Dan Gillmor

I'll never stop being amazed that journalists are using Elon Musk's rancid propaganda platform to complain about newspaper owners' interference with editorial content.

Marty Baron, former Washington Post editor, did it on Friday.

Irony is too meek a word to capture this kind of willful blindness...

Oct 28, 2024 at 4:01amWeb
Show threadLauren WeinsteinOct 28, 2024
@dangillmor Dan, you know the reason. They do not have alternate platforms with anywhere approaching the same reach. That's the whole ball game.
Show threadcharvakaOct 28, 2024

@lauren @dangillmor

"I know this is a Nazi bar run by a fascist owner now, but none of the other bars in town has this number of patrons, so I am going to keep hanging out here!"

https://hivemind.plus/@charvaka/112876128765553311

charvaka (@[email protected])

@[email protected] Imagine you are a journalist in Berlin in 1932. A bar you liked to hang out with your journalist friends in was taken over by a rich Nazi-sympathizer 2 years ago. Then the bar became a Nazi hangout. You still go there daily to hangout with your journalist buddies, trying to ignore the loud SA brownshirts all around. You don't like them, but you won't change bars because all your friends are there. That's what our journalists are doing now.

Mastodon
Show threadDougMerritt (log😅 = 💧log😄)Oct 28, 2024
@charvaka @lauren @dangillmor
The problem with irony is that sometimes it's not ironic, it's just an exactly literal description of the situation. 🙄
Show threadJohn PanzerOct 28, 2024
@lauren @dangillmor Are they trying to establish a base somewhere else in parallel, though? That’s the long game here.
Show threadLauren WeinsteinOct 28, 2024
@jpanzer @dangillmor I don't think so. The social graph is everything, and they have no way to recreate it elsewhere effectively.
Show threadDan GillmorOct 28, 2024
@lauren @jpanzer The unwillingness to even try reinforces my point.
Show threadLauren WeinsteinOct 28, 2024
@dangillmor @jpanzer How would you suggest they try? I've seen journalists attempt to get going on other platforms, and they almost always fizzle out at a tiny fraction of their Twitter followings. I don't blame them for not burning more time dealing with tiny pieces of the pie rather than the big giant one. The only solution is for Musk to not control that platform.
Show threadDan GoodinOct 28, 2024

@lauren @dangillmor @jpanzer

My experience as a journalist is that Twitter doesn't boost my traffic by any noticeable measure. Story tweets that get 10s of 1,000s of views simply don't translate to increased traffic to those stories. What's more, a fair number of journalists' followers these days are no longer active because they have left or greatly scaled back their use.

Leaving Twitter behind is the right thing to do. And if that's not feasible, scaling back use is crucial. Staying there means you think the value of your tweets outweighs the harm Twitter is inflicting on a free press and democracy itself. And that's simply not the case.

Show threadJohn PanzerOct 29, 2024

@dangoodin @lauren @dangillmor Maybe other journalists could weigh in. I’ve heard others say that Twitter traffic doesn’t translate to click throughs, which isn’t the only thing but is a big thing.

@emptywheel has 65K followers “here” though appears to mostly be syndicating content.

Show threademptywheelOct 29, 2024
@jpanzer My Xitter posts do result in traffic. All three platforms I use result in different kinds. I think Bluesky is highest level of engagement. But even different kinds of posts do differently depending on platform. @dangoodin @lauren @dangillmor
Show threademptywheelOct 29, 2024
@jpanzer That said, I think Baron should be on Bluesky, even if he's dual streaming. I remain on Xitter for a bunch of other reasons, including adding friction to right wing disinformation. @dangoodin @lauren @dangillmor
Show threadJohn PanzerNov 23, 2024
@emptywheel @dangoodin @lauren @dangillmor Boy do you have good timing
Show threadZen Zero ☯️ ◯Oct 29, 2024
@emptywheel Highest level means highest quality or highest volume? Just curious.
Show threadJohn PanzerOct 28, 2024

@lauren @dangillmor Much like Tom Bombadil, I was there at the beginning. The social graph is created by the people in it!

This also sounds like learned helplessness.

Show threadDan GillmorOct 28, 2024
@lauren yes, silly me to even imagine that journalists would choose integrity over reach.
Show threadcharvakaOct 28, 2024
@dangillmor Making mildly worded statements about fascists while patronizing a Nazi bar and giving the fascist owner of the bar your business is a strange way of standing up for your values. How delusional does one have to be?
Show threadJ.H.NoyesOct 28, 2024

@dangillmor

How else are they going to save Twitter if they don't stay, Dan? How else?

/s

Show threadanubis2814Oct 28, 2024
@dangillmor I mean if the media began going to other platforms and telling people to join them, yeah they would take a temporary hit which would impact their money but people have to move over.