the competition for attention. —— Yet, if we are too look at firms, TikTok came on the scene and at everyone’s lunch, till they came up with clones. Your example, Bluesky, is also competition. ——- The fact that people are leaving Nazis doesn’t mean that people are somehow escaping the battle for attention. See for example, the radicalization of the left which has finally accelerated enough to be its own force. Given enough time, Bluesky will also find that its users must deal with the same forces. If you want content to succeed on Bsky, you need to get eyeballs, which means you need to compete with other things people will watch. —— You also missed the part that moderation construes a violation of the popular definition of “Free speech”, and is thus censorship. I know it’s nonsense. I used to run a boring community; people eventually leave or start importing drama from the more active parts of the web. You have to tamp down on that, which results in the “violation of free speech”. So you now have pressures to stop moderation. Heck, Wikipedia is being targeted, senators are bankrupting misinformation researchers, all to ensure that they are able to maintain the lowest level of moderation possible. People need to wise up to the point of free speech, i.e. ensuring the functioning of a market place of ideas.

3 ms·

Competition? The social network market is split between a few big monopolists that will buy up or destroy any new upstart. And even if we assume a free market,

by cardanome 2y ago

intended 2y ago
The underlying competition I am referring to is the competition for attention. —— Yet, if we are too look at firms, TikTok came on the scene and at everyone’s lunch, till they came up with clones. Your example, Bluesky, is also competition. ——- The fact that people are leaving Nazis doesn’t mean that people are somehow escaping the battle for attention. See for example, the radicalization of the left which has finally accelerated enough to be its own force. Given enough time, Bluesky will also find that its users must deal with the same forces. If you want content to succeed on Bsky, you need to get eyeballs, which means you need to compete with other things people will watch. —— You also missed the part that moderation construes a violation of the popular definition of “Free speech”, and is thus censorship. I know it’s nonsense. I used to run a boring community; people eventually leave or start importing drama from the more active parts of the web. You have to tamp down on that, which results in the “violation of free speech”. So you now have pressures to stop moderation. Heck, Wikipedia is being targeted, senators are bankrupting misinformation researchers, all to ensure that they are able to maintain the lowest level of moderation possible. People need to wise up to the point of free speech, i.e. ensuring the functioning of a market place of ideas.