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Conservative boycott of Twitter can't and won't work, here's why
The Hill ^ | 11/30/18 | Joe Concha

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."


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: censorship; conservatives; socialmedia; twitter
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To: Salgak

NOPE!


21 posted on 11/30/2018 1:22:51 PM PST by Ann Archy (Abortion....... The HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: yesthatjallen

I recently started looking at Twitter, and my impression is that the liberals have some very serious emotional problems.


22 posted on 11/30/2018 1:27:27 PM PST by Redleg Duke (Disarming Liberals...Real Common Sense Gun Control!)
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To: Salgak
Perhaps you haven’t heard of Gab.ai ??

To be honest, Gab kinda sucks. I spent about five minutes there and found it to be little more than neo-Nazis posting Le Happy Merchant cartoons.

23 posted on 11/30/2018 1:35:47 PM PST by Drew68 (Twitter @TheRealDrew68 // Click my profile page for great Russian pop music videos.)
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To: yesthatjallen

Well, I left Twitter and I’m happier, so that’s it for me.


24 posted on 11/30/2018 2:44:12 PM PST by A_perfect_lady
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To: gattaca

I DID EVERY THING YOU STATED!!!

that’s scary :)

EXCEPT get reinstated :(

#### em.

I’m glad you get to post an intelligent person’s view at least, though.


25 posted on 11/30/2018 3:07:42 PM PST by dp0622 (The Left should know if.. Trump is kicked out of office, it is WAR!)
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To: yesthatjallen

This is typical cuckservative propaganda.

Conservatives are being deplatformed. They do not even need to boycott.

Social Media Giants are violating Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which protects them from liability as open platforms: They are instead acting as editors and publishers.

Social Media Giants are committing consumer fraud by selectively and deceptively enforcing their Terms of Service upon the users who are their raison d’etre, and their ultimate source of revenue.

Social Media Giants are committing fiscal malfeasance by deliberately creating unnecessary controversy which harms the brand name and stock value of their stocks, thus causing actionable damage to stockholders.

These are not private companies; They are publicly-traded corporations regulated by both the SEC and the CDA - and also potentially subject to Anti-Trust laws.

This is not the free market at work, no matter what the cookie-cutter cuckservatives - the so-called free market advocates - assert. We have a massively regulated market, not a free one. It is time we for once used those regulations to our benefit instead of our detriment.

P.S.
Private Sector does not equal Private Company.

P.P.S.
I.P.O. = Initial Public Offering.


26 posted on 11/30/2018 4:22:01 PM PST by YogicCowboy ("I am not entirely on anyone's side, because no one is entirely on mine." - J. R. R. Tolkien)
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To: dp0622

Good for you, dp0622.

I vote to have young Donald J. Trump Jr. of the Trump organization find a suitable home for conservatives.

Let him work out the deal and set up a timetable to make the migration.

As soon as POTUS makes the shift to the new platform, all the media would have to follow it, the new platform would become instantly famous and conservative commentators would come over.


27 posted on 11/30/2018 5:21:05 PM PST by poconopundit
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To: poconopundit

Ah, it wasn’t that hard anymore :)

2 day shipping isn’t so extraordinary anymore and shoprite delivers lol

i couldn’t stomach giving them money anymore but i dont frown on people that do

it’s the world. we have to live in it.

but i just had to go


28 posted on 11/30/2018 5:55:30 PM PST by dp0622 (The Left should know if.. Trump is kicked out of office, it is WAR!)
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To: poconopundit

BTW, I love your idea and I DO wish a conservative for ONCE would be on the cutting edge of a new technology that sweeps the world.

why is it always liberals?


29 posted on 11/30/2018 5:56:07 PM PST by dp0622 (The Left should know if.. Trump is kicked out of office, it is WAR!)
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To: lee martell
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!!

Even FR has it's barely disguised leftist hall monitors, here to correct any wrongthink. Not quite as blatant as MurryMom was, but they're here. I've engaged three in just the past few days.

30 posted on 11/30/2018 6:01:04 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: Salgak

Didn’t gab get de-platformed a few weeks ago?


31 posted on 11/30/2018 7:56:07 PM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: dp0622

I DO wish a conservative for ONCE would be on the cutting edge of a new technology that sweeps the world.

* * *

Well, I think conservatives are good at keeping their heads down in a Silicon Valley where virtue signalling and Bernie bots rule the roost.

From what I can tell, there are many conservative programmers and systems analysts on FR.


32 posted on 12/01/2018 2:24:04 AM PST by poconopundit
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To: poconopundit

Engineers do know the score, and accountants do measure their own balance sheets.


33 posted on 12/01/2018 2:25:41 AM PST by combat_boots (God bless Israel and all who protect and defend her! Meprry Christmas! In God We Trust!)
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To: lepton
Didn’t gab get de-platformed a few weeks ago?

Gab's alive, but it doesn't look good. On the home page, "popular post" #1 ist from Adolf Joe:

It's sad that a working Twitter clone is infested with Nazis.

34 posted on 12/01/2018 2:54:36 AM PST by cynwoody
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To: lepton

It’s back.


35 posted on 12/02/2018 9:32:27 AM PST by Salgak (You're in Strange Hands with Tom Stranger. . . .)
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To: Drew68

Well, that’s free speech for you. Gab also has extensive filtering capabilities, for the user. Don’t want to see Neo-Nazis? Filter them out. Except it’s YOU muting them, for whatever reason you choose, but it only applies to what YOU see.

As opposed to Jack Welch filtering out what he doesn’t want for everyone. . .


36 posted on 12/02/2018 9:34:48 AM PST by Salgak (You're in Strange Hands with Tom Stranger. . . .)
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