Thread by @jonst0kes

I've been tracking conflations & confusions in the #TwitterFiles2 fight, so here's another one: accounts that re algorithmically suppressed/deboosted (what some are calling "shadow bans") vs. accounts whose tweets are hidden but you can click to reveal. slate.com/technology/201…

The treatment of some accounts described in the 2018 article quoted above has the following qualities:
1. Applies to the whole account (vs. to some tweets)
2. Advertised as being about abuse (not, crucially, disinfo)
3. You can still see the tweets if you click to reveal

What is revealed in the #TwitterFiles is different. It shares #1 above -- applies to the whole account (not to tweets). But the allegation is that tweets from the account aren't shown to as many users in their "top tweets" TL & are held back from trending.

So for the list of conflations so far, it's:
1. Applies to accounts vs. applies to tweets
2. Applies to abuse/spam/hate speech vs. applies to disinformation or political viewpoints
3. Is deboosted in top tweets + trending or is pushed down & hidden behind click-to-reveal.

There are permutations of all of these confusions going around, which is why this argument has such a strong flavor for some of "omg my opponents are morons who can't read" & for others of "wow we're all talking past each other."

Really nobody on either side has been rigorous enough about laying out exactly what they're alleging. Both are using some of the same terms in radically different ways. If you're going to jump into this fight, you need to always list out the specific practices you're discussing.

Of course, Twitter itself strongly disincentivizes us listing out explicitly what we're alleging has been revealed (or alleging was always known about) because of the character limit. It's almost designed to make us talk past each other by forcing us to speak in short references.

Alice: We now know Twitter is deboosting accounts.
Bob: OMG moron *links to old article about how Twitter is hiding tweets*

Alice: Seems Twitter was doing viewpoint discrimination under banner of "disinfo"
Bob: OMG plz *links to old article about twitter suppressing hate speech*

Also yes, this. There is a ton of this going on, but IMO also many cases of people who really do think they're right but are confusing and conflating the things above.

https://twitter.com/blamelessjay/status/1601606579400634370