LosMykeFeb 22, 2025
JA Westenberg

The social media billionaires want us to believe their putrid platforms are the “new town squares.”

That their half-baked social videos and for-you feeds have replaced the agora.

And that, somehow, we’re all better for it.

It’s the most overused, meaningless claim on the Internet.

https://www.joanwestenberg.com/the-false-promise-of-digital-public-squares-was-always-a-scam/

The False Promise of Digital Public Squares Was Always a Scam

The Ancient Greek agora was a place where students and citizens could freely gather, give speeches, engage in debate, and challenge each other.  Yes, it was a marketplace, a commercial hub where merchants sold goods from permanent shops (stoas) and temporary market stalls.  But it was so much more—a

westenberg.
Feb 22, 2025 at 10:24pmPubler
Show threadEhay2kFeb 22, 2025

@Daojoan

The BIG difference is that with the agora, if you were an asshole you'd get stoned.

Show threadMidniteMikeWritesFeb 22, 2025

@Daojoan Yep, centralized social media platforms are honeypots where our connections are the bait and used against us. But the wonderful thing about the internet is that it gives us the ability to create our own clubs and town squares.

I don't think literally everyone needs to do this, just enough to form a counterbalance to centralized VC funded honeypots. It's why I joined Mastodon.

Show threadLosMykeFeb 22, 2025
@Daojoan @blaine These lines makes the story, “But their apps — virtual panopticons — have more in common with prison yards and shopping malls than public forums.
Instead of humans talking and interacting with each other in the open air, we’re corralled like cattle by engagement metrics that fundamentally alter our conversations. “
Show threadEndyFeb 23, 2025
@Daojoan They're not wrong though. Some people live their whole adult lives on Facebook & Twitter - personal and professional.
Show threadnigelFeb 23, 2025
And those people are morons.

There are however people that seem to use those platforms only as they need to; I am not a person that does not get easily addicted to stuff though, so I just dont use them.

CC: @[email protected]
Show threadDave Dee HAS MOVEDFeb 23, 2025
@Daojoan on the friggin' town square a Russian moron wouldn't be able to pretend to be a local.
Show threadEloPupFeb 23, 2025

@Daojoan
Algo-manipulated town squares, sure.

Where democracy goes out the window 😅…

Oh boy(s) 🤦🏻

Show threadZACFeb 23, 2025
@Daojoan
Deleted: FaceBook, Google/Mail, Instagram, X, and just about anything that has to do with META. Now this platform is the only place I post.