CNN says X/Twitter is now almost half D half R

[confoosed]

Someone sent me this link - I don't know who Robby Starbuck is or whether its a real name, but the CNN analysis video was interesting. Looks like X (users or usage, not 100% sure) is down by 6% (I wonder how much of that is people moving to Bluesky or just leaving the platform?) compared to 2021, but the political split is now nearly 50/50.

Link to tweet
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Link to tweet

I have an X account, but never post - most of my time there is links forwarded to me by friends and coworkers. Those of you who use X (or used it, past tense), does this sound true? I avoided it especially during the run up to the election because it was non-stop political crap so I'm not sure if anyone could spot a change in the last six months with all the paid advertising and paid agitator nonsense. I also wonder if this metric is based on content, because I don't recall having to list a political affiliation when I made my account so many years ago.

[Historic NY]

1. I turned the light off completely yesterday.....

with 500k postings

[Klarkashton]

2. It's a horrible mess. 6% seems really low.

[Attilatheblond]

25. Well, ya gotta figure in all the 'new' accounts as the bots start checking in

Back in the day, 'farms' grew foods. Now, they grow propaganda.

[Emrys]

3. X's user base is not solely American, by any means

I don't know how that affects the calculations, but it wouldn't surprise me if there's some truth in them, or OTOH complete bollocks.

I can't really give an opinion about proportions because various yappy right-wingers (including Musk) get blocked with extreme prejudice, usually on first sighting. I still see some chitchat about them from other accounts and can view their tweets if I make an effort, but they don't figure in my everyday browsing. I see more of them on DU than I do on Twitter, and that's always been the case.

I actually already had the Robby Starbucks account blocked, so that means I earlier identified him as one or all of: right-wing, an asshole, unreliable or involved in spreading disinformation, or just plain annoying.

[Dennis Donovan]

6. I had him blocked too - RW influencer. n/t

[confoosed]

16. I didn't even think about the non-US users. I wonder how that counts in the calculations.

[Emrys]

31. From the graphic, it looks like they did try to separate out US users for some purposes,

which may or may not be based on some reliable measure, but how they positively identified party allegiance with any degree of reliability, I've no idea. I doubt anyone spent much time scanning individual accounts to figure it out.

I also wonder if they filtered for bots, and if so, how they did that.

Anyway, it made one right-wing Twitter troll and his hangers-on happy. I don't think it's the triumph he seems to imagine it is.

[Happy Hoosier]

4. Still have an account, but stopped using the platform.

Last time I checked, it was an absolute shithole of racism, misogyny, and fascism.

Maybe that IS "average America" today, but that's not the flex they think it is.

If that IS average America, we are not the good guys.

[Dennis Donovan]

5. I can only speak for myself - I no longer use Twitter

I have an acct on several social media feeds but use Bluesky primarily because it's becoming a good substitute for Twitter (it's the most like Twitter). In other words, I get a similar experience with news aggregation, liberal voices, government etc.

[jimfields33]

27. It will end up like X soon enough when everyone

Goes to that platform.

[Bluetus]

30. Exactly. It is only better momentarily because

people are fed up with the Twitter cesspool moved. But once there are no libs to pwn on Twitter, they will move over to Bluesky. I don't see any evidence that Bluesky is prepared to moderate any better than Twitter did before Musk killed all of that. Remember that Twitter has been a cesspool for years. The only real difference with Musk is that he makes no pretense of wanting anything other than the most vile of sites.

As of today, Bluesky doesn't have too much of the vile content, and is not using algorithms that try to shove that vile content down everybody's throats. But that will come. They are following a launch strategy that says:

1. Gain critical mass -- take it from Twitter, and try to become the most-used site before Threads and Mastodon get there.
2. Then, and only then, exploit that position.

As of today, they are preaching self-curation, and provide some tools to help with that.
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/moderate-own-feed-bluesky-223012187.html

But in the end, they will make their money by shoving content that you didn't ask to see. That's the definition of advertising.

[City Lights]

7. That smells like absolute BS. nt

[Sympthsical]

8. It's probably true

Twitter did used to be overwhelmingly on the Left before Musk bought it. And it was largely a platform where the media and political types were talking to themselves all day. Now it's kind of all over the place, and the Right has been more eager to engage on it.

Which is fine. It is kind of funny watching people get mad, "My bubble is 20% less bubble!" and then scurrying away to find a new bubble.

I don't use Twitter for news/politics outside of links included in articles, so I couldn't care less. There's a lot more going on there than affluent middle aged people giving political lectures into their phones from their spacious island kitchens.

At least the people on TikTok have the decency to do it in their cars.

[Oldvet]

12. This is the way I see it

It has leaned left, and seemed to increase left shortly after Jan 6 2020.

You are also correct about it being more than just politics.

Look at "trending" any Saturday or Sunday afternoon- and easily 20 of the top 25 will be something sports related.

On any major weeknight NBA game schedule, NBA related topics will cover a majority of the 1op 15.

It wouldn't surprise me a bit if this is part of how Trump increased his margins in multiple demographics.

Us leaving that site is dangerous, in my opinion, for our future reach out efforts.

I'm staying.

[confoosed]

17. Yeah, I don't plan to leave, but I don't plan to start posting there either.

[Emrys]

32. I've had an account for a few years.

I only started one when, pre-Musk, they made it impossible to browse it effectively without being signed in. I still only browse it rather than ever posting anything whatsoever. I never got the impression it was overwhelmingly left-wing, but then I'm in Scotland, and we have a different Overton window to the US.

In my time on there, it's always had trolls, right-wing or whatever, and some have been incredibly persistent. One of the Scottish newspapers has an account, and you could always predict that 80% or so of the replies to any post would be anti-Scottish independence and right-wing accounts posting the same inexaustible insulting shite day after day, with never a postive word between them. After my blocking efforts, if such a post shows a certain number of replies, if I click in, often there are no replies to read at all.

It also always had revolting content of various sorts that I'd encounter on some of the hashtags. I alerted on the worst of it if I had the time and inclination, with varying, often disappointing, results, then obviously gave that up when Musk took over as it was a total waste of time and I was better off just blocking the users.

It's still useful to me for information-gathering. I was never looking for an ideologically pure experience - I've been on the internet long enough that I can generally cope with everyday argy-bargy. When it stops being so or Musk finally makes it too annoying to use, I'll stop using it.

[Gore1FL]

9. How do they measure this? nt

[Autumn]

10. All Dems should leave it to the trash. Posting X here is a waste of time. So many here have

deactivated their accounts and gone to Bluesky.

[Bettie]

11. Before I left

Any thread I looked at that was political in any way was swarmed with magats, bots, and "nudes in bio"....it was hard to even pick out the legitimate responses.

[Walleye]

13. What percentage is Russian bots?

[kimbutgar]

14. This D left the day before the muskrat took over

And the only reason I still see X posts is if someone posts a cute animal video on it.

I really like Threads now and Bluesky. And I delete the trolls on threads

[Blue_Tires]

15. Take away the Russian bots and what's the ratio?

[tenderfoot]

18. Starbuck is a rw activist - ALERTED

Enjoy your stay.

[obamanut2012]

21. RIGHT??!

I was shocked to see him quoted here.

[tenderfoot]

19. More about the right wing source

About
Robby Starbuck is an American conservative activist and former music video director. As an activist, he has campaigned against corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Wikipedia
Born: 1988 (age 36 years)
Spouse: Landon Starbuck
Party: Republican Party
Nationality: American
Known for: Conservative political activism
Notable work: The War on Children (2024)

[obamanut2012]

20. Why are you posting a known extreme MAGA podcaster and spreader of disinformation?

He is violenty anti LGBT, anti choice, etc.

[tenderfoot]

22. Starbuck's film 'The War on Children'

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31037537/

"The War On Children" exposes the ongoing battle for control of the next generation and their minds. This film reveals the battle plan being used to control the future. To win this war you have to understand the tactics of your enemy.

Top cast
Robby Starbuck
Landon Starbuck
Rand Paul
Riley Gaines
Chaya Raichik
John Amanchukwu
Seth Gruber
William Lamberth
Keelin Washington
Brett Craig
Kara FrederickSelf
Layla Jane
Harrison Tinsley

[tenderfoot]

23. More about Starbuck: The right-wing activist riding a wave of opposition to DEI in corporate America

Oh look, another Hollywood failure:

Robby Starbuck, a former Hollywood music video director turned conservative activist, has caught fire campaigning online against some major American brands’ diversity, equity and inclusion programs (DEI), support for gay Pride marches and LGBTQ events, strategies to slow climate change and other social policies.

Starbuck is both riding a wave of right-wing hostility to DEI programs and corporate advocacy on issues like climate change and LGBTQ rights and advancing the opposition himself. He has channeled energy on the right to target specific brands popular with politically conservative customers — Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply Co. and John Deere — and relentlessly drawn attention online to their past publicly-stated policies. Starbuck has also claimed credit for Brown-Forman and Lowe’s internal announcements in recent weeks to scale back some of their diversity and inclusion programs.

Starbuck has selected brands whose programs on some of these issues were only implemented in recent years and may be less likely to resist pressure. The full impact of his activism is not entirely clear, but companies are rethinking their programs amid a changing political environment and online pressure.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/28/business/dei-john-deere-harley-davidson-robby-starbuck/index.html

[Skittles]

24. LOL

sure bro- this is absolute BULLSHIT

[LeftInTX]

26. How would CNN know this?

Doesn't make sense. Not gonna go down that rabbit hole!

[onecaliberal]

28. Thanks for posting reicht wing talking points.

[SoFlaBro]

29. This is more dogshit from the MAGA motherfuckers that ain't worth a squirt of cat piss.

[617Blue]

33. Do better Trolly Troll.

[polly pureblood]

34. I find that hard to believe.

Before Musk bought it out, it seemed 80% liberal. Now it seems mostly Trump supporters.