nothing but bluesky is such a predictable title for this post
When it was still invite-only, I grabbed @wilw and @itswilwheaton on Bluesky, just to ensure a scumbag didn’t yoink them before I could. I’ve never used them, because after I quit Twitter — long before it was fashionable (or a fascist propaganda platform) — I realized how much better my emotional quality of life was without the endless yelling and outrage from Extremely Online People, and the systemic, deliberate refusal by the “safety” team to do anything about it. We humans are not built to have that much information poured into our souls in a nonstop stream of trauma that never ends. I do not miss it.
But I’ve lurked around on Bluesky a little bit this last week, and I keep seeing things that remind me of Twitter’s first year, before the Nazis showed up and Twitter was like “it’s just an opinion [thumbs up emoji]”. What I see on Bluesky is a deliberate, coordinated, serious effort to slam the door in the faces of those dipshits the moment they arrive. It seems that Bluesky, at least for now, takes the responsibility of shutting down hateful rightwing trolls seriously. It seems that, maybe, it could be what Twitter was and should have always been, at least until some shitbag techbro fucks it all up.
I don’t think it’s a good idea for me and my mental health to be as involved now as I was a decade ago, but as an alternative to the toxicity, chaos, and destructiveness of Twitter, it has a lot going for it.
ANYWAY. The whole point of this little post is: I’m working on the verification system, which involves editing some files at my host, which I haven’t done since the very early blogging days. So I have some calls out to My Guy (I can not oversell how great it is to have A Guy for things) to help me not break the Internet (again).
I just mention this because though I am still on a break from public life, I understand some number of people were concerned that someone was building a foundation to impersonate me, and I wanted to verify that those accounts are, indeed, mine. There is no need to report them. But thank you for looking out for me.
Okay, that’s all. Have a nice weekend. Choose to be kind (except to Nazis. Punch Nazis. Always.)
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Paulo wrote: "Some on Twitter"Dismissing Twitter's explicit misinformation push as "just the same as all other platforms" is bad faith.
Twitter has changed it's algorithm specifically to boost misinformation, especially from the person who run it amplifying it.
They removed most of their safety staff including their child exploitation team. So the problem has predictably grown, and Twitter doesn't care.
why not just get off sm all together? You would be better off.
James wrote: "Paulo wrote: "Some on Twitter"Dismissing Twitter's explicit misinformation push as "just the same as all other platforms" is bad faith.
Twitter has changed it's algorithm specifically to boost m..."
Don’t talk about bad faith if you don’t also mention how the previous Twitter regime silenced a ton of dissenting voices that simply didn’t go with the program. Go see Jack Dorsey’s testimonial to congress, the Twitter Files, etc. Of course you’ll say that they were just “moderating” and silencing “hate speech” (which was obviously not the case).
Which is why the best thing for folks like you and Wil to do is simply to go to their platform of choice and be happy. Why announce it?
I'm just here to voice my support for you. Thank you, Wil, for your insights and sharing of your path in this world. It really helps me at least and I suspect so many others who have their own personal struggles and demons to conquer. I have a little saying that I like to use every once in a while, "Every day that I wake up is a good day". I don't know who said it first, or if it's a line from a show. I want to keep waking up.
Paulo wrote: "James wrote: "Paulo wrote: "Some on Twitter"Dismissing Twitter's explicit misinformation push as "just the same as all other platforms" is bad faith.
Twitter has changed it's algorithm specifica..."
Paulo wrote: "James wrote: "Paulo wrote: "Some on Twitter"The owners of a property can moderate as much or as little as they wish. You don't own it so it's not your call.
Dismissing Twitter's explicit misinformation push as "just the same as all other platforms" is bad faith.
Twitter has changed it's algorithm specifica..."
Paulo wrote: "James wrote: "Paulo wrote: "Some on Twitter"
Dismissing Twitter's explicit misinformation push as "just the same as all other platforms" is bad faith.
Twitter has changed it's algorithm specifica..."
Paulo wrote: "Don’t talk about bad faith if you don’t also mention how the previous Twitter regime silenced a ton of dissenting voices"Long before Elon, twitter has been biased in favor of conservatives. All social media is. You have some reading ahead of you.
>Conservatives maintain they have been subject to “censorship” by social-media(1) companies for years, either by the imposition of terms of service they complain are unfairly punitive to the right or by bans imposed on particular users. There is ample evidence though, that social-media networks consistently exempt(2) conservative outlets from their own rules(3) to avoid political backlash(4), a fear seldom displayed when it comes to throttling left-wing content. And despite the right-wing perception of liberal bias on Twitter, an internal audit found that the site’s algorithms(5) “amplify right-leaning political content more than left-leaning content.” The evidence suggests that for all their outrage, conservatives consistently receive preferential treatment from social-media platforms(6), but are so cavalier about disregarding the terms of service that sometimes they get banned anyway.
(1) www .nytimes. com/2020/10/16/technology/twitter-new-york-post.html
(2) www. wsj .com/articles/how-mark-zuckerberg-learned-politics-11602853200
(3) www. nbcnews .com/tech/tech-news/sensitive-claims-bias-facebook-relaxed-misinformation-rules-conservative-pages-n1236182
(4) www. buzzfeednews .com/article/ryanmac/mark-zuckerberg-joel-kaplan-facebook-alex-jones
(5) www. washingtonpost .com/business/2021/10/22/twitter-algorithm-right-leaning/
(6) www. washingtonpost .com/business/2021/10/22/twitter-algorithm-right-leaning/
James wrote: "Paulo wrote: "Don’t talk about bad faith if you don’t also mention how the previous Twitter regime silenced a ton of dissenting voices"Long before Elon, twitter has been biased in favor of conser..."
Twitter was so biased in favor of conservatives that Elon just decided to spend 44B anyway just for the fun of it. You are very far gone if this is really the world you live in…
Paulo wrote: Twitter was so biased in favor of conservatives that Elon just decided to spend 44B anyway just for the fun of it."
First I'll respond to an easy question you asked before: "Why announce it?"
Well that's obvious - Wil wants people to know where they can find him. What's wrong with that?
So you've complained about people being anti-twitter, ignoring the points about child safety, I've presented you with a long list f examples from the Atlantic running through how social media platforms and especially Twitter themselves admit they have beeen biased in favor of conservatives. You've failed to respond to that, but let's continue.
"Elon just decided to spend 44B anyway just for the fun of it."
Firstly, Elon was forced to buy it after he made a silly meme offer and was held to it. But his main reasons for buying it was attention and control. He's repeatedly changed the system to prioritise his and his friend's posts, he's happily unbanned child abuse accounts because he wanted it. He's changed it so people can't block him or avoid his posts.
I'm guessing you're not going to respond to that either. That's ok, I look forward to the next easily slapped point you pivot to :)
So, Elon was “forced” to buy Twitter while at the same time he bought Twitter in order to push his and his friends agenda.Makes sense.
You’re right. I won’t reply to your points because you’re obviously an ideological meme who doesn’t even have a coherent position on these topics. And I won’t pivot to anything because there’s simply no point. A fool’s errand.
I wish you a nice life.
Paulo wrote:"You’re right. I won’t reply to your points because..."...You can't.
We get it dude, no amount of evidence provided specifically related to your arguments will get a response.
It's a shame, but at this point, it's your entire identity. Which is sad but you need to be open to information before you can be educated by it.
Have an excellent day!
You have no clue who I am. None. 😅And btw, the reason I don’t engage with your “evidence” is because it comes from the very same media that has been blatantly lying to us. The same that guaranteed us the vaccine would “stop covid in its tracks” or tried to convince us that Kamala Harris was the greatest candidate ever after 3.5 years of mocking her.
But we can leave it here and you can go on feeling all righteous and shit — you just “destroyed” another dimwit with your rhetoric and evidence! 😂
Paulo wrote: "You have no clue who I am. None."Didn't say I know you sweety.
Paulo wrote: "The same that guaranteed us the vaccine would “stop covid in its tracks"
The pivot I predicted! You really shouldn't be that easy to type-cast.
The medical community constantly said that the vaccine wasn't a magic pill. No vaccines are. I'll prove that was the message and you'll fail to respond to that too...
COVID-19 will be 'with us for the next 10 years', warns vaccine chief - 30k upvotes in reddit worldnews before vaccines were available.
CNBC: World Health Organization warns: Coronavirus remains ‘extremely dangerous’ and ‘will be with us for a long time’ - 22nd Apr 2020
Irish Times: "Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is good news, but it’s no magic bullet" Nov 2020
Boston Globe: Is Pfizer’s vaccine a ‘magic bullet?’ Scientists warn masks, distancing may last well into 2021 - Nov 2020
US News Quoting Dr Fauci - "Historically, if you get a vaccine that has a moderate to high degree of efficacy, and you combine with that prudent public health measures, we can put this behind us. I don't think we're going to eradicate this from the planet ... because it's such a highly transmissible virus that that seems unlikely." - Aug 2020
Medical News - Infectious Disease Special Report - The new vaccines will not be the magic bullet that ends the COVID-19 pandemic, but they should reduce transmission, hospitalizations and deaths enough so that life can begin to return to normal... However that will not happen overnight. - Oct 2020
I can give you mountains more. Medical experts were/are clear. You unfortunately are not :)
Paulo wrote: "convince us that Kamala Harris"
Literally every poll had it within a percentage point or more. Trump has won by what, 1% of the population? Pretty accurate then.
Also, what is it with conservatives raving about "media" when they control (a) the most popular cable news (b) the most domination local news (Sinclair group) (c) The mostly popular news radio (d) The most popular podcasting (e) All of Twitter's propaganda.
Paulo wrote: "you just “destroyed” another dimwit"
My dude, I'm just asking you to respond to at least one of the arguments you start. Is that too much?
I guarantee you that if Bluesky becomes big enough, you'll be jumping off elsewhere in time while singing the same exact tune.
Just an opinion [thumbs-up emoji]