Twitter is Trust as a Service (TaaS). Twitter is trying to sell its audience on the idea we can entrust it to host important conversations and, to an extent, acts as a "trust broker" in the sense that conversations happening on Twitter can make or break trust in institutions.
Historically, we had what is now a 'Legacy Media' that brokered trust by telling us who we could and could not trust. Now Legacy Media has destroyed its own reputation by failing to adapt to the increasing levels of transparency that came with the Internet.
Manufacturing Consent and its Propaganda Model were predicated on the premise that a centrally controlled media landscape determined the flow of discourse.
That is not to imply the Propaganda Model is defunct, but there is a new paradigm emerging.
That is not to imply the Propaganda Model is defunct, but there is a new paradigm emerging.
When audiences are presented with a free platform that lets regular people directly interact with information and prominent figures, how can a decrepit media hope to compete?
Legacy Media simply can't keep up with the social media landscape and with each passing year, such outlets act more as overfunded Twitter curation tools than actual disseminators of news and information. Not to mention the lag.
Twitter is itself working to increase the level of trust users have in it through releasing the #TwitterFiles which has shed light on transgressions that occurred under previous ownership and simultaneously signaled which institutions aren't worthy of public trust.
Via polls conducted by @elonmusk Twitter users can to an extent influence company policy. This is in contrast to how other companies operate and different from prior ownership implementing vague politically driven policies like the 'misgendering' ban while ignoring child content.
A large burden inherited by New Twitter is a technical product that still dishes out punishments using arbitrary criteria. #FreedomFridays have been a fun tradition where some accounts that were unfairly banned get reinstated.
Long term, there'll need to be some changes. Some ideas are:
- Fix the bug where some accounts are unable to appeal
- Remove permanent suspensions (or require human review to issue a permanent ban)
- Safeguards to mitigate mass reporting campaigns
- Fix the bug where some accounts are unable to appeal
- Remove permanent suspensions (or require human review to issue a permanent ban)
- Safeguards to mitigate mass reporting campaigns
https://twitter.com/newradcentrism/status/1606037655346520064?s=20&t=iYmpnm4R-cj0w1nM-DVICQ
Disrupting Legacy Media's role as a 'trust broker' is a difficult undertaking. Old Twitter in some ways acted as an arm of the institutions.
To succeed as a TaaS, New Twitter must act as a defiant force and empower citizen journalism, and disrupt old oligarchies.
To succeed as a TaaS, New Twitter must act as a defiant force and empower citizen journalism, and disrupt old oligarchies.
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