(1/13) This is incredibly interesting. Removing the “like” option is better for many individuals who fall victim to the strong desire to be accepted and thus the mental health issues that can follow. However, that desire is what drives the usage of Twitter.
It’s a Catch 22 for the platform as business. It is also my assumption that many of those who would be upset at this change are those who push hard for more ethical business practices, the category which this decision would fall under. Catch 22 for those users...
...because, generally, leftists are those pushing harder for more ethical business practice and Twitter is a left leaning platform. Therefore, this change would, in aggregate, effect left-leaning tweets/accounts more.
Twitter sees itself as the primary outlet for public conversation (Facebook comments make my eyes bleed) and that is important. However, it is not a secret that Twitter’s user base leans left. (@jack acknowledges this) Given the current state of identity politics...
...any differing opinions are attacked by primarily anon accounts (another issue for another time) and left leaning opinions are interacted with in much greater proportion regardless of the actual content. This does two things in effect to one another.
(1.) It makes those ‘popular’ tweets more visible, which then makes Twitter seem even more left leaning than it may actually be.
That then, (2.) Discourages conversation and (3.) Creates somewhat of an echo chamber of Twitter which is NEVER good for anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
That then, (2.) Discourages conversation and (3.) Creates somewhat of an echo chamber of Twitter which is NEVER good for anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
This move would also discourage, in some sense, the use of purposefully provocative tweets in order to rile people up to gain interactions in order to garner more ad revenue. After all, any publicity is good publicity for ads. Less extreme/fringe ‘news’ would be good for everyone
Now, sure you could say a couple things. One being, “What about this cute video of a baby seal that has nothing to do with politics?” Fair question. It’s tweeter might just have to deal with not getting likes for the overall good, as I personally see it.
Twitter is not a social media. In the App Store it is under the “News” category, and that is the avenue that Twitter wants to go (I predict there will eventually be a paid twitter membership where the free version tweets are delayed a short amount of time before one can see them)
You could also say, “Well if that chain reaction mentioned above does happen, and left leaning tweets get less exposure than they do now, isn’t that a form of censorship?” Well, not really censorship, but I could understand where you’re coming from.
You’d have a good point, and it’s a difficult question. Why suppress what is apparently the opinion(s) of the majority? A couple thoughts: (1.) It could force people to think for themselves as opposed to a thoughtless retweet. (2.) Twitter could reconfigure algos to accommodate.
But I am not certain about either of those. As I said, it could be really hot topic if the change happens. & to reiterate, it would not be censorship as it isn’t a targeted suppression-it would be across the board. Left, right, dogs, horses, fake stories about grandma, all of it.
I will be intently following this as it could be groundbreaking, or it could, quite literally, break Twitter if the number of active users declines significantly as ads and thus revenue would inevitably follow the same trend. Let me know your thoughts!
/end
/end
@threadreaderapp unroll
