I still don't get twitter

Dr Lobster*
Posts: 2104
Joined: Sat 30 Aug, 2003 20.14

Maybe it's just me being a bit too old (I'm a late generationX-er) but I just don't get it.

Now I love reddit, forums on every kind of obscure thing you're interested in, with some interesting facts and discussions, but twitter?

now and again I'll see some linked or posted, and most of what is written is just banal, uninformed shite.

I think I had a twitter account about 10 years ago when it was relatively new, but haven't logged on in years (mind you, haven't had a Facebook account for 7 years this week!)
barcode
Posts: 1495
Joined: Wed 29 Aug, 2007 19.36

Twitter does have interesting facts and discussions, but you have to look for them. Twitter also highlight obscure things you're interested in, however its main primary forces is Sharpe and forced information, Very usefully to find out simple information or clips.

Yes a good amount of the time most people act like Donald duck when he's Angry, but that politics right now to be fair.

Of course its not a place for detailed long discussions etc, that was never its intension, it could never replace I.E TV forum in that respect.

Reddit is just becoming like most other places somewhat toxic at times, ( not always) and controlling the narrative, they not much freedom anymore hence why people have started switching. The people that have switched believe its more liberating and your able to spread your wings much easier. AND NO were not talking about the types of awful posts that appeared a few days ago etc.

If your not into Social media these types of places will never be of interest, which is fine. Some people can't get tick tock, some people hates snapchat. It should be noted most people if they use Social media tend to stick to one, hence why creators are on all the platforms, not much cross traffic.
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iSon
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Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 23.24
Location: London

barcode wrote: Sat 13 Mar, 2021 12.35 Sharpe
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Good Lord!
Philip
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I find it helps to use the mute feature quite liberally. This includes muting words as well as users. I do this to keep the amount of political chat to a minimum and just keep it a place where people post interesting stuff.

On a walk recently my mind wandered to the thought of how I would describe Twitter to someone who hasn't used it, and the best I could come up with was 'The place for people with strong opinions who want to be heard loudly'.
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all new Phil
Posts: 1965
Joined: Sun 13 Feb, 2005 00.04
Location: Next door to Hell

Twitter lost me when it started blanking out Trump’s tweets. Don’t get me wrong, the guy is a moron, but he’s not the only moron on there, and I don’t recall anyone else having the same treatment. Fact check everyone (or even just those with high numbers of followers), or fact check no one, but the selectiveness of it is unsettling as it hands power to an unelected faceless commercial enterprise.

Annoyingly this point of view tends to be interpreted by those incapable of nuance as “oMg TrUmP sUpPoRtEr FaScIsT”.
cwathen
Posts: 1309
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 17.28

all new Phil wrote: Sat 13 Mar, 2021 18.03 Twitter lost me when it started blanking out Trump’s tweets. Don’t get me wrong, the guy is a moron, but he’s not the only moron on there, and I don’t recall anyone else having the same treatment. Fact check everyone (or even just those with high numbers of followers), or fact check no one, but the selectiveness of it is unsettling as it hands power to an unelected faceless commercial enterprise.

Annoyingly this point of view tends to be interpreted by those incapable of nuance as “oMg TrUmP sUpPoRtEr FaScIsT”.
Whilst I agree with the sentiment, I'm not sure that the introduction of 'fact checking' in response to strongly voiced but bullshit viewpoints necessarily solves the problems either. Who are the fact checkers? If a fact checker claims what has been posted is a lie and support it with fact checking what makes that version of events true? Of course you could check the fact checkers with other sources to ensure what has been clamed is true, but people motivated enough to do that will already have been doing that anyway. Most people will just believe (or disbelieve) anything on the basis of whether their trusted news source has 'fact checked' it. And if what is claimed as a 'fact' is later proved to be untrue, what actual liability do the news sources have? I would suggest none.

Citing a particular viewpoint as true because it's been 'fact checked' is also handing power to an unelected faceless commercial enterprise (or state broadcaster) who can sit in judgement as to what is or is not true with no oversight but with a frightening level of authority.
all new Phil
Posts: 1965
Joined: Sun 13 Feb, 2005 00.04
Location: Next door to Hell

Oh yes I totally agree with what you’re saying. It’s the selective nature of it I take issue with.
Andrew
Posts: 330
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 18.18

It’s clearly far too political these days, never does a day go by when a political hashtag is trending. It gets so tiring, I wonder how these people can actually function in real life when they are so worked up every single day.

I wonder if there will ever be a time when it stops being mainstream. People like the BBC embrace it, often twitter handles are mentioned on name captions etc. At one time this was so you could get more from the BBC, more information from the correspondent, interesting insight on what they are working on, etc.

But now you wonder what they actually get from it. Every BBC post from anyone is just met by a barrage of extreme opinions slating the person, the organisation, and often perpetuating some myth about bias, so you’d think they wouldn’t want to advertise for more people to read them.
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WillPS
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Twitter for me is a place to go and have a look at some weird/old retail shite.

People keep telling me they use it for porn, I've honestly never seen any on there.

I guess you can make what you like of it.
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Alan de Robson
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon 15 Sep, 2014 12.24

I joined Twitter for the first and only time following the Dec 2019 election after hearing Sophie Ridge on Sky say that the place was going crazy as a result of the election.

What an absolute cesspit the place is - so nasty, so vitriolic, and so on. I am off it now.

I remember watching the debate following Lawrence Fox's appearance on Question Time. Regardless of what i think of his opinions, the way people lay into each other is awful.

Like Dr. Lobster, I am a late GenXer (1973) and the behaviour on there towards other people is unimaginable. However, I guess that's what happens when you move the conversation out of pubs where the other person is within swinging reach of your fist to an anonymous platform full of the opinionated righteous (on both sides).

I find "wokeness" a toxic, divisive movement whose aims for respect, compassion, inclusion, and equality of outcome I actually totally support but I think they go about trying to persaude people of their case completely the wrong way. Likewise, the far-right (whose ideology is not my own personally) are equally as obnoxious and offensive. Twitter is the perfect place for all of these unreasonable w*nkers.

What a mess.
scottishtv
Posts: 743
Joined: Thu 01 Apr, 2004 15.36
Location: Edinburgh

Like WillPS says, you can make what you like of it.

I was quite into US politics so followed a lot of those types of accounts up to the election last year. Some journalists seems to like breathlessly tweeting all day long and some of that can get controversial/boring. In such circles, many want to push their instant 'hot take' so there is little room for considered reflection.

I've since unfollowed a lot of those accounts, and now use it for generic news feeds, interesting thoughts from friends/others, feeds of recipes, travel, photography and a bit of other stuff to do with the industry I work in. It's a lot calmer and a world away from some of the angrier posters.

Some friends are into different sports and follow their teams and team news/commentators and nothing else, and I'm sure there are loads of others just following account related to their own interests. Some colleagues only follow work-related topics a world away from current affairs.

It really isn't all politics and political debate, but it seems to have become a bit renowned for that these days. I don't think the trending lists help users that much as it only take a couple of thousand retweets to get on there and it can skew the perception of what is really being discussed. They are almost irresistable to click on though...
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