Posted on 11/30/2018 10:31:41 AM PST by yesthatjallen
Conservatives are increasingly vowing to quit Twitter for what they say is censorship of prominent voices. The problem with conservatives or any like-minded group quitting a social media platform and all joining a new one is simple: Echo chambers are absolutely no fun.
Ever hear of the saying, "... to own the libs?" How about, "... to own the cons." These are prominent sayings on Twitter, and embody much of what the platform is about: embarrassing, or beating or berating the other side. Invariably it's a combination of the three.
So if conservatives left Twitter to go somewhere else, would liberals follow? Of course not. We would have the social media version of cable news, where everyone goes to their respective platforms to get their own beliefs validated and fears confirmed.
But no one would be challenged. There would be none of the classic back-and-forth threads between two bullheaded ideologues — and their respective followers.
It would also be the death of the most underrated part of Twitter: witnessing someone or a publication get "ratio'd" — when fiery responses marinated in mockery to an inane tweet far outnumber retweets and likes.
Thursday offered a stunning example when the HuffPost argued that the holiday classic, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," is "seriously problematic" because it promotes sexism, bigotry and bullying. The tweet generated more than 15,000 responses — yet, only 1,600 retweets.
In a conservative-only social media platform, this all goes away. Because safe spaces are the type of place that are mocked by conservatives for not being able to take a verbal punch or engage in debate. A safe space is defined as a place "intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations." Inhabitants are people called "snowflakes," those easily-offended, hyper-emotional folks who can't handle opposing opinions.
So there would be ample irony if the red team all packed up en masse to some other social media platform launched by, say, a rich prominent conservative that looks and feels like Twitter. But in doing so, they'd be going to their own safe space on the internet. A blizzard of snowflakes, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
This isn't to say conservatives don't have a very valid point around the bias that exists in Twitter's banning and suspension policies. Earlier this week, Jesse Kelly, an Iraq War veteran and former GOP congressional candidate, was banned from Twitter for unspecified reasons. When asked for comment, Twitter wouldn't provide one. According to Twitter's "range of enforcement options" page, Kelly should have been provided an explanation from Twitter around what policy he may have violated.
"When we permanently suspend an account, we notify people that they have been suspended for abuse violations, and explain which policy or policies they have violated and which content was in violation," according to Twitter.
The blowback, primarily from conservatives, was swift on Twitter, with many demanding an explanation for the ban.
Kelly was reinstated later in the week after mounting criticism, but Twitter did not provide an explanation as to why the account was banned in the first place. Some conservatives argued it was done to send a message, to create a chilling effect.
Conservatives are still seething over Twitter's inaction when it comes to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan's tweets comparing Jews to termites and an Antifa-associated group posting Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson's home address and encouraging harassment earlier this month. But what prompted Kelly's page to be reinstated is exactly why conservatives can't leave Twitter. The echo chamber goes both ways.
Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) is a media reporter for The Hill and host of "What America's Thinking."
But no one would be challenged.
Conservatives would love to be on Twitter to challenge liberals but they're being de-plateformed, shadow banned, and permanently 'suspended'.
"When we permanently suspend an account, we notify people that they have been suspended for abuse violations, and explain which policy or policies they have violated and which content was in violation," according to Twitter.
No one believes this. Twitter rarely reinstates Conservative accounts or gives a full account of why they were banned.
I only have Twitter to keep up with POTUS
Yeah. How do you “challenge” liberal thought on Twitter if every time you do, you get banned.
It’s not like we WANT to quit twitter and get another space, twitter is banning us.
And the new space wouldn’t ban liberals, so it wouldn’t be “running to a safe space”, but rather moving to a platform that actually doesn’t ban us.
Meanwhile, twitter, to the degree it is making any money, must be making money on some sort of advertising, and I don’t see how advertisers continue to pay money if half the people quit.
We could always try to boycott the advertisers, but boycotts are not particularly useful.
I still think the best bet is to sue twitter for libel, and argue that they are not a “common carrier” because they provide thought-based censorship, so they “own” every negative, false thing they allow to be posted.
I got banned from making comments on movies on amazon likely because I called out the left wing bull #### in certain movies and made the snowflakes cry with my comments in reply to theirs.
I cancelled my renewal of Amazon.
I found out there IS LIFE after amazon.
They gave NO explanation except i violated their “policies” which are PAGES long and very open to interpretation.
#### em.
I cancelled..amazon music, amazon fresh, audible, and other amenities offered by amazon when i did not renew.
Of course I could no longer subscribe to those once i was not a member.
I took thousands out of their pockets and back into mine, and I will spend it at places where having a different point of view isn’t a crime.
This would work for the very reason they state in the article.
If conservatives left to a platform that had less censorship along partisan lines, then liberals would be left with an echo chamber. Liberals would eventually follow to engage in discussions.
-DISAGREE-
-padded cell
-painted black
-sound proof wall covering
-auto-locking door with NO key
-jailer - nitwit Gen-Xer
My view of Twitter
Works for me just fine.
I am not on Twitter.
Not on any social media.
I was banned/blocked for a year, had no idea why. After numerous emails and no resolutions, I would get emails from marketplace sellers after I had purchased a product asking me to do a review. I would tell them all that I couldn’t and why. So Amazon sent me an email saying they “reinstated” my ability to review products, etc. They never told me why I was banned in the first place.
It won’t work because of Twitters institutional ownership. Twitter could lose most of its users and if it still still served the uniparty’s purpose to keep it afloat, they’d do it.
Some Libs would follow conservatives to their own Right-Site.
Why? Some, just to Troll us and spy on us.
Some, b/c they could not tolerate the very idea that someone, somewhere was having fun while espousing a blatantly, unapologetic, conservative point of view!! NO!!
Think of the nationwide phenomenon of Californians and New Yorkers resettling in traditionally Red States like Texas, only to screw that state up with more restrictions on private matters. They are recreating the same kind of Sh*tHole they fled from in the dead of an overtaxing night.
Twatter IS a leftist echo chamber, they designed it that way.
IMO Twitter was designed as a tool to herd the sheep.
Round up Twitter mobs to beat-down the odd rebel who expresses an unapproved thought.
Twitter needs to stripped of it’s “platform” protection. If it controls content and bans people for what they write, they’re a publisher and should liable for everything anyone posts.
Psssst- Twitter is attempting to make their service an ‘echo chamber’ where only liberals are allowed to speak their minds, and i use the term loosely
A boycott of Twitler is the only thing that could possibly work.
And Communists failing to follow would be a disaster for them, because the majority is anti-Communist, and strongly opposed to political “correctness.” That’s why Hillary lost.
Twitter is the perfect vehicle to carry out Orwell’s “Two Minutes Hate”
This article is so full of retarded that I couldn’t finish it.
Isn’t there a RICH CONSERVATIVE that can start a NEW platform??
Perhaps you haven’t heard of Gab.ai ??
This guy is forgetting misery loves company. Echo chambers are soothing to weak minded individuals. Twitter can ban all the Repubs they like, liberals will still partake in one sided debates...ever been on reddit?
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