If you have a Twitter account, have you ever been suspended? How about limited, meaning that because of some minor offense, only your followers are able yo see your tweets? Shadowbanned? That’s when you tweet, and then even many of your followers do not see anything from you? Me? No to all of the above. The reason I bring this up is that it seems whenever I log into Twitter I see messages from people that they’re back from a suspension, or believe they’re being shadowbanned or some other message, maybe from a follower, that somone has received a permanent ban.
In the past I used to see these from those that at least claim to be conservatives. Now, I see a few more, at least weekly, that are liberal or progressive in their politics. I wonder if Twitter got the message that they at least appeared to target conservative voices? I’ve always doubted that presumption, because I follow a lot of conservatives, I happen to see more messages about suspensions from, you guessed it, conservatives. I do happen to follow quite a few liberals, more today than in the past, and maybe that’s why I’m seeing what was once a charge of bias against conservatives, occurring to others as well.
I believe that these social media platforms, all of them, have a growing fear of government regulation. The rising voices, on either side of the political spectrum are now saying that access to these platforms are a civil right. Is it? Well, I’ve written in the [past] supporting this idea. All of these platforms, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, etc. are the new town square where people may discuss politics, social policy, religion, whatever they want as long as they don’t incite others to violence. None of us are forced to listen to anything we don;’t want to hear, and no one is forced to participate on any social media platform.
These platforms, thought, want us to participate. They invite us to join, at no cost to ourselves other than some time spent. We create accounts, and then content that others may or may not enjoy consuming. It seems however, that the content created, doesn’t seem to belong to the creator once it’s posted. That’s why Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, may flag certain posts, demonetize (on Youtube) at their discretion.
I’m beginning to see more and more complaints via Twitter from creators of content being demonetized or even taken down due to some sort of amorphous violation. That has to be frustrating. And don’t get me started with Patreon and Paypal who’ve decided to enter into the arena of what content may be funded through their platforms or not.The bottom line seems to be that all of these platforms are the arbiters of what content may be displayed and what cannot be shared with subscribers. Is it really worth the effort anymore? I’ve been hearing that YouTube is moving more toward corporate creators. I don’t know if this is tue or not, but it seems suspicious that the complaints from individual, independent creators are becoming more common daily.
The reasons a various but all seem to come back to viewpoint on a topic. Don’t agree with the so-called mainstream view on some subject? Expect that content to be pushed to the back of the line, if it’s even allowed to be published. That means for people who earn some or even a substantial part of their income from submissions, that income is inhibited while those that play the game, trend higher. Is government intervention necessary? Maybe, but then whatever laws are passed or regulations imposed need to be carefully thought out with a do no harm mentality. Even as more voices call for some sort of government intervention, careful consideration of what is be asked should take a front seat.
Conservative Skeptic 
I haven’t been on Twitter in a few months. Ultimately its like watching rat terriers barking at each other through a fence, while chasing their own tails.
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When it comes to Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr (to which WordPress allows me to automatically broadcast my posts) I only get a trickle of traffic. Likewise, by posting links to Parler and Gab, I get slightly more responses. However, through use of the certain tags and categories, I have been able to snag a fair amount of search engine traffic.
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So, my response is: No, most of social media does not work as a means of getting out a conservative message.
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When I consider that none of you may be who you are or even an actual human being and when I realize how it is increasingly impossible to know that anything is true and factual that I read or view or hear online or anywhere that is not face to face….I wonder what does any of this matter and why worry, when the truth is probably so much scarier?
I may not be who I told you I am. Who knows what is going on with anything online anymore? The more impersonal the forum or site is, the more likely much of it is false. The more Deep Fake becomes impossible to spot and the more power that social media has to sway the individual and the collective, will real people stop taking part? Do Conservatives want to use that medium to get their message to the masses? Will that even be possible soon?
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I’ve given up on social media. I had Twitter and Facebook for years but I never looked at it. I don’t think I logged onto Twitter for a couple of years before I decided that, based on the clear and disturbing trend of politically motivated censorship that was clearly going on, I could no longer, in good faith, maintain an account, whether I looked at it or not. So I deleted both Twitter and Facebook, as well as several other platforms. If you’re going to censor, I will not use your service.
That said though, I honestly don’t think social media is all that worthwhile. It caters almost entirely to the very young, which in turn tends to be very liberal. Most people I see on social media are terribly immature regardless of their political lean. I choose not to spend my time around the immature, thus I spend very little time on social media at all. I really don’t want to talk to people under 40 anymore. Wherever those people are going, I have no idea, but it’s not online.
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Bitch, I was told a few years ago that the young abandoned FB to the old and most chose Instagram after leaving Twitter to the radicals. I never tweeted and have a minimal FB presence with a handful of friends and “The Atheist Conservative” page and “Adhesive Aracnoiditis Everyday” page. It is still a good site to connect with the oddballs of society and I use that term fondly.
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Worth the effort for what? I think it depends on what one is trying to accomplish through one’s use of social media. I have found some platforms can drive a lot of blog traffic while others barely bring any. I certainly enjoy using some platforms more than others, although I have to admit I’m not crazy about any of them in their stock format. Fortunately, with some modifications and a bit of thought, one can improve one’s experience with most of them. Both Twitter and Facebook, for example, can be filtered to eliminate much of the garbage one will see in their stock forms.
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Jack, I guess the question is it worth the effort to effect change in thinking about something about which we care. Promoting ethical atheism, conservative principles, or the understanding of intractable pain conditions in my case. Is the time I spend online worth my effort? I don’t spend a lot of time, but I am there promoting my points of view, plus it keeps my brain working and I enjoy the interaction that does occur. My time online is actually one of my very few social outlets, sad to say….but that is my life and it is okay. I assume somebody reads these comments here and on my other haunts and maybe what I write or others write starts someone thinking about our views, and if not…well, that is the way it is. I would miss this if I couldn’t do it. I know I am real, anyway. LOL
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Good point Shore
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