Just got sucked into a Twitter black hole
Phew....that was the longest time I've ever spent tweeting in my life...4 hours! I know there are some who have spent longer than that, and some who do it every single day. How's that working out for you.
I started in the morning when I saw @theycallmedan's call-to-action for Hive promo on Jack Dorsey's announcement of a blockchain based social media solution to fix everything wrong with Twitter.....OK?
I really like that Dan picked up on this. Forget about pitching this to Jack, this post generated a discussion to talk about alternatives and we are the best one out there. This is where we raise awareness of Hive. And so I posted my reply, and then made a few more comments.
One of my comments got a lot of attention. It was in reply to a guy who said something along the lines of "If Trump needs to be held accountable for what he encourage, what about all the people on the left who have encouraged violence". And I said something along the lines of "I'm someone who generally leans more left, and I totally agree, it's all one sided because that divides us and keeps us distracted fighting against each other.
Ah here it is:
Most of the comments were people on the right talking shit about the left and people on the left talking shit about the right.
Yeah. Twitter.
It was my first time getting so many damn likes and retweets and I have to say, the dopamine rush was real! It's not like the likes in themselves were validating for me, I'm not that insecure. What felt good was the opportunity to actually reach people and have an influence on the discussion.
And so I spent the afternoon tweeting away...and I kept getting notifications of new likes...all for the same posts. The rest of my posts and comments got nothing....
So this is what it's like?
Funny how the post where it was easy to shit talk went trending and all the positive and nice things I tweeted got NOTHING.
The algorithms along with sensational mainstream media ("left" and "right") have torn people apart and got them hating each other. And it's got us all shouting into a vacuum, our political beliefs, without actually changing or affecting anything. It's not as if these people are coming up to solutions to problems...they're all asking Elon Musk to save them.
I'm not judging! I’m not even saying Twitter is all bad. I’m just saying we lost to the algorithms. We weren’t strong enough.
It's all just human nature. Disempower people and they will beg for someone to save them. Make it feel like they have no power over the world and they will jump at the chance to reach a few hundred people, even if it's all an illusion.
It's a funny thing. I really respect Jack Dorsey. He seems to be one of the most honest and decent CEO's out there. I don't understand why Twitter is what it is. It really looks as if he is trying to steer a ship that has already crashed....trying to damage control when most of the damage has already been done. I don't think he wants to stop freedom of speech. I think he is being pressured to try and find a middle ground and there is no middle ground, because the middle ground has been destroyed and Twitter is one of the main culprits.
Anyway, this week has been whiplash jumping between duality and non-duality but I’m good. I may have actually reached 2-3 people but it’s not worth the headache for such a small impact. I’d rather for relationships and communities with people that are more about what we believe in than what we are against.
That’s why I’m here
Yea these things can drag you in at unbelievable rate ... I had close to this experience when the tron thing was happening .... a little convo with CZ binance on twitter ... its amazing when you think about it, how easily you can reach people on the social media ...
That's why I actually love and respect the technology...How it gets used, how the algorithms are programmed, how to incentivize development for greater good, how to keep them from dominating the narrative one way or another...these all get very sticky. I really think we are doing important work here. Even if it all fell apart (don't think it will), its still important work, so much we learned from Steem.
https://twitter.com/Bhattg18/status/1349693620480196609
lol, there is some point in what you said. I think its the way you put it that's what got the attention.
Sure had something to do with it but I'm pretty sure 99.9% of posts like this get ignored too...I replied 20 minutes after he posted, I'm sure that had a lot to do with it.
Yeah, I guess so. Most times we can't really be certain what will capture peoples attention
I have to agree with you on most of that. I don't think that Twitter or Facebook want to be censoring anything. I think most tech people understand the need for free speech. Like you said, they are being pressured by the government, media, and self preservation as a whole to do what they are doing. It is kind of a no-win situation for them. If they allow the stuff to happen they get called out for providing the platform and enabling and if they squelch it, they get called out for censorship. Trust me, I don't hold them blameless at all, but I can see both sides.
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Yeah, I have pretty strong hunches but I try not to assume that these people are evil until I know for sure, and the thing about Jack is that it doesn't make much sense with ANYTHING he shows about himself, so he would have to be an extremely good actor to also be an evil mastermind. I imagine he has corporate shareholders on one side pushing him HARD and the desire to make everyone happy on the other but meanwhile his algorithms made the two sides of every argument so incompatible that no one will be happy. I like Jack. I think.
Zuck for me is another story, that guy gives me villain vibes. I don't think he has much respect for anyone...probably has an oversimplified view of the world from being both socially awkward, in a rich and powerful person bubble, and thinking he's the shit. I think he thinks he knows best and that's it. Could be wrong!
Wow I can feel!
The most important thing.
I’m gonna change the world with my twee....ah 0 likes!?
Whiplash jumping eh, how's your neck XD
That seems like a really long time to spend on Twitter but I can't say much of anything I spend way too long on here x_x
Yeh the most popular posts are the ones that are all or nothing and where it's easy to hurl abuse at someone else, no one likes talking about how to solve problems, that's way too much hard work XD
i was thinking "yeah i spend a lot of time on hive sometimes" but it's different! you build relationships and get paid. Theoretically we COULD do that on twitter but very few do
Well yes and no. Like I mean yes because I can see the value of the time spent on hive, but no because the time spent on hive is time I'm not spending on art and I have a ridiculous amount of stuff to do XD
Interesting insights!
Regarding preserving free speech - I wonder what the line is between not censoring people, and not allowing blatantly exploitative or dangerous speech. For example, if a terrorist organization started a blogging on a blockchain platform, I assume the DAO would need to get involved to stop it, right?
Algorithmic feeds from social media sites have truly caused us to have tunnel vision and have more extreme, less tolerant views. Those same types of feeds could be implemented in blockchain social media sites too. Is there more of an incentive for centralized platforms to do this so the keep showing their audience what they want to hear so users keep coming back?
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The motivations for keeping everyone looking at the same thing is that it makes it easier to advertise and they can also shape the narrative. To what degree they are coordinating the shaping of the narrative is a hot debate, but at the very least, they would like to keep a narrative that pleases their shareholders. There is also the fact that angry people tend to take out their anger on their keyboards these days and that keeps people on the platform.
The whole free speech thing is quite a messy topic. I think there is no ideal situation, the best we can do is build understanding between all parties and make the best of the tools we have. A lot of people are angry about Twitter limiting their free speech, but if they don't, the government might do it. For me, the main point is to focus on the fact that the media and social media algorithms are radicalizing people and treat that as the root of the problem
The motivations for keeping everyone looking at the same thing is that it makes it easier to advertise and they can also shape the narrative. To what degree they are coordinating the shaping of the narrative is a hot debate, but at the very least, they would like to keep a narrative that pleases their shareholders. There is also the fact that angry people tend to take out their anger on their keyboards these days and that keeps people on the platform.
The whole free speech thing is quite a messy topic. I think there is no ideal situation, the best we can do is build understanding between all parties and make the best of the tools we have. A lot of people are angry about Twitter limiting their free speech, but if they don't, the government might do it. For me, the main point is to focus on the fact that the media and social media algorithms are radicalizing people and treat that as the root of the problem