Is it time to ban Twitter/X?

[AkFemDem]

I know this has come up before but surely we are in a place and time now where The Powers That Be recognize and appreciate what a danger Musk is to this country and the impact of allowing his bully pulpit platform to echo here.

I know previously an argument has been raised that we need to watch what they're doing so we're informed- but we know what they're doing, and the media is already amplifying their message loudly and clearly as is. Must we also give them the illusion of more popularity and control through thousands of fresh clicks via tweets posted here?

I don't think any democrat or sane person should still have an account on there but it's a personal choice- in a controlled environment like DU though, there's a community health and messaging issue to consider.

I'd like to see X/Twitter content banned here. Am I alone?

[RandiFan1290]

1. I agree but it will never happen here

Too many devoted fans.

[EYESORE 9001]

2. If it came down to a choice between the xitter and staying here

I prefer to believe most would stay.

[cadoman]

3. if bluesky/mastodon can cover 90% or more of legitimate info, it needs to be considered

[DeepWinter]

4. I follow a ton of Democrats on X

Biden, Harris, Dems in the Legislative branch, etc.
X is what you allow it to be, who you follow, who you hide. My X experience is pretty positive. "Enjoy" is a stretch, but it's a great source for breaking news.

[Raven]

5. I think you could find a replacement for X.

[AkFemDem]

6. Theres no reason to do so though

Those same democrats share that same content on Threads and likely will now on BlueSky- and typically the EXACT same posts get put on Facebook by them. Trad media also typically heavily reports what they've tweeted. Frankly, I expect to see most of them also join the exodus.

Theres a large liberal contingent on X and Im sure for most it feels pretty positive, but thats not really the point. Curating your feed to just the voices you like doesn't mean you're not also contributing to Musks power and wallet. You're still enabling him to have a bigger megaphone. You're still appealing to his ego. And by doing all that for him- you're supporting Trump.

I used Twitter for many years both personally and professionally and I was really bummed when I had to let it go- but at some point I had a reckoning with myself about my own role in supporting fascists.

[Dennis Donovan]

13. Elmo only makes money when you click something within "X" *on* "X"

Exported tweets (like you see embedded in a DU post) do no carry advertisements so they do nothing to make Musk $$$. It's when you click a tweet on DU (or anywhere else you run across an exported, embedded tweet) that returns you to "X" - that's where he starts to make $$$ because of advertisements (engagements on the platform itself, or "clicks," are how he entices advertisers).

I don't see why it's essential to ban a platform that still has liberal, govt entities broadcasting on it. Personally, I'm mining 90% of my DU content from Bluesky now, and about 10% from "X" (Because "X" is rendered on DU w/o a problem, it's a good source of short videos). When there's no DU-worthy content on "X" anymore, then I'll leave completely.

[Dennis Donovan]

7. No. There's still liberal content coming from there

It's diminishing, but there's no need to ban "X" on here yet.

[AkFemDem]

8. What significant liberal content coming from there...

Isn't also coming from other sources?

And I'm all for making liberals on there feel like they're screaming into the void so they too leave and stop supporting Musk and Trump by default.

[Dennis Donovan]

21. There are liberal twitter users that I follow and I quote here often

...that haven't made the jump to Bluesky yet. If they have something funny or insightful to say, I'll post the content here.

That said:

Rolling Stone - (archived: https://archive.ph/CZMAc ) Bluesky Pulled a Million New Users After Election as More Abandoned Musk’s X

With Trump's victory, the platform once known as Twitter is more MAGA than ever — and some are fed up with it

By Miles Klee
November 12, 2024

The reelection of Donald Trump as president last week brought a wave of jubilation to X (formerly Twitter). The influencers and megadonors who supported the Republican nominee delighted in the defeat of his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, while giddily speculating about the extremist agenda he would pursue once in office. The site’s owner, billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk, who had drastically overhauled the platform to amplify far-right misinformation and hate speech, was particularly pleased. He announced in a post on Monday that the Super PAC through which he committed at least $119 million of his personal wealth to electing Trump would keep working to register more Republican voters in “key districts around the country.”

For many who had hoped to see Trump lose, and were already on the fence about leaving X, this victory lap provided as good an occasion as any to finally log off. Many users noted a steady loss of hundreds or even thousands of followers as accounts were deactivated, continuing a downward trend in activity since Musk’s takeover of the social network in late 2022. Meanwhile, its direct competitors — Bluesky and Threads — once again saw an influx of new users apparently fleeing the toxic conversation on X.

Bluesky, a decentralized service developed as a project under former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and then incorporated as a separate company, announced on Tuesday that in the week since the election it had added 1 million users, bringing it close to 15 million registered users altogether. It opened to the public in February after previously being invite-only. With a more left-leaning sensibility and a focus on transparency and user safety, it is favored by those increasingly alienated by the politics of Musk and X, or vulnerable to harassment there. (Marginalized groups including transgender and disabled people are well represented on the platform.)

Threads, a Twitter-like app by Meta that is linked to a user’s Instagram account, has not disclosed a spike in sign-ups in recent days, and Meta did not respond to a request for comment on the matter. But on Monday, the network’s official account posted an update welcoming newcomers and sharing tips for how to optimize the service. With Meta’s established user base, it expanded quickly after launching in July 2023, and the weekend before the election, the company said Threads had reached 275 million monthly active users. CEO Mark Zuckerberg also revealed that a million people sign up for the service every day.

/snip

[Dennis Donovan]

24. It's shrinking

But there are a few liberals and politicos that haven't made the move yet.

[beesplease]

9. Twitter is a tool.

Until a better tool appears why ignore it?

[AkFemDem]

10. Because it's a tool for fascists?

[beesplease]

15. We use it as well.

It's a communication tool. Use it to get our message out. Easier than to rebuild it.

[Scrivener7]

18. BlueSky.

[Blue_Tires]

11. I've already banned it from my life

[Groundhawg]

12. Why?

[Scrivener7]

14. YEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!!

[jmbar2]

16. No - Don't cede it to the nuts

I'm seeing more and more democratic/progressives doing both BlueSky and X, arguing that if we ceded control of it to the right, it will further silo information. We need to be able see what the nuts are saying, as well as our folks.

X is still the fastest way to learn about breaking news - financial/stock market, tsunami warnings (Oregon here), political news.

It is fairly easy to keep your feed high information by following reliable people. When that changes, I might agree with leaving, but it is still the best resource for me.

[AkFemDem]

19. The nuts already own it.

[jmbar2]

30. Not in my feed

[EnergizedLib]

17. I'm on the verge of self-banning

Using it only for my job as a media professional.

[EarlG]

20. I plan to replace X embeds with Bluesky embeds

That is not the same thing as banning X — DUers will still be able to link to X if they want, but it will no longer automatically show up as an embedded tweet (or whatever you call those things these days).

Instead we’ll allow Bluesky posts to be embedded. We have some other code changes to make so this won’t happen immediately, but it will happen before the end of the year.

[AkFemDem]

22. Thanks, I can't love this enough!

[Prairie Gates]

26. This is excellent! Thank you!

Yes, we get to decide which platforms to favor as a community, and I'm glad you're doing this. I agree that an outright ban is not the right move, but gentle nudging and pointing toward the better option is a good start for sure.

Bravo!

[Dennis Donovan]

27. Thanks!

My social media content posting on DU has been 90% Bluesky and 10% Twitter the past few days so I'm ready when you are!

[Voltaire2]

33. Excellent.

[Jack Valentino]

23. Disagree.

And the amount of clicks generated from a site of this size to one the size of Twitter is statistically insignificant.

[Prairie Gates]

25. I think a social boycott of any post that links Twitter is probably a good start

Vote with your feet, people.

[Tom Rinaldo]

28. Yes

Musk is the enemy and he is anything but an absentee owner of X. He uses it for propaganda. Others use it for other purposes, and during a transition period something will be lost by banning X. But where there is a need something else will fill it. Maybe that's Bluesky. Let's not drag this out. Hasten the emergence of a better alternative by banning X now.

[Jacson6]

29. After Elon took over twitter I started getting numerous p0rn spam messages and follows by bots of AI generated women

I only used twitter for following my hobbies. Nothing political or sexual. It is useless to me now.

[-misanthroptimist]

31. I'm with you

Twitter is pro-nazi garbage. A forum like DU shouldn't be supporting such garbage.

[Voltaire2]

32. It is literally a rightwing disinformation platform.

There are zero good reasons to support it here.

[oldmanlynn]

34. Go on twitter and counter their lies with truth

Dont just cede entire platforms to the right wing and live in the comfy confines of bluesky.

[Cirsium]

35. The Guardian

The Guardian will no longer post on Elon Musk’s X.

We wanted to let readers know that we will no longer post on any official Guardian editorial accounts on the social media site X (formerly Twitter). We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere.

This is something we have been considering for a while given the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism. The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.

Thankfully, we can do this because our business model does not rely on viral content tailored to the whims of the social media giants’ algorithms – instead we’re funded directly by our readers.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/nov/13/why-the-guardian-is-no-longer-posting-on-x