165. Giving Him the Bird


I embraced Social media when it hit the world. For an introvert like me, it felt like a good way to be connected with the world. But then something terrible happened: it got populated. 

Facebook is riddled by ignorance and silliness, but at least I can ignore or block most of it relatively easily. Twitter, on the other hand, just has everybody's opinion with no consequence. I applaud their recent efforts at curtailing fake news, but I don't think it will ever be enough. If you've seen a city hall open mic, you can see why it may be problematic to give everyone a voice. 

Young-me would be appalled that I do not consider every voice equally important. I don't really give AF what you think, young-me! Why should anybody care that the limo driver next door is dubious of the world's roundness? He should meet like-minded people in mysterious subgroups. Why is his voice equal to that of a geologist or an astronomer in a conversation? I'd love to hear his thoughts on the limo driving world if that's what I'm into, but his voice is unnecessary on matters of the planetary shape.

Since every voice is equal in a Twitter thread, you start thinking the world is going backwards. You may start thinking the majority of people are rude, ignorant or dangerous. Between people trolling, idiots, bots and Trump you start thinking the world is a moron-infested mucky mess. And I’m like 53% sure it isn’t.

And yet, there's parts I love about Twitter. I love being able to aggregate news sources. I love being able to directly tell people I love their work. I love sharing my own work (very sparsely on Twitter).

My ideal Twitter will come with an option to filter out comments made by people not familiar with the subject. 

Extra Panel ALL HAIL THE HYPNOBIRD






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