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It's very hard for me to fathom why people want to be on a platform that lies about it's commitment to free speech, is pay to win, and is run by one of the wors

It's very hard for me to fathom why people want to be on a platform that lies about it's commitment to free speech, is pay to win, and is run by one of the worst people in the world right now. I never had a Twitter account, so perhaps my ignorance is showing.

bko 2y ago
Because it's where important information gets distributed and discussed Because a lot of important people are on it It's the social media platform that is the least "managed" by PR. In other words, you're more likely to have the person from the profile actually using the app rather than PR. I could imagine Mark Cuban is sitting on the can writing his on tweets, which is not true for his other communications. Because you can actually get paid if you produce a lot of engagement Or was your comment more rhetorical? Because there are valid reasons someone would use it. Do you think you're more likely to get your speech censored on Twitter compared to TikTok, Instagram, Reels, Facebook, Bluesky, etc? I don't get this hangup like "oh they lied about free speech" when literally every other social media platform is worse.
- timeon 2y ago
  > Because it's where important information gets distributed and discussed This seems less relevant each day. Even here on HN, Twitter used to be on front page almost every day. Now it is pretty rare. Which makes sense when most people are not able to see Twitter threads (if it works for non-logged at all). > when literally every other social media platform is worse This is based on?
  - bko 2y ago
    I don't think HN is representative of much outside of a niche corner of the internet. A lot of people, like the parent post, don't like Twitter due to political differences with the owner. So any Twitter post or post about Twitter often turns into a flame war and gets de-emphasized by HN mods or flagged by users. Twitter is incredibly influential. Newspapers quote tweets generously. I've seen entire articles based on the tweets of someone with barely any followers, often self serving, used as cover. For instance you'll see "widely criticized... X user [...] posted 'this is unprecedented'" You can not like Twitter and hold whatever political opinion you want, but don't pretend Twitter has little influence. > This is based on? I don't know, I see literal Nazis on the platform and I don't see them on any other social media platform, so maybe they have a more permissive policy? Doesn't seem an unreasonable measure of how much free speech is allowed. Similarly, I see people calling the owner a Nazi very prominently on my timeline and trending. I don't think you'll see TikTok trends criticizing China last very long. Again, you can not like the platform and want to see fewer Nazis, but don't gaslight me by pretending other social media companies outside of 4-chan are somehow more dedicated to free speech.
- tristan957 2y ago
  No other platform claims or claimed to have free speech, and I never claimed other platforms had it either.

bko 2y ago

Because it's where important information gets distributed and discussed Because a lot of important people are on it It's the social media platform that is the least "managed" by PR. In other words, you're more likely to have the person from the profile actually using the app rather than PR. I could imagine Mark Cuban is sitting on the can writing his on tweets, which is not true for his other communications. Because you can actually get paid if you produce a lot of engagement Or was your comment more rhetorical? Because there are valid reasons someone would use it. Do you think you're more likely to get your speech censored on Twitter compared to TikTok, Instagram, Reels, Facebook, Bluesky, etc? I don't get this hangup like "oh they lied about free speech" when literally every other social media platform is worse.

timeon 2y ago
> Because it's where important information gets distributed and discussed This seems less relevant each day. Even here on HN, Twitter used to be on front page almost every day. Now it is pretty rare. Which makes sense when most people are not able to see Twitter threads (if it works for non-logged at all). > when literally every other social media platform is worse This is based on?
- bko 2y ago
  I don't think HN is representative of much outside of a niche corner of the internet. A lot of people, like the parent post, don't like Twitter due to political differences with the owner. So any Twitter post or post about Twitter often turns into a flame war and gets de-emphasized by HN mods or flagged by users. Twitter is incredibly influential. Newspapers quote tweets generously. I've seen entire articles based on the tweets of someone with barely any followers, often self serving, used as cover. For instance you'll see "widely criticized... X user [...] posted 'this is unprecedented'" You can not like Twitter and hold whatever political opinion you want, but don't pretend Twitter has little influence. > This is based on? I don't know, I see literal Nazis on the platform and I don't see them on any other social media platform, so maybe they have a more permissive policy? Doesn't seem an unreasonable measure of how much free speech is allowed. Similarly, I see people calling the owner a Nazi very prominently on my timeline and trending. I don't think you'll see TikTok trends criticizing China last very long. Again, you can not like the platform and want to see fewer Nazis, but don't gaslight me by pretending other social media companies outside of 4-chan are somehow more dedicated to free speech.
tristan957 2y ago
No other platform claims or claimed to have free speech, and I never claimed other platforms had it either.