Something is seriously wrong on Twitter.
Let me ignore for the moment the fact that some people are most definitely leaving. My follower number has fallen as a result, without a doubt.
Let me also ignore the fact that I have undoubtedly upset some Labour supporters who have unfollowed me. As far as I can tell though, I have won as many as I have lost for that reason,
But then note this from a person who I follow and respect:
I have no explanation for this, except I realise it is also happening to me.
Could it just be that Twitter is seeking to quietly get rid of the trouble-making left-wing crowd that Musk really does not like? It would at least seem possible.
My reaction remains the same as it was before, though. Of course, I could quit Twitter. But why should I? It is so much more than Musk. Twitter was made by the people on it, and not by him. That is an important point to recall, always.
His supposed wealth comes not from his ability: he did not even make Twitter. Nor does it come from his ability to raise the funds to buy Twitter, although he did succeed in doing that. Instead, it is built on the foundations of the people who use the service. That is how the capitalist world really works: his wealth was created by others and concentrated into his ownership by a system that exploits everyone else.
So, to walk away is to concede the space to the right. And I won't do that, any more than I would want to concede physical space to their control because of intimidation or bullying.
I will stay, but what is happening is worrying. And I am on Mastodon and Bluesky as well.
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Alice Roberts has been saying the same
I had a second twitter account which was under the name of a certain North Korean henchman which was useful for saying what I really think, and also followed Kit Yates under that account name.
X has been doing age verification recently and I fell foul of it and the account has gone. If you ignore the age verification or it turns out the account was opened before you were 14 then your account goes.
That’s the reason for followers reducing. It’s not a conspiracy. It’s implementing some mild regulations (and easily avoided too! as I later learned) to appear to be making X safer for young people.
I have to say, I doubt you
Real people of way above required age are suffering the problem
American capitalists are brutal. Out you go if you don’t toe the line no matter how stupid that line is. Ironic really given the causes of the American Revolution! But them look at the British electing a Tory Two Party with their FPTP electoral system!
You are right.
Trump in his interview with Musk laughed at his sacking of workers for talking about a strike.
https://www.google.com/search?q=trump+on+sacking+X+workers&oq=trump+on+sacking+X+workers&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDg5NTJqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:29b3d642,vid:Llo9BhmxHVk,st:0
I follow you – and Kit Yates – on Mastodon. My view is that leaving Xitter is not about conceding that space, which was never in fact ours, but building a space that is commonly-owned and co-operatively run – which indeed cannot be taken over by wealthy and privileged individuals or corporations.
But I also think Mastodon has superior functionality. You can choose a server that has a 10,000 character limit (or less if you prefer the short and sharp). There is no algorithm, so you get to choose what you see, not what the media owners and advertisers want to impose on you. There are, indeed, no corporate advertisers at all. But most important of all, the standard of discussion is just better – more polite, more thoughtful, more insightful. And lots of pictures of cats too.
Maybe I will shift more that way…
Why don’t you just keep posting a message on X that you. are posting on Mastodon and Bluesky.
The alternative view of remaining on X is that you continue to to allow X to make money from advertising that supports Musk.
Your current stance feels more like someone who would have continued to support apartheid as jobs would be lost if you didn’t that would harm the black population.
Because Twitter is where people are
That reply makes me uncomfortable, Richard. I understand that you want to spread your message as widely as possible, but how much are you willing to compromise your principles to do so? By staying on Twitter, you are not just keeping an account, you are sending the message to all who follow you there that supporting Musk is OK. Which it really isn’t! The longer you stay on Twitter, the more you will be seen as just another ‘do as I say, not as I do’ political hack. You have other channels for your message now, do you really need to be talking to Russian Bots and Right-wing nut-jobs?
Full disclosure: I only ever had 12.5k followers on Twitter. I left within days of Musk’s takeover. At the time it was a wrench, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much my mental health improved.
But, almost all lefties I know are still there – for the reason I give.
I think this would be surrender
@Richard
If you want to stay on X then stay on X.
It is YOUR choice.
It really is that simple.
I cancelled my X/Twitter account when Musk took over. It was obvious then that he would use it to spew his propaganda and lies under the banner of “freedom of speech”. Musk is another reason I wouldn’t buy a Tesla too. I’d close your account if I were you Richard; there’s so many other ways of getting your message out.
I remain unconvinced
But I agree on Tesla
As a counter argument readers might like to read the following article by Stuart Campbell of Wings over Scotland, https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-manipulation-of-perception/#more-146323 I don’t have a Twitter/X account though I do follow the accounts of a number of users. While I largely agree with Campbell’s views I also believe that with great power comes great responsibility and that Elon Musk is being mightily irresponsible in his use of Twitter/X with his throw-away remarks such as ‘civil war (in the UK) is inevitable’.
I am not sure I buy quite a lot of what Stuart says, and full disclpsure, I do know him.
My own recent experience of Twitter X is an interesting one. I have a non-political account, the only individual I follow on it who can in any way be considered political, is the former Undertones singer Feargal Sharkey. I follow him because he is now the champion and leader when it comes to the fight against the privatised water companies, and their polluting of our rivers and sea. That’s all.
I have never made any political comments on the account, or expressed a view in favour of any party. However, at the recent general election, I found that I was receiving many posts from individuals who claimed to be supporters of Reform UK. All the posts seemed to be similar, but under different names. I hardly received any from anyone on the left of politics. I concluded that the Reform UK posts were bots-maybe Russian, or with American money behind them, but the only way I could stop them was by banning the word Reform in the settings on my account. I had never indicated any interest in Reform UK, or mentioned them on that account. In fact, if the algorithm was doing its job, it would have seen that I was following Sharkey, and would be more likely to send me similar posts. They would be more left wing leaning posts, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I was swamped with right wing and fascist propaganda.
Given what has happened since the election, Musk declaring England is on the verge of civil war and his platforming of fascists on X during the riots, I’m not surprised about the feeling that something is wrong with Twitter.
The fact is, Musk does control the platform algorithm, so, in theory, he can damage anyone that he wants to on Twitter X, while still claiming that it is a voice for free speech. Who knows? What I do know is that many people complain about the X algorithm, and it can shut down accounts, or simply make it difficult for a user to reach an audience.
Musk is a megalomaniac. Reminds me of one of those Bond villains, a crazy businessman who wants to rule the world. Even worse, like Trump, he thinks that he is right about everything, and when he doesn’t get his way, he turns nasty. Given his ego, I would not be surprised if at some point he runs for President as a Republican. He’s got the money to do it, and if Trump can get the nomination, what’s to stop Musk?
You mention bond villains. ITV ran Moonraker a short while ago, and the villain’s entire motive is “I’m rich, I’m going to fund my own space program, and then I’m going to recolonise the planet with a group of people subservient to my wishes and desires”. It’s entertaining in the film, less funny when it’s playing out right in front of you.
He can`t, he was born in Pretoria, South Africa.
I see Musk is suing brands, such as Unilever and Mars as well as others, in a Texas Court after they withdrew adverts from the platform.
It turns out that the Judge, Judge O’Connor, has now recused himself because he owns shares in both Tesla and Unilever – but only after his share holdings were brought into the public eye. In a further twist, it turns out none of the parties involved are based in Texas.
In a separate case last year, the same Judge ruled in favour of Twitter to force a non-profit watchdog, Twitter was suing, to produce hundreds of pages of documents, prior to the case proceeding, which has so far cost the watchdog organisation millions of dollars. That case has still not been heard.
The abuse of power by the ultra wealthy – their willing helpers whether politicians (and their wealthy donors), certain sections of the MSM or this type of corrupt Judiciary – is a scourge that the world could well do without. They are highly detrimental to properly functioning democracies.
I often wonder about Musk’s backers. Are they really happy with the mess he’s made of Twitter?
It might be possible that this is deliberate, but remember that since he bought twitter, he has fired / forced to leave many of the engineers working on the service. And the ones that are left are likely overworked. Even something as simple as keeping track of subscribers, when scaled to a network the size of twitter, requires a lot of work. It would not surprise me in the least if this turned out the be accidental.
I rarely visit Twitter and certainly wouldn’t be posting there. X is Musk and vv. He is very dangerous and a threat to democracy as Humza Yousaf said. And this on Byline Times Supplement by Heidi Siegmund Cuda who has been “following” him for a while.
https://www.bylinesupplement.com/p/unmusked-how-elon-musk-is-using-x?r=r91hd&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
When it comes to Musk’s ‘new’ verson of twitter, I suspect cock-up more than conspiracy.
Musk has bragged that he’s sacked 80% of the staff and you can’t denude a previously successful company of this much of its workforce and not see deterioration in the service. Getting rid of much of the oversight of posts has obviously had an impact on the amount of hate speech and misinformation/disinformation the platform now hosts (which is how Musk likes it, I suspect), but it’s certainly costing him a lot of money. When you’re as rich as Croesus, I suppose the odd billion here and there really doesn’t matter, although it probably stings his billionaire-sized ego.
When deciding whether to stay on “the hellsite” or not, it’s worth ignoring the financial side.
As long as you’re not paying for a blue tic, you’re not making Musk any money by posting, or by reading.
In fact his advertising income is so derisory he’s trying to sue companies that decided not to appear there.
He looses money every day the system runs, and he looses even more on days when it crashes.
But then he’s such a “stable genius” I’m sure it will all work out for him in the end… Heard that before somewhere, can’t think where…
For what it’s worth, Richard, quite a few of the pro Ukranian OSINT people I follow (from UA, UK, US and Estonia), as well as anti Trump people, have all reported this problem over the past month (at least).
https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/x-ai-image-twitter-elon-musk-b2597048.html
You really really need to boycott Musk / X and anything associated with Musk.
That is your opinion
But that is where the news is right now
I thought you were a leader not a follower.
This is getting very boring
I need information
Twitter has it
I will use it
I do not think my leaving will do anything to improve it, but it could get worse if no one from the left is there
And I live in the real world
Nothing I have ever written is about living in parallel, ideal, universes that do not exist
Oh, dear, reverting to type.
Who is reverting to type? You have not made it clear. And what is the type?
You may not have to leave Twitter, it will probably leave you. If the Muskrat doesn’t ‘fire’ you and anyone else who disagrees with him (Algorithms will decide), the site may just decline of its own accord (remember Friends Reunited?). Already, my children (hah! mid thirties now) only use Facebook to communicate with their elders. never use Twitter/X but use other places for social media which seems to change weekly. The market is fragmenting rapidly – even Trump has his own anti-social media site.
You may well be right
And if it loses its usefulness (mainly in being where news happens first) then I will be gone