Esther Payne Jan 11, 2021
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
Show threadFree Pietje 🇵🇸 🍉Jan 12, 2021

@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.

#SiliconSix

Show threadEsther Payne Jan 12, 2021
@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.
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKJan 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..

Show threadFree 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.

Show threadEsther Payne 
@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
Jan 12, 2021 at 1:38pmWeb
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKJan 12, 2021

@onepict

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..

@FreePietje