For me, twitter was always about community engagement. It’s where I got updates from my city’s legislators, reporters, businesses, etc. It’s the best news hub. And it was the best platform for communicating with others who share my hobbies and professional interests. Not to mention the real IRL friends I had made through out the years.
So, it’s not just a dumpster fire of misinformation and racism and sexism.
Reddit has always been much better at building community than twitter. Twitter has always been about getting somebody voice propagated. To a huge extent the louder and more belligerent you are twitter will help amplify your message because it’s in twitters financial interest. It’s not even remotely like a public square that it loves to compare itself with.
Hold on now, I didn’t say anything about “building” a community. My point was about the ability to engage with an existing community. Ya know… like a town square.
I’m not disagreeing with what you’re saying but from my experience (beginning back before there was even a Twitter app), I did not have exposure to the cesspool so many complain about. Again, for me, it was about getting updates and engaging with people and organizations in my real life local and extended community. So, when the subway is delayed, a road is closed, there’s looting happenig a zip code away, when a council person is running for office or trying to pass legislation, etc., Twitter was the best place to go to get that information. Now, the best I’ve got is my local newspaper, a handful of bot accounts on Mastodon, and RSS feeds.
Granted, I never used the official Twitter app so I was always free from the algorithm and advertising. RIP Tweetbot.
Yeah I got you. I guess I agree with you. For something current and local Twitter was your best bet. I just think it’s much more about consumption than getting anybody’s voice heard. This is especially true of X. The platform is there mainly for people with an existing large audience to get their message amplified. It’s not there to get the smartest or most interesting voices heard.
For me, twitter was always about community engagement. It’s where I got updates from my city’s legislators, reporters, businesses, etc. It’s the best news hub. And it was the best platform for communicating with others who share my hobbies and professional interests. Not to mention the real IRL friends I had made through out the years. So, it’s not just a dumpster fire of misinformation and racism and sexism.
It was and was treated as community engagement. Hell, Twitter is where I learned that my daughter’s school was closed for bad weather days.
Reddit has always been much better at building community than twitter. Twitter has always been about getting somebody voice propagated. To a huge extent the louder and more belligerent you are twitter will help amplify your message because it’s in twitters financial interest. It’s not even remotely like a public square that it loves to compare itself with.
Hold on now, I didn’t say anything about “building” a community. My point was about the ability to engage with an existing community. Ya know… like a town square.
I’m not disagreeing with what you’re saying but from my experience (beginning back before there was even a Twitter app), I did not have exposure to the cesspool so many complain about. Again, for me, it was about getting updates and engaging with people and organizations in my real life local and extended community. So, when the subway is delayed, a road is closed, there’s looting happenig a zip code away, when a council person is running for office or trying to pass legislation, etc., Twitter was the best place to go to get that information. Now, the best I’ve got is my local newspaper, a handful of bot accounts on Mastodon, and RSS feeds.
Granted, I never used the official Twitter app so I was always free from the algorithm and advertising. RIP Tweetbot.
Yeah I got you. I guess I agree with you. For something current and local Twitter was your best bet. I just think it’s much more about consumption than getting anybody’s voice heard. This is especially true of X. The platform is there mainly for people with an existing large audience to get their message amplified. It’s not there to get the smartest or most interesting voices heard.