Jed Brown
Sherrilyn IfillThis morning I posted on Twitter some thoughts about how seriously we should regard the dismantling of that site. I’m re-posting my thoughts here in what I hope will be a thread (if those exist here!).
Twitter played a powerful role in sustaining & strengthening the fight for racial justice. The truth about racist and violent policing in America - a truth that Black people have lived with and known for a century - was exposed to the world on Twitter.
The posting of cell phone videos of brutality and murder by police which challenged “the official story” has forever changed the narrative and created space for reimagining what public safety can and should be. And that is the first step of real transformation.
Remember when people kept saying that w/a Black President & AG we no longer needed civil rights activism & lawyering? First images of #MikeBrown’s body, then videos of #WalterScott, #PhilandoCastile & too many others showed what many of us had been saying. There’s another America beyond the DC optics.
The Ferguson uprising was the first sustained civil rights protest in the U.S. in which Twitter played a central role. Don’t think they didn’t notice.
Twitter was essential to sustaining a cohort of millions of ordinary people, policy leaders, influencers, activists, lawyers, artists, committed to democracy during the Trump years. It was a main conduit of communication, information sharing, education, & encouragement.
Hard to imagine how we would have made it through COVID - with all of the uncertainty and fear, and with the deliberate disinformation churned out daily by the President - without Twitter. We are in an age of pandemics and will need to ensure we can communicate as robustly.
The exposure of everyday racism & the willingness of white pol - often women - to call the police on Black people for walking, barbecuing, birdwatching, watering flowers, entering their own homes, shopping, was exposed to the world on Twitter.
This was significant. Ending the plausible denialibilty of ordinary white ppl who expect the benefits of white supremacy and are prepared to call police when Black ppl do not follow their commands - was a critical contribution to the understanding of how racism works in the U.S.
Don’t think that all of this wasn’t seen & understood. Don’t minimize the significance of the brutal dismantling of this site. It is of a piece w/the overall attack on the health of our democratic institutions by forces that have no use for or interest in democracy.
Jamison Foser@ifilljustice somewhat relatedly (though IMO this overstates how responsive Twitter was — “better than Facebook/YouTube” is an awfully low bar):
David J. Atkinson@foser @ifilljustice
I am sure Musk did not buy #Twitter because he thought he could make a profit on the business itself. The real value of Twitter is on the side, it is political. It is “worth it” to many powerful people and institutions to shut Twitter down. That is what we will see in the next weeks to months.
I am sure Musk did not buy #Twitter because he thought he could make a profit on the business itself. The real value of Twitter is on the side, it is political. It is “worth it” to many powerful people and institutions to shut Twitter down. That is what we will see in the next weeks to months.
okanogen VerminEnemyFromWithin@ifilljustice Twitter was also critical in crowdsourcing and exposing participants in Jan. 6th, in exposing the RW provocateurs who started the looting and shooting in the George Floyd riots, Charlottesville, and so many other incidents.
Ronathon Livingston SeagullLB
When I and others posited that Twitter was bought at an expected loss in order to provide a megaphone to fascists, it was poo-pooed on the basis that it would do no good to them if it were ruined.
@ifilljustice articulates why it would still serve their interests completely ruined.
Nafnlaus 🇮🇸 🇺🇦@nebkor @ifilljustice People overcomplicate #ElonMusk and try to insert conspiracies everywhere.
He's an #Aspie who, as someone who's good at technical things (yes, legitimately), also developed a bad case of #DunningKruger, and being attacked by the left endlessly over the years helped give the #AltRight his ear and push him down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole. He now legitimately believes that there's giant plots to suppress truth and he's the heroic freedom fighter resisting them.
@nafnlaus he's not acting alone in this; every asshole with their name on the financing papers is part of it, and knew what they were buying.
@nebkor He owns the lion's share of it. And others tag on because there's still lots of people in the market that believe that everything he touches will eventually turn to gold, or who hope to court his favour into other projects. And he's extremely susceptible to echo chambers.
Michelle Conklin-Kusel@ifilljustice My mind is officially blown by your wise words. Thank you for putting that out into the universe.
James_Pond@ifilljustice excellent thread. Social mobility, communication and collaboration is the winning formula for successful nourished (both educationally and health-wise) people around the globe. It helps to highlight those who independently participate, and those who follow hatred. The future is bright. Still some way to go. Much Love. 🧑🎤
Alexander (Sasha) Wait Zaranek@ifilljustice indeed. ♥️💔 Loss of functioning "bird site" could have dire consequences for global democratic institutions. Unclear we can marshall sufficient resources that functionality and UX of #fediverse become viable alternative.
ItsLisaRice@ifilljustice - Exactly! So much information was exposed on Twitter that was not being discussed on MSM. I learned on Twitter that much of the violence being perpetuated during the BLM protests was conducted by militia and other ultra-conservative groups. The real-time video footage exposing the actions of conservative groups showing up to the protests to commit violence and destruction was important for the movement. But MSM wasn't showing us this truth! I hope Mastodon, or some other site, will be the new platform the public needs so we can all see what is happening in our communities, society, and world.
Techronic9876@ItsLisaRice @ifilljustice they’ll need to figure out a better way to do video and streaming video here #mastodon
Dodger
Stephanie she/her@ItsLisaRice @ifilljustice My experience in Minneapolis, 2 miles from GFS…After Floyd’s death I wouldn’t have blamed anyone in the Black community for responding with violence but the people who caused the most damage were the white militia men driving w/o license plates & targeting libraries & gas stations & post offices throughout the city. And also the police who repeatedly escalated the violence.
WndlB@ItsLisaRice @ifilljustice @jentaub Here in MSP, it got obvious, quickly, that it was PB, ppl looking to bust things, all fueled by copious booze. First arrest and indictment—an arsonist from Galesburg, Illinois
John McCarrick@ItsLisaRice @ifilljustice I believe it could be the digital public forum that Twitter wished to be. With decentralization removing the concerns of top-down power struggles for controlling the narrative, I believe Mastodon can be a platform for fair discourse without the lens of capital drive.
Hurley Byrd
a millennial named chelsea@ItsLisaRice @ifilljustice yes it was #1 outlet for marginalized communities to amplify each other when MSM was disincentivized to publish stories about US oppressive systems. In addition to forcing awareness of white supremacy in the context of anti-Black racism, it was an outlet for Indigenous people to raise awareness about Indigenous erasure, pipelines damaging ancestral lands, and why we shouldn’t travel to Hawaii. & it’s how Tarana Burke’s #metoo movement was amplified
Stop-the-MAGAss-Reich@ItsLisaRice @ifilljustice That is what I noticed too! Less reliant on MSM and more on grass roots reporting by actual journalist/people with boots on the ground.
dearydarling@ItsLisaRice @ifilljustice Such a good point. Also, for me, the rt footage of the cops brutalizing incapacitated, elderly, and non-threatening protesters forever turned the tide. I hate to have to admit that i needed to see it but sadly it's true. That footage forever opened my eyes, not only to "bad apples" but to all the cops who did not flinch or move to restrain their violent fellow officers or speak out. I'm mortified it took me so long to fully see but without twitter, i wouldn't have.
JazzyGirl
Brent Guernsey, Artrocity StudioThe Southern Poverty Law Center (https://www.splcenter.org) does an excellent job tracking violent hate groups across the U.S. and abroad. They are methodical and precise in their work, but they are not "real-time or instant. Unfortunately, they aren't on Mastodon yet.
MassivRuss@ItsLisaRice @ifilljustice
I’m not sure that’s true. A lot of BLM-adjacent vandalism was just rando’s feeling free to fk sht up. That’s my impression from farfaraway. Also, I’m motivated to believe this as a defense against the “antifa did Jan 6” crowd.
I’m not sure that’s true. A lot of BLM-adjacent vandalism was just rando’s feeling free to fk sht up. That’s my impression from farfaraway. Also, I’m motivated to believe this as a defense against the “antifa did Jan 6” crowd.
Jos Schuurmans (EN)As @ifilljustice points out, we should worry that the baby is being thrown out with the bathwater.
Despite all its flaws and toxicity, as a mass #media site, a home for political discourse and a tool for grassroots interaction and communication, Twitter has been an essential cog in the machinery of modern democracies.
The way it is currently being dismantled is reminiscent of the demise of Russian mainstream media.
1/3
Crossing the mark of 6 million users today, the federated #Mastodon network accommodates perhaps 5 percent of the active Twitter population.
That is not enough by far!
Democratic governments and institutions, including the media, educational institutions, corporations, not-for-profits and everyone else, should do everything they can right now to facilitate the digital migration from centralised, privately controlled social media platforms to the federated web.
2/3
That means co-funding and co-creating the technical infrastructure, supporting the people running it, and informing the public about this transition and how to be part of it.
3/3
Casey@josschuurmans @ifilljustice very true;(
Dave Mastodon@josschuurmans Are you talking about the takeover or the subsequent exodus? Because one is a completely rational response to the other
@ninechars The exodus is an understandable consequence of the takeover. ("Exodus" may be a bit of a strong term for the relative amount of people truly leaving Twitter behind.)
What concerns me is that Twitter, a mainstream media platform, is at risk of becoming an even more powerful tool in the hands of anti-democratic operatives, while the fediverse only has a fraction of Twitter's scale.
Musk may be well in his second term as U.S. president before Mastodon catches up.
1/2
There is no easy answer. Adoption of the fediverse needs to accelerate. At the same time, it would seem important that pro-democratic voices kept being heard on Twitter.
2/2
RockerDoc (Ricardo Ismach)@ifilljustice is Elmo’s bird where the label “Karen” took off?
I’m optimistic that Mastodon will assume that role of connecting people, letting us learn about and organize against racism and antisemitism and misogyny and tyranny.
yes, and decolonization too, please
Nicholas (He/Him)@ifilljustice fucking white people and their bullshit.
Glass Half Empty 🇨🇦
Courtney🤸♀️ Wyrtzen@ifilljustice THIS IS IT (read: this is the critical information on why the collapse of Twitter is not just a funny joke).
Lara Dreyer@ifilljustice
-- And not just in the US. Consier it's impacts in movements, uprisings & natural disasters around the world.
-- And not just in the US. Consier it's impacts in movements, uprisings & natural disasters around the world.
E. Hatt-Swank@ifilljustice so delighted to see you’re on here! The points you mention are one big reason I really like the idea of a decentralized app like this, so it’s not as easy for an egomaniacal billionaire to jump in and screw everything up when it can be a critical tool for real-world communication & not just cat videos and the like. I hope it takes off (and other apps like it as well).
Jackie Gardina@ifilljustice I appreciate that you said in the U.S. Social media platforms have been such an important tool for social justice advocates across the globe. We are foolish to view what is happening to Twitter outside the context of the larger authoritarian movement.
Dave Wakeman@jackiegardina @ifilljustice to me if we ever had any doubt that should be gone now.
Mrs Mouse at work@jackiegardina @ifilljustice Why do you think the Saudis are in on this?
@jackiegardina
Thank you.
Thank you.
@ifilljustice
Trayvon, too. And remember before just about everything that set off BLM, there was Danroy Henry.
Trayvon, too. And remember before just about everything that set off BLM, there was Danroy Henry.