Lauren Weinstein
Many government agencies are expressing concerns about how to communicate with the public without Twitter, especially in emergencies. Of course, it was a bad idea to become dependent on Twitter to such an extent in the first place, and no matter what happens, this needs rethinking.
Nov 19, 2022 at 11:39pmWeb
Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022

I note that some observers are questioning whether Mastodon would be a practical place for government agencies to issue emergency alerts and other information, when they've been using Twitter currently for these purposes.

This is a completely valid question. But I urge that it be considered in the context of the fact that #Twitter is now totally controlled by a chaotic individual who could change the operational rules of Twitter at any time, for any reason, or even shut it all down entirely with no advanced notice (assuming it doesn't collapse for other reasons), and who has not shown significant interest in such public affairs, only his own.

Show threadJohn MuellerNov 22, 2022

@lauren Yeah, it's clear that Twitter is definitely not suited as the *only* channel.

IMO using an open setup like what Mastodon uses under the hood is ideal for public announcements, since it can be consumed by anyone / any service (nit: could be, but it currently isn't consumed by the majority).

Ultimately, they could also use a blog with RSS.

Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@johnmu Maybe RSS can play a role internally, but relatively nobody on the planet knows what RSS is now, and if WP didn't automatically generate it there'd probably be almost none out there. I say this even though I depend on RSS for most of my news pointers.
Show threadJohn MuellerNov 22, 2022
@lauren The same could be said for ActivityPub though. It feels like a wake-up call for relying too much on a single, closed platform, but none of the open platforms are particularly compelling or widely used. Or is it back to email newsletters? That would be the easiest & have the broadest user-base.
Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@johnmu Very tough problem. In a creepy kind of way, I suppose we should thank Elon for helping to call attention to this disaster in waiting and getting everyone thinking about it more again. On second thought, don't bother thanking him. He doesn't deserve it.
Show threadDamonHDNov 22, 2022
@johnmu @lauren I loathe email newsletters (amongst my 10k SPAM attempts per day from when I ran an ISP), so let that not be the 'solution' please!
Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@DamonHD @johnmu Well, I've been running email lists for decades on the Net so I feel a bit differently. My PRIVACY Forum list has been running continuously for over, uh, 30 years!
Show threadharrypujols™Nov 22, 2022
@johnmu @lauren RSS should have never be abandoned, and it’s time they start to take it seriously again. What happened to Twitter should be a wake up call.
Show threadPeggy KNov 22, 2022
@johnmu @lauren I've found Twitter invaluable for updates on fast moving situations like wildfires. It would be great if official agencies would operate their own Mastodon instance we could follow here, but that isn't going to reach most people.
Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@peggyktc @johnmu I have not asserted that Mastodon is "the solution" -- I have merely said that depending on Twitter for this purpose going forward is extraordinarily problematic and unwise.
Show threadZenicepianNov 19, 2022
@lauren They could publicise hashtag #nowhearthis and publish from a verified regular publisher of valuable information. They can earn public trust not just bullhorn down a monopoly channel
Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 19, 2022
@zenicepian Part of the attraction of course has been that Twitter has been free, so dependence grew partly on that basis instead of spending money developing government funds on systems that were genuinely under their control.
Show threadZenicepianNov 19, 2022
@lauren I I agree free from a monetary perspective but we all became the product. In the past the UK government imbedded updated farming advice within a radio rural based soap called the Archers as a way of softly passing on best practice to the agricultural sector.
Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 19, 2022
@zenicepian I've never been a fan of that "we are the product" terminology. The point is that Twitter users don't have to spend money (at least up until now) to have significant reach, and that's been money saved by government agencies. But it does put a lot at risk if that communications channel is no longer free or goes poof.
Show threadPufferfishNov 19, 2022

@lauren

This is so over. Over and out.

Show threadShelley Buck AuthorNov 21, 2022
@lauren This is a biggie if you live in a wildfire area.
Show threadKelly Wheaton 🦫💧🐸 🌻🌹Nov 22, 2022
@ShelleyBuckAuthor @lauren i use the WatchDuty app.
Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 21, 2022
@lauren Mastodon provides a nice clear choice.
Show threadTrekNov 22, 2022
@mgifford @lauren yeah, but which instance do they join? It feels...not right to me for them to join .social domains. Maybe some will set up their own instances, which could be...interesting.
Show threadMatti SchneiderNov 22, 2022
@trekman10 @mgifford @lauren at least social.bund.de, social.networks.Europa.eu are already there :)
Show threadTrekNov 22, 2022
@MattiSG @mgifford @lauren I could totally imagine even universities using this. Idk about you but when I was in uni they tried like 2 or 3 times to get the student body and staff to use proprietary or walled off websites for social media like communication within the school. An instance run by a uni comms department or student group could be really cool. Or just a hellhole depending on how it's moderated.
Show threadDavidNov 22, 2022
@MattiSG @mgifford @trekman10 @lauren Nothing odd about this at all. This is how kids use to join Usenet. From their university or department Usenet server. Universities or departments could run their own Mastodon server.
Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 22, 2022
@trekman10 @MattiSG @lauren but it could be moderated to fit the needs of that particular community.
Show threadTrekNov 22, 2022
@mgifford @MattiSG @lauren I'm just saying. Some bureaucrats would be cut out for moderation roles. Others would be like power tripping fb mods.
Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 22, 2022
@MattiSG @trekman10 @lauren that is a huge advantage for employees if forward thinking governments.
Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 22, 2022
@trekman10 @lauren It doesn't much matter where they begin. It is always possible to move. By design this problem has been resolved. So start where it is easy.
Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@mgifford @trekman10 AFAIK it's fairly easy to move followers, but not following. Yes, government agencies would typically have many more of the former than the latter. But also as government agencies, they cannot just plop down on any server without due consideration of its operational and policy characteristics, even briefly.
Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 22, 2022

@lauren @trekman10 The institutions yes. But hopefully they eventually just settle on a government domain name and manage control of it that way.

Lots of stuff was just easier when there was a benevolent dictator taking care of things (even imperfectly).

Show threadOdei / BunsNov 22, 2022
@trekman10 @mgifford @lauren Maybe public goberment instantes by continent...with individual accounts for each country? Not sure if this makes sense, just thinking out loud.
Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 22, 2022
@bunsibunbuns @trekman10 @lauren could be but suspect per department or agency will be more normal. We will have to see.
Show threadOdei / BunsNov 22, 2022
@mgifford @trekman10 @lauren Yes! Makes more sense!
Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 23, 2022
@bunsibunbuns @trekman10 @lauren All depends on the size of the country and department.
Show threadAdam RetchlessNov 23, 2022
@trekman10 @mgifford @lauren As I understand it, the german government has its own domain. I think it's social.bund.de
Show threadLᵢCᵸᵢMₐNov 22, 2022

@mgifford @lauren

"Mastodon provides a nice clear choice."

No

Show threadalli rico Nov 22, 2022
@mgifford @lauren it really doesn’t, though. Lots of people have expressed confusion over how to even make an account or join a server, and many local govt agencies don’t adopt new tech that quickly (I’m speaking from experience)
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKNov 22, 2022

@allirico @mgifford @lauren government agencies shouldn't assume private Internet or telecommunications networks are available/reliable in emergencies (much is heavily dependent on mains electricity and due to commercial pressures can be quickly overloaded).

If they must deploy online resources they should own them themselves, and work alongside linear radio and TV broadcasters (particularly public service broadcasters where present)

Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 22, 2022
@vfrmedia @allirico @lauren I like the idea of municipal owned networks. Having redundancy is good when disasters strike.
Show threadMike Gifford, CPWA @FOSDEMNov 22, 2022

@allirico @lauren gov was confused by social media back in the day too. Leaders figured it out. Others followed. It became expected.

Same will happen if Twitter collapses & it is replaced by something else.

Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@mgifford @allirico We can hope so, though the political environment is considerably more toxic now.
Show threadmyrmepropagandistNov 22, 2022

@lauren aw ya think???

(not directed at you personally I just feel like I’ve been screaming for half a decade about how it’s Not OK that critical communication infrastructure is controlled by a private company— and nobody cares)

Show threadKeith (karmajunkie)Nov 22, 2022
@lauren indeed. I'd hope that as the landscape becomes clearer agencies and companies of all stripes get accustomed to deploying their own activitypub services in the same way they do email.
Show threadCharlotte M. FreemanNov 22, 2022
@lauren Same problem with Facebook. Our town in MT went almost exclusively to FB as a public communications tool, and I haven't had FB in a decade.
Show threadJimNov 22, 2022
@lauren It's not a public company either, so why expect it to perform as such?
Show threadLᵢCᵸᵢMₐNov 22, 2022

@lauren

😱😱😱

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_communication_system

Emergency communication system - Wikipedia

Show threadKrishna Aerabati Nov 22, 2022
@lauren Not only rethinking, but a long term strategy and funding! #communication
Show threadJulia ClementNov 22, 2022

@lauren

Don't your mobile phone networks support "Emergency Mobile Alert"s? Wikipedia says you have it under the name "Wireless Emergency Alerts"

Here in #NewZealand it's pretty much universally available and in 2019 87% of the population with mobile phones "either received the nationwide test alert or was near someone who did" should be well over 90% by now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Mobile_Alert

Emergency Mobile Alert - Wikipedia

Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@juliaclement Yes, but not everyone has suitable devices, and many people have disabled emergency alerts on their phones because some agencies have tended to overuse them for less than critical notifications.
Show threadCassandraNov 23, 2022

@juliaclement
@lauren

Yeah, my phone screams at me when there's dangerous weather or anything else dangerous. When there was a killing spree in my province this summer, my phone screamed at me every few hours to keep me up to date.

Show threadJulia ClementNov 23, 2022

@opaqueplanet @lauren

I start my comedy set by explaining that I wear a flouro safety jacket because some of my jokes are pretty dangerous.

Remind me not to perform in your province or I'll set off the danger warning on half the phones in town and get put on the first plane home.

Show threadPersonNov 22, 2022
@lauren my university even uses Twitter for emergency notifications. (Yesterday they sent out a email asking us to opt in for an alternative method of emergency notification).
Show threadJeff KirvinNov 22, 2022

@lauren And it doesn't help that so many on Mastodon reflexively defederate from anything remotely connected to "the feds"

Cliquish balkanization is going to become a serious problem for the fediverse.

Show threadGoappstateNov 22, 2022
@lauren Thank you! Free market capitals can scoff, but regulators are way behind on this one.
The rallying cry needs to be that Twitter is a private monopoly, owned and controlled largely by one person, and it can’t be the primary means for communicating critical public emergency info.
That it’s gotten to this stage and we still haven’t seen regulatory action is infuriating.
Show threadTom StonehamNov 22, 2022

@lauren I don't know ... Maybe they could update their web pages and offer RSS?

I suspect what the real problem is that they were relying on *re*Tweets to spread the message. And that is just crazy in an emergency situation. An open door to misinformation.

Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@tomstoneham While I depend on RSS for most of my online news pointers, I would assert that some tiny fraction of 1% of people in the world have any idea what RSS is. Most of the sites feeding it are only doing so because WordPress does it automatically. They probably don't even know they have it.
Show threadTom StonehamNov 22, 2022
@lauren 10 years ago that was true of Twitter. As it became more popular, it also became the lazy option for official communication. Things can change if those whose job it is to communicate effectively take responsibility for their channels.
Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@tomstoneham It may have a reasonable internal role "under the hood" so to speak.
Show threadtheredelmNov 22, 2022
@lauren I would revise this to say that to be solely dependent on social media to interact with the public is something that needs some thought. Are you [you = one; not you personally] communicating or broadcasting?
Show threaddick_turpin  Nov 22, 2022
@lauren Given they were able to send everyone a text (In the UK) during COVID, I'm sure they've got that covered. 🙂
Show threadLauren WeinsteinNov 22, 2022
@dick_turpin You might be surprised how many people don't use text messages, or even carry devices capable of receiving them all the time. The level of SMS spam and phishing has driven many people to just turn them off.
Show threaddick_turpin  Nov 22, 2022
@lauren I wish they would. That's all I see is mobiles glued to people's hands. 🤷‍♂️