Michael Keehan
Staff Writer
I write a lot about social media in these opinion pieces, particularly the way unsavory characters use it to spread propaganda, and the worst example is easily the site once known as Twitter.
Since its acquisition by tech billionaire Elon Musk, the site has undergone a new name and branding. You will never hear me refer to it under its current name, though. To me, that name represents legitimizing the hijacking of a platform that brought social change into a right-wing propaganda machine that not only allows misinformation but allows people to profit from it. Plus, he deadnames his transgender daughter, so why should I feel guilty about deadnaming his site?
Since the founding of Twitter in 2006, it has been, in short, chaotic. But amidst all that chaos, there was power. Activists across the globe, from the Arab Spring to the Black Lives Matter movement, used it to bring worldwide awareness to social issues and elevated demands for change. News was able to spread quickly from a variety of sources. Leaders could directly communicate with their people, and anyone could share their voice in ways unseen. This wasn’t something unique to Twitter, but it was something Twitter did best.
But there was still a need for moderation to filter out bigotry, harassment, and disinformation, so Twitter’s moderators tried their best. However, a few prominent targets, particularly those of conservative backgrounds, have put Twitter in Musk’s crossfires. In 2022, he bought the site for a head-scratching $44 billion, and quickly implemented changes that angered users and advertisers on this site. But I doubt any anger gained or money lost will make Musk change his mind. He has the money to burn, and his actions show very clear intentions.
Nowadays, when you go on Twitter, you frequently see users with a blue check, way more than those without it. This isn’t because there are just more users with them, only one percent. Rather, it’s because the algorithm favors those who pay the $8-a-month subscription to monetize tweets. Twitter now has its own breed of influencers that, more than any other platform, are incentivized to say outrageous things to rack up thousands of likes without fear of being suspended. And they can say anything, even if it violates the terms of service. Anything except the word “cis,” apparently.
Many users voiced their anger but still stayed on the site for years without many other options. This changed with two things. One was a change in terms of service that limited blocking and allowed AI to be trained off of tweets, angering many artists. The other was the election, which caused an uptick in harassment from the worst of Twitter, including white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who spread the catchphrase “your body, my choice” shortly after Trump’s victory. It’s believed that with the victory of Trump and Musk’s involvement in the “DOGE” advisory board, the right-wing propaganda machine Twitter has become will only grow stronger.
This prompted millions of users, myself included, to emigrate over to a website called Bluesky, designed to be similar to Twitter in the early 2010s. New users found it to be a breath of fresh air, free of attention-seeking influencers and an abundance of right-wing nonsense. A lot of progressive users, the kind that sparked Twitter’s activism in the last decade, are thriving on the site, feeling much safer and freer with a new community, not under the Silicon Valley tech bros that run sites like Twitter and Threads. The latter is a mess while the former is a wasteland, as Bluesky retains the soul and spirit that brought Twitter to its peak. It’s arguably a rebirth for the famous site, and I would recommend keeping your eyes on the site to see what good can come out of it.