EngineerMomNov 26, 2022
Leah McElrath

While I appreciate how relatively peaceful it feels here right now, it’s important to remember that what’s happening with Twitter is a microcosm of what’s happening in the US and even internationally.

The right-wing power grab is global.

There is nowhere safe to run.

We can relocate someplace marginally safer, but, ultimately, we have to create community where we are.

Nov 26, 2022 at 2:50amWeb
Show threadRuben 🇺🇸 🇻🇪 🎧Nov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath I was talking with my mom earlier about this. She's not into social media but I made the analogy that monolithic, privately owned platforms are to the fediverse as totalitarianism are to republics. With the former it's easier to make decisions and get things done but the folks in the town square only have as many rights and influence as the owner wants to; the latter is messier and demands more from the folks in the town square to make it work but is more democratic.
Show threadMiss DNov 26, 2022
@rubenc @leahmcelrath I can see myself using this analogy, useful!
Show threadmarkDec 13, 2022
@rubenc @leahmcelrath Or, if you want to get all pop culture on this, you can go with the Rebel Alliance versus the Empire
Show threadCharles J Gervasi ⚡🛡️🥥Nov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath I hope #Mastodon is a microcosm for humankind, and *other place is the anomaly*, an unintended consequence of an algorithm that attempts to give users what they "want" (or look at) giving them more lurid train wrecks, leading them to try to become train wrecks in order to get noticed.
Show threadIdo AmirNov 26, 2022

@leahmcelrath The problem is, social media giants made us believe (a) the internet is a Wild West by nature (so they can abuse us & claim innocence) (b)that people are terrible creatures, filled with hate & negativity, while in fact, it is THEM who injected that hate & negativity into everyone's timelines.

Remember: the greatest trick the devil ever played was to convince people it didn't exist.

It's time for online accountability.
(stay tuned)

Show threadLadyTJan 12, 2023
@IdoAmir I have said from day 1 that Zuck is conducting an experiment and doesn't have to worry abt ethics. His aim was to open up a lawless wasteland with no standards or consequences and watch how people act when they become anonymous
Show threadgdtrbleNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath
Nice to see you here. 
Show threadRabbi Jill ZimmermanNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath @Lums94M Amen sister.
Show threadJon RodmanNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath True.
Show threadDaria_QTNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath It feels like we’ve run away to a better digital home to be honest. #TwitterRefugee
Show threadAris TeonNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath although sometimes people's decision to relocate and regroup is rational and reasonable, such as when German citizens decided to flee the Nazi regime rather than stay
Show threadGuyClappertonNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath if you live in the Uk as I do then you’ll note all the polls suggest the right wing is in trouble. That can change back of course but for the moment we look set to have a Labour government in a couple of years.
Show threadLadyTJan 12, 2023
@GuyClapperton here in the UK we don't have democracy, fptp where an 80 seat majority is gained on only 40% of the vote isn't democratic
Show threadBrianNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath I agree with you. I am also concerned that the #echo #chamber effect will drive #LikeMinds to an extreme. We need to be #mindful of this danger.
Show threadDimplesNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath I just know there’s a Wakanda somewhere out there - won’t rest until I find it!
Show threadVonGoethe DiscipleNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath New Zealand
Show threadGeeden_Of_ArdenNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath So true. Since 2016 we've come to see just how ugly things are under the popular social veneer. Finding a refuge is great for mental health, but the explosion of reactionary social media won't disappear just because I don't engage with it, cuz too many others continue. It feels so tainted to visit it now.
Show threadlizrdebNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath gotta stay and fight
Show threadMarc P BeauchampNov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath Pretty gosh darn deep thinking !
Show threadShoq 🌿Nov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath Well said, friend. And even MORE reason why an open communications ecosystem is absolutely vital around the world. One mostly resistant to easy control and interference, if not immune. That won't keep it safe for long, but it's a much better starting point than Twitter ever could be.
Show threadBillBoNov 26, 2022

@leahmcelrath

Good times produce bad leaders.
Bad times produce good leaders.

May we be in an inflection point.

I expect that we will be in the transition from bad to good for the rest of my life, some further than others along the path.

Show threadnot a tame owl 🦉Nov 26, 2022
@leahmcelrath or go where our community is in order to make our stand.
Show threadJesseNov 27, 2022
@leahmcelrath I’m gonna hide on a better social media app and vote often
Show thread@UdoBlickNov 27, 2022
@leahmcelrath thank you for articulating this so clearly.
Show threadCameron PalmerNov 27, 2022
@leahmcelrath that is certainly a viewpoint. I moved to Norway after Obama was elected and politically things are trucking along nicely. The problems facing the US are about not dealing with a poorly structured government and a two party system
Show threadi speak on behalf of ratsNov 28, 2022
@leahmcelrath Correct. Rats hate fascists.
Show threadMelody CooperDec 4, 2022
@leahmcelrath But be careful: if the grass is full of snakes, get out to safe ground, get big sticks with a bunch of others and beat the grass to drive the snakes out and destroy them. You don’t stand in the middle of the grass and do that. You don’t put your vulnerable loved ones down in the grass hoping the snakes won’t attack them. We are absolutely at an inflection point. And not only what we do but how we best do it is key. You’re right though. It’s coordinated globally.
Show threadMelody CooperDec 4, 2022
@leahmcelrath The amazingly frustrating thing to me is that when Black Americans were calling out white supremacy 20 years ago and the FBI warned that it was a serious issue, many white liberals just sat back and thought well it’s not affecting me or mine, so whatever. Such a dangerous stance. And we are now reaping what was allowed. Niemoller’s “Then they came for me…” is an urgent warning, not a nice poem.
And no one kept tabs on Steve Bannon in Europe at the world’s peril.
Show threadTyler CohenDec 5, 2022
@MelodyCooper @leahmcelrath all of what you both said. White Supremist terrorism is not new in this country. I’m reading a lot of (white-ish) Jewish Americans getting their passports together, but I look at the rise of Fascism across the globe & think, “Where would we go?”
Show threadTyler CohenDec 5, 2022
@MelodyCooper @leahmcelrath My partner is Black, I’m Ashkenazi Jewish, our kid carries both these heritages. Neither my partner nor myself are willing to concede this country to the hateful murderous bullies trying to terrorize us out. I’m getting to old for the frontlines, but that doesn’t mean I won’t continue to be a part of the fight
Show threadTyler CohenDec 5, 2022
@MelodyCooper @leahmcelrath I should add: I’m queer, my kid is queer & trans, Jewish & Black. It’s my duty to fight to make this world more safe for them. It’s also my duty to find helpers & hope, so they can imagine a future for themselves
Show threadMelody CooperDec 5, 2022
@tylerzonia @leahmcelrath Yep. Steve Bannon left the WH and went to Europe for a reason. We lose as soon as we cower. Regrouping, strategizing, gathering troops away from where we’re being openly attack is necessary.
Show threadEli Rivera 🍉Dec 4, 2022
@leahmcelrath this place seems like a much healthier space to build such community, organize and fight back.
And one of the many reasons I see is we can spend more time learning from each other and improving the platform among peers, than trying to convince a megalomaniac billionaire to do the right thing, fighting troll machines or replying back to the last Trump wannabe on our TL.
Show thread(((Pro-choice Morgana)))Dec 4, 2022
@leahmcelrath That's the big life lesson of the last 6 years: democracy is fragile and no place is immune to monstrosity.
Show threadSunaeThomasDec 4, 2022
@leahmcelrath true
Show threadJohnWDec 4, 2022

@leahmcelrath The right is trying to infiltrate every facet of our world, media, social media, corporate influence, government, even physical location.

The active war of this world is an information war. Protecting and building online communities like this one is more important than ever right now.

Show threadKevin RussellJan 10, 2023

@leahmcelrath the big change is we met to talk in a square to discuss the outlandish power of the rich, until outlandizhly rich racist man bought the square.

This square canmot be bought, this square is diverse, ours, free and run by volunteers.

Nazis are still trying to eliminate democracy, but this place, this tool, this home, is ours.

Show thread🏳️‍🌈 Lucy Wildboots Jan 11, 2023

@kevinrns @leahmcelrath

WHEN was that? Because post IPO everyone in leadership was an outrageously rich man.

Show threadKevin RussellJan 11, 2023

@LucyWildboots @leahmcelrath

Its free. Anyone can set up an instance of mastodon, no one can take another instance.

Show thread🏳️‍🌈 Lucy Wildboots Jan 11, 2023

@kevinrns @leahmcelrath I understand the concept. I came online pre-Web2.0

But it’s just disingenuous to imply there was just the one really rich guy.

Show threadKevin RussellJan 11, 2023

@LucyWildboots @leahmcelrath

Elon bought twitter.
Elon is using twitter acceptance to stuff nazis the into everyones timelines.

Show thread🏳️‍🌈 Lucy Wildboots Jan 11, 2023

@kevinrns
Nobody is saying he isn’t a bad man. But he bought it from rich men. Rich men loaned him the money. If you want to demonize him, great! He’s a douche nozzle.

But he’s just not the ONLY douche nozzle. In fact, were it not for peeps like Andreessen/ Horowitz and their ilk, he couldn’t have purchased it at all. That makes them Uber-douche….

@leahmcelrath

Edit: typo

Show threadKevin RussellJan 11, 2023

@LucyWildboots @leahmcelrath

IBM paid bajillions for Red Hat.

Show threadLadyTJan 12, 2023
@leahmcelrath the US and the UK are moving in total parallel atm right down to half of our populations supporting the fascists