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Is the destruction of Twitter and Reddit a conspiracy or am I just paranoid? (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago by Quexotic@beehaw.org to c/chat@beehaw.org

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I've had this feeling that since there are forces that do not want us to have free speech, and that the destruction of Reddit and Twitter does this effectively, creating a chilling effect, destroying social links and communities. Might it not be an intentional effort to stifle the ability of the downtrodden to organize and fight the power?

There are so many other ways things are engineered to benefit the minority and prevent the majority from gaining power, why not this too?

Just a thought rattling around in my head.

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[–] Radiant_sir_radiant@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Either this ^^ or whatever has been lost is just a series of casualties in the search for money. There's not much money to be made by hosting free speech alone - that social media companies do what they do to enable free speech is a popular misconception. Above all they want to make money, and if you need to do that free speech thing at a net loss for a couple years before you start milking your users for all they're worth, then so be it.

As for Twitter, it could be argued that His Muskiness has been kind of a trial-and-error guy for his entire career - so far it's worked out pretty well for him. Twitter is just special in that his random 'let's just try this and see if it sticks' decisions instantaneously affect (and piss off) millions of people in a very public way. Maybe that's why Twitter is such a challenge for him.

As for Reddit, Spez doesn't exactly keep his admiration for Elon a secret. If Elon joked about improving Twitter's 'bottom' line by shoving a cucumber up his arse, Spez would probably be spotted in the closest supermarket's produce section within the hour.

[–] Quexotic@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I appreciate your sense of humor, regarding cucumbers.

I was never really under any illusion that they weren't in the business to try and make money but your pointing it out does really highlight that their motives are profit driven above all else and merely short-sighted and intended to improve quarterly gains Rather than actually being organized.

I guess it turns out that allowing profit to be the only motive it's just generally bad, right?

Edit: speech to text.