Chuck JordanNov 16, 2022
One of the big lies I totally believed in my teens & early 20s was that David Letterman really was Stickin It To The Man when he mocked NBC and (then-owner) General Electric. It was all performative nonsense, obviously, but I’m reminded of it every time I see the end result of billionaires in control of “democratic” platforms that claim to give commoners a voice.
Show threadChuck JordanNov 16, 2022

People love pointing to the “Arab Spring” as an example of how social media is essential, which completely (deliberately?) ignores how corporate-owned platforms being useful for organizing resistance movements is an unwelcome side-effect AT BEST.

No doubt a lot of people at Twitter genuinely believed in its value as a democratizing platform, but acting like that is its main mission statement is either disingenuous or outright deceitful.

Show threadBaptiste Bourdon
@SasquatcherGeneral it was actually integral to its core initial design, the app originated from TXTmob, an app responding to a need for militants to communicate rapidly during protests, and this is why, despite the neoliberal nature twitter was seeped in, militant communities still held on for dear life to this app, and still do today. Direct and borderless communication, even quote tweets, were integral to what made twitter essential to marginalized ppl, protesters, journalists and academics around the world. Mastodon doesnt aspire right now to be that, and it's okay, but the tool that was twitter is going to leave a hole.
Nov 16, 2022 at 8:52pmWeb
Show threadChuck JordanNov 16, 2022
@baptistebourdon I guess my larger point is the (obvious) observation that it’s a bad idea to treat centralization/corporatization as a “necessary evil,” that can be exploited for the purpose of a greater good. Yes, there are occasions where profit and public good can peacefully coexist, but I think we need to start acknowledging that they are the exception and not the rule.