We are in the midst of a moral panic about social media at the moment and politicians and newspapers are crashing about desperately yelling that something must be done.
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Bear in mind that you can’t even usefully read someone’s Twitter/X page now unless you too are signed into X. What you get instead is a jumble of old posts apparently arranged by an algorithm.
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There seems to be a worldview that Facebook and X are just part of the universal infrastructure of the internet now. That you need to use them, as a politician, or when you’re asking people to communicate with your radio show, or when you’re advertising your clickbait news articles.
You absolutely do fucking not need to use them.
@Nickiquote the way 'the internet' has gradually become distilled down over the years. It didn't used to mean only 'the web' even, now it is just a handful of big tech sites + some media outlets that provide them content.
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Bear in mind that you can’t even usefully read someone’s Twitter/X page now unless you too are signed into X. What you get instead is a jumble of old posts apparently arranged by an algorithm.
@Nickiquote I appreicate that the BBC seem to require you to opt in to seeing X xhits when they are quoted in stories.
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There seems to be a worldview that Facebook and X are just part of the universal infrastructure of the internet now. That you need to use them, as a politician, or when you’re asking people to communicate with your radio show, or when you’re advertising your clickbait news articles.
You absolutely do fucking not need to use them.
@Nickiquote Tbf, in some areas of the world, Facebook effectively *is* the internet.
I suspect those people aren't the ones you're addressing.
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@Nickiquote Tbf, in some areas of the world, Facebook effectively *is* the internet.
I suspect those people aren't the ones you're addressing.
@MiaMarkTwo @Nickiquote That's one difficult people often forget. There are many communities around the world, primarily but not only rural, where FB is the social infrastructure.
Want updates from the school of your kids? Sport clubs? Local government? It's all Facebook.
That needs to change and it's not that difficult to do really but you can't really blame people for using the platform when it's either that or effectively being shut out of your own local community.
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@MiaMarkTwo @Nickiquote That's one difficult people often forget. There are many communities around the world, primarily but not only rural, where FB is the social infrastructure.
Want updates from the school of your kids? Sport clubs? Local government? It's all Facebook.
That needs to change and it's not that difficult to do really but you can't really blame people for using the platform when it's either that or effectively being shut out of your own local community.
@thisislieven @Nickiquote I was speaking particularly about SE Asia (although I suspect it's true in other areas of the global south).
I agree with you on the community access issue, although I think there *are* ways round it if you make a bit of effort. It's something of an issue here.
The only other available options are usually Meta platforms or X.
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Bear in mind that you can’t even usefully read someone’s Twitter/X page now unless you too are signed into X. What you get instead is a jumble of old posts apparently arranged by an algorithm.
I believe politicians and other influential individuals who are still using Facebook and, in particular, X know full well that they're participation on these platforms enables the normalisation of fascistic and otherwise reprehensible views.
They only care about maintaining their presently high up spot in the social and wealth hierarchy.
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@MiaMarkTwo @Nickiquote That's one difficult people often forget. There are many communities around the world, primarily but not only rural, where FB is the social infrastructure.
Want updates from the school of your kids? Sport clubs? Local government? It's all Facebook.
That needs to change and it's not that difficult to do really but you can't really blame people for using the platform when it's either that or effectively being shut out of your own local community.
@thisislieven @MiaMarkTwo I don’t blame people for using it as users. I blame institutions, politicians, media for using it as a broadcast medium and requiring the rest of us to become users whether we like it or not.
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@thisislieven @Nickiquote I was speaking particularly about SE Asia (although I suspect it's true in other areas of the global south).
I agree with you on the community access issue, although I think there *are* ways round it if you make a bit of effort. It's something of an issue here.
The only other available options are usually Meta platforms or X.
@MiaMarkTwo @Nickiquote It's true in many places, also right here in Europe.
Within the EU it could be regulated (could, if they wanted to) elsewhere it's more of a national matter but at the same time this is where the world could come together.
It's absolutely outrageous you have to, essentially, hand any and all of your civil rights over to a US company just to be part of your local community and national infrastructure.
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@thisislieven @Nickiquote I was speaking particularly about SE Asia (although I suspect it's true in other areas of the global south).
I agree with you on the community access issue, although I think there *are* ways round it if you make a bit of effort. It's something of an issue here.
The only other available options are usually Meta platforms or X.
@MiaMarkTwo @thisislieven Yes, this underlying situation is a a very bad thing.
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@thisislieven @MiaMarkTwo I don’t blame people for using it as users. I blame institutions, politicians, media for using it as a broadcast medium and requiring the rest of us to become users whether we like it or not.
@Nickiquote @thisislieven There are some instances where blame can be apportioned to individual users, but I agree with you, whether it be FB itself or the wider Meta platforms.
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@thisislieven @MiaMarkTwo I don’t blame people for using it as users. I blame institutions, politicians, media for using it as a broadcast medium and requiring the rest of us to become users whether we like it or not.
@Nickiquote @MiaMarkTwo I am just sick and tired of the argument that that's where the people are. The people are there because you are and you offer no viable alternative or make it even remotely a priority that our rights and data are protected.
Or the alternative is W Social - hyped by the EU - which is possibly even worse.
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@Nickiquote @thisislieven There are some instances where blame can be apportioned to individual users, but I agree with you, whether it be FB itself or the wider Meta platforms.
@MiaMarkTwo @Nickiquote Just realised I developed proper fedi-brain. I read instances as servers.
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@Nickiquote @MiaMarkTwo I am just sick and tired of the argument that that's where the people are. The people are there because you are and you offer no viable alternative or make it even remotely a priority that our rights and data are protected.
Or the alternative is W Social - hyped by the EU - which is possibly even worse.
@thisislieven @Nickiquote I only used SE Asia as an example because of FB's direct role in the Rohigya genocide.
I don't buy the argument that "it's where the people are" either. I do get annoyed with people who use excuses like "it's the only way I can share photos of my kids with family overseas" or similar. No it fucking isn't. It's just the one you've defaulted to because it's convenient.
I'd never trust *any* option that was hyped by the EU.
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@thisislieven @Nickiquote I only used SE Asia as an example because of FB's direct role in the Rohigya genocide.
I don't buy the argument that "it's where the people are" either. I do get annoyed with people who use excuses like "it's the only way I can share photos of my kids with family overseas" or similar. No it fucking isn't. It's just the one you've defaulted to because it's convenient.
I'd never trust *any* option that was hyped by the EU.
@MiaMarkTwo @Nickiquote I really struggle with the defaulting to WhatsApp, which just about everybody seems to do. There are many alternatives that are just as good. It's not just not caring about your own rights but also supporting a company that aggressively stands against the rights of others and is in strong support of a fascist government.
When it comes to politics and media - is it really too much to ask for them to also just have a fucking moral stance?
I am so incredibly done being ruled by a bunch of unqualified and idiotic managers.And no, not under the current EU. I love what the EU stands for, I just wish our representatives and leaders did as well.
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@MiaMarkTwo @Nickiquote I really struggle with the defaulting to WhatsApp, which just about everybody seems to do. There are many alternatives that are just as good. It's not just not caring about your own rights but also supporting a company that aggressively stands against the rights of others and is in strong support of a fascist government.
When it comes to politics and media - is it really too much to ask for them to also just have a fucking moral stance?
I am so incredibly done being ruled by a bunch of unqualified and idiotic managers.And no, not under the current EU. I love what the EU stands for, I just wish our representatives and leaders did as well.
@thisislieven @Nickiquote I think "defaulting to what everyone else is doing" is a big part of the problem. A vast number of people either don't know or don't care how their rights are being curtailed.
I love the idea of what the EU stands for. The older I get, the more I wonder whether it's my own naivety at the time of its inception is the reason for that.
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@thisislieven @Nickiquote I think "defaulting to what everyone else is doing" is a big part of the problem. A vast number of people either don't know or don't care how their rights are being curtailed.
I love the idea of what the EU stands for. The older I get, the more I wonder whether it's my own naivety at the time of its inception is the reason for that.
@MiaMarkTwo @Nickiquote The EU has never been perfect but when you dive into the history it truly is something of a miracle we achieved what we did. There's a lot of good, and it's important to remember for EU citizens given what's happening today.
I am fiercely critical of the EU because I know what it can be and - to some extent - has been. I think Delors was the last great political leader we had in Europe, and he signed off in 1995.
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