Mastodawn

Thing is we all gave twitter and Facebook that power, it wasn't just VCs. We joined up to connect with other people without realising what it meant. We have centralised our discourse on a few platforms. This is why #decentralization +federation is better. @joinmastodon
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RT @ggreenwald
Prior to Chancellor Merkel's warnings about the dangers of Silicon Valley censorship in the context of the Trump ban, Mexico's President AMLO issued a…
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1348740714084102145

Glenn Greenwald on Twitter

“Prior to Chancellor Merkel's warnings about the dangers of Silicon Valley censorship in the context of the Trump ban, Mexico's President AMLO issued an even harsher warning about how dangerous it is for tech monopolies to control online speech: https://t.co/AUFiT7CXcL”

Twitter

Free Pietje 🇵🇸 🍉

@onepict
You made a (imo) crucial addition to the points Glenn made on

He's also fatalistic in portraying that there is nothing we can do about it. And then mentions an example using another (near) monopolist: AWS.

I've send several emails to The Intercept asking them for a presence on FOSS platforms/fediverse, but they still haven't. They're only (afaik) on Twitter/FB/Instagram/YT, thereby contributing to the very problem he's now complaining about.

@FreePietje
Thank you. I feel that mastodon and organisations like @Framasoft have made the point that there is a choice. Yes there is a challenge in getting your network to engage on a new platform but we should still try. Twitter is built on our personal social networks and how we build on those. With WhatsApp folk considering moving to signal (leaving aside the other issues) we will have another example that netizens can move.

@FreePietje
As for the intercept and other media outlets I feel that it's their MO to portray the view that there's not much we can do. Bad news sells better than good news.

Free Pietje 🇵🇸 🍉Jan 12, 2021

@onepict
The majority of media outlets rely on advertising and therefor you get horrible incentives with pretty predictable results.

The Intercept is different. There are no ads and their goal is to be user funded. Whether it'll work out remains to be seen, but at least they don't have the horrible incentives. And I hope that quality journalism will the the reason that people are (finally) willing to pay for news.

SCB: "Lies spread faster then truth"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymaWq5yZIYM

ADL's Never Is Now 2019 | ADL International Leadership Award Presented to Sacha Baron Cohen

Sacha Baron Cohen is the well-deserved recipient of ADL’s International Leadership Award, which goes to exceptional individuals who combine professional succ...

YouTube

Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK Jan 12, 2021

@onepict @FreePietje

I think the "bad news sells better" depends a lot on demographics of target audience.

Maybe true for edgelord types who thrive on chaos/conflict but if anything mainstream media (especially faced with a global plague) is trying to increasingly insert "feel good" filler stories amongst all the hard news.

The Grauniad is quite notorious for this but my local papers (Archant) are doing it loads recently as well..

@vfrmedia
We need more than feel good filler though. I feel we need hard truths with the benefits of hard decisions accurately reported on. Which is a difficult balance, especially when you not only have demographic but a character to the type of news outlet that you portray yourself to be. It's why the news reports on parler more than it would on Mastodon, other than a few pieces whining that Masto isn't twitter.
@FreePietje

@vfrmedia @FreePietje
People have an appetite for different news sources though, like the intercept and in politics the National in Scotland as some Scots felt most of the media didn't report on Scottish things accurately. They don't trust the MSM. The status quo can be upended. But it takes time and alot of patience.

Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK Jan 12, 2021

@onepict @FreePietje

the problem I see is it often genuinely looks like angrier right wing types are more mentally resillient at dealing with "hard news" and conflict (whether they are /physically/ resillient is debatable given that 2 simply keeled over during the Capitol riots)

IRL I know so many younger people (who are otherwise politicially left leaning) who avoid any kind of news (even reading about crime or road traffic incident in local paper) because there is "too much bad news" >>

@vfrmedia
I'm not sure it's resiliance or a developed lack of empathy. Sometimes I find the news too much to take. But then I get back on the horse. Because we need to keep an eye on the world. Otherwise others aren't held to account when they should be. We need accurate information so that we can do so. Especially with politics and the challenges of climate change and Covid-19.
@FreePietje

Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK Jan 12, 2021

my day job is in healthcare supporting frontline workers so "hard situations" are not something I can ever escape from, although I do have some sympathy for younger generations many of whom had fairly stable/secure childhoods and were promised a lot of opportunities, none of which are currently easily attainable (although other than the plague the situation isn't unlike growing up in the 1980s)

Free Pietje 🇵🇸 🍉Jan 12, 2021

@vfrmedia
At first my reaction was "yeah, suck it up, shit happens", but then I realized that 1 year "putting your life on hold" has a FAR bigger impact on a 15 y/o then f.e. a 50 y/o. Not only is it percentage wise much larger, at/around 15 your life is in the development stage and therefor what you then experience has a much bigger impact on you(r life) then when you're 50.

I still think we need these drastic measures, but I do have (much) more empathy for young people.

Free Pietje 🇵🇸 🍉Jan 12, 2021

@vfrmedia
I can (somewhat) relate to that. I was a 'news junkie', but cut down on that drastically. I have some real/serious critiques on the reporting of the news by most channels, but mostly it was giving me anxiety/stress and it usually wasn't helpful to be apprised of 'everything'.

This, together with "Anything that you pay attention to, grows" are imo the main reason I stopped grinding my teeth.

Another factor is general loss of trust in institutions (not entirely unwarranted)

Free Pietje 🇵🇸 🍉Jan 12, 2021

@vfrmedia @onepict
I thought/think that humans are psychologically wired to pay more attention to bad things and things that go wrong.

What I've learned in the past year is:
"Anything that you pay attention to, grows"

That really helped me in changing my mindset.
So instead of focusing on the bad in the world (of which there is plenty), I now make a *conscious* choice to focus more on the positive things.

@FreePietje
I think you are on to something there. It does make sense we are hardwired to pay attention to the bad things. This year with covid has forced me to try and concentrate on my state of mind.
@vfrmedia

Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK Jan 12, 2021

I think this is something all mammals do as a survival instinct - I befriended a cat who lives in a neighbours house, when she is outside she will come up to me but also keeps a very close watch on things like a dog 10m away across the street, any cars going past (even though she is safely in my garden and these pose no immediate threat) but it is easy for humans to overdo this hypervigilance..