Ever since November, I’ve told everyone who would listen that continuing to use Twitter helps Fascism.
Certain people said that statement was “extremist and alienating”.
But now it turns out that Twitter is deliberately amplifying Russian propaganda. And Russia is, in fact, a Fascist regime.
It’s time you all realize the stakes of your social media use.
https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/kremlin-twitter-accounts-get-a-boost
I know that Twitter is where your friends are and you’ve spent 15 years building your social graph on that service.
But is that a good reason to aid and abet the spread of Russian propaganda?
Even if you believe Russia is a far off concern, this isn’t true—it’s patently obvious that Russia is influencing domestic Fascism as well.
The likes of Candace Owens don’t appear in a vacuum. They are clearly influenced by the Kremlin.
“But I’m mocking all the Fascism on Twitter, or blocking it whenever I see it!”
Doesn’t matter. Elon Musk controls the algorithm. As we’ve already seen, he dictates what is seen and unseen.
Anyone who speaks out against his agenda can find themselves talking to a proverbial wall. Or at least brought out as a punching bag when the need arises.
And your blocks don’t matter if Elon really wants to force Twitter to see something.
Your continued presence on Twitter helps no one.
Look, I get it.
Nobody likes to be told that they’re helping the bad guys. Especially when they’ve spent their entire lives self-identifying as liberals or progressives.
You’re on the side of human rights, not the Nazis, right?
Well, this is where actions speak louder than words.
It’s time to stop with the hot takes and dunks.
It’s time to log out of Twitter and never come back.
I also understand—and empathize—that people often have no choice and must use Twitter.
If the choice is between making rent and eviction, I get it.
But that’s not everyone. If you’re privileged enough to leave Twitter, it’s your duty to log off forever.
That’s how you can thwart the spread of Fascism.
@atomicpoet If only it were that simple. You see, the people I engage with on Twitter are just as anti-fascist as I am.
Let's compare that with the people I engage with here, after five months of daily use.
Oh, nobody much engages with me here. So, I guess I don't have any data for comparison.
The folks who post here do seem very nice though - notwithstanding their near total lack of reciprocity whenever I try to pleasantly engage with them.
So, based on my experience, it looks like my options here are to be a broadcaster (like the folks who never engage with me), a fan (who praises broadcasters), a troll (who causes trouble to get engagement), or a lurker (who reads but is totally invisible.)
Ideally, I would become a fan, and heap adulation on all the broadcasters here. However, becoming a lurker is more my style. So please be advised that I typically read and enjoy your posts when they come my way.
Over and out.
@atomicpoet My.opinon differs about the "supporting" part. I provided a rationale for why being on Twitter might be a way to actually fight fascism - which you did not refute.
As I'm sure you're aware, many people on Twitter believe that they should "stay and fight" rather than "cede the global public square to the fascists."
I don't personally hold that view but I think it's just as defensible as yours that by staying on Twitter, one is supporting fascism.
As I stated previously, your argument oversimplifies a complex issue. In my opinion.
@jgordon @KansasGrant @atomicpoet Yeah, but.....you have to remember that fascists don't have the same goals as non-fascists? My goals on twitter were to have a good time, communicate with others, build a community. Twitter *definitely* seems like it's "flailing in the mud" from my perspective.
But the fascists, overall, don't give a fuck about my goal, and right now - despite their infighting and griping - twitter is working *better* for them. It's working *great* for authoritarian regimes, misinformation campaigns, people bent on subverting democracies.
To many (not all) vulnerable people who relied on twitter for mutual aid, who are targets of hate campaigns and so on....twitter is actually a lion's den.
I'm agnostic on whether or not people should leave twitter. My gut says it's a good idea to at the very least invest in building community on other platforms (it's why I'm here), but I'm extremely, EXTREMELY skeptical of the idea that twitter ever was a "public square" (if it was, it's in the same way as a mall was a "public square" - the illusion of a "public", but with security, rules that kept out poor and unhoused people, everything costs money to do, some folks have to *work* there for pay and don't have much say in their working conditions).
And, I mean, most fascists (and fascist movements) look funny, out-of-touch, and incompetent.....until they aren't. This isn't saying fascists are 4-D chess players, only that what fascism *wants* and *does* is so different from what healthy societies want and do, we can under-estimate the threat.
Chris Trottier
Kansas Grant
Marc "ACAB" Godin
John Gordon