Thread by @NePlus4aiv

@jack 1. Of late, Twitter has obviously NOT been operating in "good faith" when it comes to its "Good Samaritan" content moderation.
2. If that is not obvious to YOU, then you are part of the problem and will never solve the issue.
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@jack 3. Trust is earned by your actions. However, both your actions AND your words - especially when compared to your actions - can lose it.
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@jack In the exercise of freedom of speech, there can be no half measures. Twitter either is or is not a platform that anyone can use to speak their mind.
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@jack Nobody is obligated to listen to anyone else. Too often Twitter takes it upon itself to moderate or remove content.The Unfollow option exists for a reason. In fact, it is the exact same reason the Follow option exists - a choice.
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@jack Just as in the days of the soapbox in the town square, a user can either approach a speaker to better hear what they have to say or walk out of earshot. Both are a personal choice. One that can be made over and over again, even between the same two users.
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@jack The moment Twitter decides who is heard and who is not, whatever the reason, it enters the realm of editor and publisher.

Every time I write a tweet like this one, I am obligated to be critical of what I am writing because every follower I have is going to be an editor.
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@jack Even users who don't follow me will see what I write because they follow you. Or I will be retweeted. Or quoted.

My ability to make my point, to defend it, is on me. It can either earn or lose me followers. Should I fail to state my case clearly and factually..
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@jack ..there are thousands of "editors" who will take me to task. I hardly need Twitter looking over my shoulder.

Nor am not on Twitter to accumulate followers. I have never been one to "follow back," a rather bizarre phenomenon brought on by the advent of influencers.
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@jack In fact I joined Twitter to follow news organizations from around the world. (See my Lists.)

Twitter became THE place to get immediate information from individuals around the world who found themselves confronted with real life. So much so, that police organizations..
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@jack ..requested that users NOT tell or show what was happening in front of them for everyone's safety. (The Boston Marathon incident comes to mind.)

Even now I see individuals and news organizations "negotiating" the use of video. How could I not want to be a part of that.
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@jack Twitter's strength is immediacy. If Twitter wants to look at a situation like the one in Boston and, I don't know, delay(?) the availability of such information by a few minutes to protect those on the ground, then have at it. Questions about that too will inevitably arise.
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@jack ..but to completely suppress information on an arbitrary basis defeats Twitter's concept and strongest attraction. And yes, Twitter's actions have been arbitrary despite its statements to the contrary.

Do not expect favorable legislation, regulation is never favorable.
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@jack The concept of building algorithms that a user can opt to implement on their timeline is interesting and probably what I would suggest, though I would never use them. I can't read Hebrew or Arabic or Mandarin, but they show up in my timeline..
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@jack ..because of who I follow. If i want, I can get them translated, but mostly I just ignore them. On the other hand, those same accounts post tweets in English that I want to see. I wouldn't want to miss those because a word or phrase in a language I can't read.
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@jack Nor do I wish to have those users who tweet nothing more than some ignorant comment disappear from my replies because, on occasion, it delights me to reply to them with irrefutable facts that make them block me.

I suspect that most users are here to participate fully.
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@jack Having Twitter as a completely open platform with algorithms that a user can implement at their whim is about the best solution I have heard. That said, I would bet that few would survive the test of time.

Go back to what Twitter was intended to be - open and unrestricted.
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@jack @threadreaderapp unroll