Re:Quitting Twitter
by throwaway894345 on Thursday February 25, 2021 @04:16PM
(#26268438)
Unfortunately there are a lot of people who behave really well and have really interesting things to say about tech, but for anything political, they just vent really hateful, angry things (or retweet the same). The Go community has a fair amount of this, sadly. It sucks to have to choose, but more importantly I think Twitter actually radicalizes people toward hate and divisiveness. I don't think these people were so hateful or angry ~7 years ago. When I look at the curated news section, it seems purpose-built to make me mad, with the dumbest, most toxic comments at the top.
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Re:Quitting Twitter
by CodeGlitch on Thursday February 25, 2021 @05:03PM
(#26268901)
I honestly think Twitter has managed to rewire our brains, with people being shocked/offended by things that 7 years ago wouldn't have turned heads. Twitter has recognised this, and feeds this effect to increase engagement. Also see Facebook.
I'm not sure where this leads but it can't be good.
Something about all your expressions, questions, and silences being visible to everyone else, all the time.
You can see everyone else is constantly tweeting about how awful the Capulets are - your friends mostly aren't, but they're retweeting people who are. You remember one time you expressed some doubts about something the Montagues did and people you don't know turned up to tell you off. You think the Capulets might actually be right about something this one time, but you don't dare say it.
Private conversations give you more room to be wrong, to be uncertain, to be curious, to be uninterested. On Twitter you always have an audience.
Re:Quitting Twitter
by throwaway894345 on Thursday February 25, 2021 @05:06PM
(#26268934)
Agreed. I can't help but think that outrage is an addictive substance that would make Phillip Morris green with envy.
Re:Quitting Twitter
by allknowingfrog on Thursday February 25, 2021 @06:28PM
(#26269707)
This is what finally pushed me off of Twitter. I just wish I had the ability to filter posts based on whether the user is qualified to have an opinion on the topic. I don't want opinions on technology from members of congress, and I don't want political rants from tech experts.