Mark McElroy
irwinIf some rich dude can buy the public square, then it wasn't the public square.
chuckadeus kummerer@irwin tbf privatization amd commercialization of actual public space(s) isn't entirely unheard of, but I generally agree.
Bleistifterin@irwin There are no public squares in the US
Joseph Kohlmann@irwin Sure wasn’t
Nerdahedron
Jon Rodman@irwin so true. 👍
Michael 
The Tragedy of the Public Square.
The Mystic Pilgrim@irwin Sadly, despite what many have thought, it was never the public square. This #fediverse is more akin to a public square than the birdsite will ever be
Dell Cameron 🐈⬛@irwin people called it the public square, but the whole joke was trying to explain anything happening on twitter IRL made you sound totally insane.
technical debt jubilee
AP@irwin Right. Also the analogy only works if the public square is a place where everyone yells each other in an endless game of toxic one-upmanship, and where walking through involves the risk of random strangers hurtling rotten vegetables at you.
bit101@irwin fair point.
CaveatAuditor@irwin A mall... along with Ts, Cs and security guards 🙄☹️
Gordon J Holtslander@irwin the rich dude is the very fortunate village idiot
gerry
ᴊᴀᴍᴇs ᴍɪɪᴋᴇ
ANDORew Littler
Frostbeard@irwin yup. It was always the mall food court, not the Forum Romanum.
Ricardo Harvin@irwin excellent point!
txgirlmomx2@irwin pretty much
nico kruppethats why ist .com Not .org or .public
Ricardus@irwin Did you really think twitter was the public square??
Dani Elle@irwin THAT PART!
Larry Canuck
Bubs@irwin word.
Jim Cappio@irwin More like a POPS (Privately Owned Public Space), so pernicious in urban planning these days.
◼️@irwin it was never a public, you just happened to like who owned it.
The NeffroFacts.
Bastet@irwin
Thats the thing when some rich dude declares his place a public square after setting up some billboards and later on sells it to another rich dude wo doesn't like the idea or thinks that the billboards won't make him enough.
Thats the thing when some rich dude declares his place a public square after setting up some billboards and later on sells it to another rich dude wo doesn't like the idea or thinks that the billboards won't make him enough.
Carlos: A Pac-12 Enjoyer.@irwin public squares are performed, they aren’t just legal distinctions. it was a public square because we all treated it as such and it will cease to become a public square until we can’t.
Downsy
cottonmanifesto
Trailer Park Orthopod@irwin yeah, but ‘Murica.
Ms AB ☕@irwin Exactly right.
Finance Toolbox 🧰
albi von skládka 🇨🇿@irwin everything is for sale nowadays #abolishOwnership
Velouria@irwin that’s why he bought it - to destroy it.
Sheiam akanda COVER 
Ash Doyle@irwin But it doesn’t mean it wasn’t *used* as the public square.
lain, author of the quixote@irwin what if some government can shoot you if you protest there
MikeyWikey@irwin Well put sir!
Eric Slater
JE Brook@irwin Exactly. And I heard well-intentioned folks say, "stay and fight for Twitter!" Why? Would one say that about Facebook? It was never a _public_ forum. Mastodon, etc, is far closer to that and anarchist in spirit.
Rob Williams@irwin the gov only consumes $2T per year they couldn't have built Twitter! they are busy not fixing potholes and not fixing policing!
Joshua@irwin Twitter was owned by a very rich man before Musk. It is run by fabulously wealthy people. Who make many times the average American income, and who live in one of the most expensive areas in America.
A public square requires access for all to openly debate a topic. All side should be able to speak. All sides should have a seat. Then people can choose who is right from the strength of the arguments.
@irwin Twitter didn't allow this. Twitter regularly banned people who didn't follow their ideas. There was no debate. There was no public square even before Musk.
I highly doubt Mastodon will be a true public square. It might be less strident then Twitter, but will there be a seat for all sides.
nyork@Geekhomestead @irwin well said, both replies. The OP and hundreds of responses made me wonder if I’ve ever really seen a good example of “public square” in terms of free speech. Maybe on college campuses.
Anyway, it’s plausible and there are precedents for private money buying something and converting it to a public asset.
PC@irwin so true
Dian Putra@irwin private property👀
Carolinaliar@irwin wow that’s solid thank you
joe ntoto@irwin you’re not wrong
Pilar Gomez@irwin this is absolutely true
Blake Kirk@irwin - It never was the public square.
El Jefe "
" 
@irwin sir, last I checked, the public square didn't have a EULA.
Chris Santiago
Hayley (partly)@irwin hahaha, I bet the rich could actually buy a real public square in the modern day though!
Lionel RockmanI am not happy with one person owning a public forum i:e; Twitter!
Bruce@irwin It was much more of one prior to a few weeks ago. People around the world used Twitter to organize and it is being turned into a free for all that makes it much less useful.
Mike McCaffrey@irwin it was the mall food court
SafetyFirst@irwin ummmm I don’t understand this analogy… rich guys have been buying up the public square for a very long time … they buy up our newspapers & media, they buy actual public square real estate where people use it to hold public discussion, they buy politicians, lawyers, over take non profits & educational institutions. It’s a problem that requires constant work to fight against.