Twatter embodies the worst aspects of social media. No question about it, not even a close race. It doesn't matter if they're a platform, a publisher, or whatever. They need to lose every fucking user they have.
For a little background, I work in IT. I game almost exclusively on PC (I bought a PS4 to play Death Stranding owing to my extreme, as much as a straight guy can have, adoration of Mads Mikkelsen, but look how that worked out. I'll tell you how, I now own Death Stranding on PS4 and PC, but hey, I got to play Bloodborne too, so there's that, at least). I build my PCs, and am up to date on new technologies. But I don't have a single social media account, unless you count this and my now unused Reddit account that I used for thedonald back in those days. I believe with every fiber of my being that social media is a net negative for humanity. In fact, I believe the negatives outweigh the positives to such an extent that it is almost immoral to allow minors access to those cesspools of human interaction. In fact, despite being abreast of technology and working in IT, I'm something of a luddite (computers are unavoidable these days, everything else can go fuck itself). I loathe smart anything. I didn't break down and buy a smartphone until 2014, and I run Lineage OS so my Android phone isn't linked to Google. I don't have any other "smart" device in my home, as I don't even own a TV, and if you held a gun to my head and told me to buy a smart thermostat or smart fridge, or whatever, I'd tell you to pull the fucking trigger. Technology has advanced to the point it has become a destructive force with regard to the manner we as humans define ourselves.
All of that is a long-winded way of saying I know tech, but I'm not exactly in love with it. What social media has done to us is depersonalize human interaction. It's a series of pictures with a few words all around. Showing something and talking about what you're showing. Shit, the days of IRC were better. At least IRC chats were real conversation, not a pic and some bullshit regarding said pic. It wouldn't even be a hundredth so bad without "likes," "retweets," or whatever the fuck. Those things take it from posting to an audience to digital masturbation. You post something to gratify yourself when everyone responds to it.
And that brings us to Twitter's greatest sin, the reason it is the worst of the worst. A character limit. I noticed when reading posts on Twitter that anything long-winded (multiples Twats) gets progressively fewer likes/retwats. People stop paying attention after the first post, and those who hang in there almost never do until the end. Twatter is a platform, or publisher, whatever, which not only depersonalizes interaction, as all social media does, but begs its users to focus on the inane, or shoot off simple insults or thoughts without room to provide context or meaning. It's the equivalent of holding a debate where each party has a hard limit of fifteen seconds to make an argument or counterargument. It is doable, but how much do you really get out of it? Nobody learns anything, nobody gets enough information to be swayed. Everyone is just divided into groups nodding at the simple points the ones they follow are making while jerking off the people around them. Social media is masturbatory by nature, as I said above, but only Twatter has elevated it to a digital circlejerk. And the retwat system serves to expand a user's digital following, and thus add members to the circlejerks.
This kinda got away from me, but it's a topic that pisses me off to no end. God, I fucking hate social media. Get the fuck off of Facecuck, Twatter, Instadamn, Crapchat, and go outside. Talk to people face to face. Smile at someone, and shake hands. Have real conversations where hundreds of "likes," "retwats," or whatever the fuck else there is, aren't at stake.
Or banning someone from Twatter?
Twatter embodies the worst aspects of social media. No question about it, not even a close race. It doesn't matter if they're a platform, a publisher, or whatever. They need to lose every fucking user they have.
For a little background, I work in IT. I game almost exclusively on PC (I bought a PS4 to play Death Stranding owing to my extreme, as much as a straight guy can have, adoration of Mads Mikkelsen, but look how that worked out. I'll tell you how, I now own Death Stranding on PS4 and PC, but hey, I got to play Bloodborne too, so there's that, at least). I build my PCs, and am up to date on new technologies. But I don't have a single social media account, unless you count this and my now unused Reddit account that I used for thedonald back in those days. I believe with every fiber of my being that social media is a net negative for humanity. In fact, I believe the negatives outweigh the positives to such an extent that it is almost immoral to allow minors access to those cesspools of human interaction. In fact, despite being abreast of technology and working in IT, I'm something of a luddite (computers are unavoidable these days, everything else can go fuck itself). I loathe smart anything. I didn't break down and buy a smartphone until 2014, and I run Lineage OS so my Android phone isn't linked to Google. I don't have any other "smart" device in my home, as I don't even own a TV, and if you held a gun to my head and told me to buy a smart thermostat or smart fridge, or whatever, I'd tell you to pull the fucking trigger. Technology has advanced to the point it has become a destructive force with regard to the manner we as humans define ourselves.
All of that is a long-winded way of saying I know tech, but I'm not exactly in love with it. What social media has done to us is depersonalize human interaction. It's a series of pictures with a few words all around. Showing something and talking about what you're showing. Shit, the days of IRC were better. At least IRC chats were real conversation, not a pic and some bullshit regarding said pic. It wouldn't even be a hundredth so bad without "likes," "retweets," or whatever the fuck. Those things take it from posting to an audience to digital masturbation. You post something to gratify yourself when everyone responds to it.
And that brings us to Twitter's greatest sin, the reason it is the worst of the worst. A character limit. I noticed when reading posts on Twitter that anything long-winded (multiples Twats) gets progressively fewer likes/retwats. People stop paying attention after the first post, and those who hang in there almost never do until the end. Twatter is a platform, or publisher, whatever, which not only depersonalizes interaction, as all social media does, but begs its users to focus on the inane, or shoot off simple insults or thoughts without room to provide context or meaning. It's the equivalent of holding a debate where each party has a hard limit of fifteen seconds to make an argument or counterargument. It is doable, but how much do you really get out of it? Nobody learns anything, nobody gets enough information to be swayed. Everyone is just divided into groups nodding at the simple points the ones they follow are making while jerking off the people around them. Social media is masturbatory by nature, as I said above, but only Twatter has elevated it to a digital circlejerk. And the retwat system serves to expand a user's digital following, and thus add members to the circlejerks.
This kinda got away from me, but it's a topic that pisses me off to no end. God, I fucking hate social media. Get the fuck off of Facecuck, Twatter, Instadamn, Crapchat, and go outside. Talk to people face to face. Smile at someone, and shake hands. Have real conversations where hundreds of "likes," "retwats," or whatever the fuck else there is, aren't at stake.