Augie RayJan 22, 2023

People ask why I post so often about #COVID19 considering most people are convinced it's a mild disease and no big deal any longer. I can answer with three links:

Vaccine protection fades in 6 months, and almost all nations have seen fewer than 20 doses per 100 people in the past six months: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

Over 140 studies have found COVID damages hearts, brains, immune systems and more: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12VbMkvqUF9eSggJsdsFEjKs5x0ABxQJi5tvfzJIDd3U/edit?usp=sharing

Immune-evasive variants are rising: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/what-to-know-about-xbb-1-5-a-new-and-highly-transmissible-covid-19-subvariant

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations

Explore data on COVID-19 vaccinations across the world.

Our World in Data
Show threadKatherine Stiles Jan 22, 2023
@augieray
I have been posting a lot, too, about Covid on Twitter; not much on Mastodon yet as I am new here. I got the impression that I am preaching to the coir...
Show threadAugie RayJan 22, 2023
@KatherineStiles Given how Twitter's algorithm works, you're probably speaking to the COVID cautious there, too. There are more people on Mastodon that seem to be COVID cautious, but I think “preaching the choir” is a wrong way to think of it. I think of it as continuing to encourage those who are being careful so that they don't falter and giving them info they can share further. Besides, every tweet helps Musk build his business model, and he sounds like an antivaxxer these days.
Show threadKatherine Stiles Jan 24, 2023

@augieray
I hope you are right – that some people have taken note even though not engaging with the posts. Haven’t stopped posting every single article on Covid as soon as it has appeared.

As for Elon… Not sure whether any tweet, or... anything, may help him anymore to build / rebuild this business – whatever the model. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the past November was the beginning of the end of Twitter.

Show threadAugie RayJan 24, 2023
@KatherineStiles My feeling is that anyone who refused to join Truth Social because it would help Trump should now be abandoning Twitter for the same reason. Every tweet simply helps Elon succeed, and he's spreading misinformation and reinstating hateful, abusive accounts. Sure, a single tweet does little, but if we all cared and left Twitter, it would make a difference.
Show threadKatherine Stiles 

@augieray Thank you for your reply.

Re ‘abandoning Twitter’: Not that easy for certain communities to reassemble elsewhere quickly if at all possible. Take the academic community for example. Unless universities and the various educational institutions, think tanks, and foundations migrate to another platform, academics and scientists cannot leave. And universities need the general public.

Re ‘if we all cared and left Twitter, it would make a difference’: It would – but in which direction? Could it possibly be that people who can contribute something positive would make a greater difference by staying than by leaving? Who will be there to counter misinformation if they leave? I am not sure what the right move is… We are all in the wait-and-see mode…

Have a great weekend!

Jan 27, 2023 at 5:20pmWeb