JVoV
Posts: 3282
Joined: 3/9/2015 Status: offline
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I think Twitter is an invaluable tool that can lead to the sharing of information among the people. I don't know that Arab Spring would have been possible without it. But I also think that any tool can be manipulated by someone with ill intent. "Misinformation", "disinformation", any sort of lie has to be started by someone, for some reason. And most of us have our social media apps giving us information from sources we generally agree with, celebrities we enjoy, and people we agree with. This creates an echo chamber, a feedback loop. So it doesn't matter if the information is true or not. All that matters is that it fits the preferred narrative. A lie can be told, and then told again and again, eventually being told by someone with some credibility, and then believed by anyone reading. So Twitter, much like the internet as a whole, is just a tool. But it can be used for great or terrible things, depending on the user. It's a microphone for the masses. It can be used to topple autocratic governments, or to spread gossip. I could Tweet "green M&Ms make you horny". Or I could link something used in the green dye with libido. Or I could link actual evidence that the chemicals used for the green dye was scientifically chosen by the CIA to increase birth rates. Any of those could be shared, any of those could be a lie, no matter how true I insist they are, or how much 'evidence' I supply. 'Evidence' just has to include enough plausibility to create enough doubt that my 'truth' becomes part of the cultural narrative. Or maybe it supports a narrative that's already being pushed, so my 'evidence' isn't as fact-checked as it should be. I doubt Johannes Gutenberg thought about the National Enquirer when he invented the printing press. I don't think free porn was the goal of creating the internet. Regardless, here we are. I don't use Twitter these days. I don't need it. I use Facebook to keep up with the "friends' I have there. I have a deeper connection with my FB friends than anyone I follow on Twitter. I've shared my life with my FB friends, and they've shared their lives with me. I haven't gotten that on Twitter, though I haven't put myself out there on the app either. It's probably like why I keep coming here as opposed to a different BDSM site. I have found connections here that I enjoy, even if I haven't found what I came here for exactly. I missed this place more than I realized.
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