Is anyone else surprised by how many older people are on this website?

@SumKindaMunster [quote] while it may be true on twitter now, it certainly wasn't the case for many years.[/quote]
I thought twitter recently up'ed their censorship? I never post on there and seldom get on even but what of all this talk about what is now allowed or not and Elon Musk wanting to fly around in a space ship or some crap?

@CestManan I meant that previously, Twitter toed the line on mainstream narratives, but now it is much more open to conservative and alternative opinions. I don't use it, I was just acknowledging the changes.

@SumKindaMunster Only reason I have an account is I was looking up something once.

Thing is with sites like this - anyone can just jump in and join the chats. With sites like that, one has to "Friend" a ton of people just to do so.

@CestManan I have exactly 2 social media accounts that I use regularly. This place and Reddit. I never post on Reddit unless it is something innocuous like a Simpsons quote or my love for certain bands, but I totally stay out of politics and lifestyles there.

This place I feel a bit more comfortable spouting my opinions, because I know they aren't going to get shadowbanned or removed unless I really step in it.

Not so on Reddit....

@SumKindaMunster It’s simply not true that Reddit is liberal.There are plenty of conservative subs on Reddit. Of course, if you try to argue with people on a liberal sub, they will kick you off, but the same thing will happen if you post liberal views on a conservative sub. I only lasted a few days on the Trump sub, a little longer on the anti-abortion and pro-Palestinian subs. I lasted a few weeks on the conspiracy sub.

@SumKindaMunster Since Musk took over, there has been an uptick in hate speech on Twitter.

@LeopoldBloom [quote]There are plenty of conservative subs on Reddit[/quote]

They are there, heavily modded, and if they don't toe the line they get kicked off. Most are throttled, and if they annoy the user base, the base conspires to post objectionable content to the sub, then gets them sanctioned and kicked off for violating the rules.

It's a sick joke and anybody who truly wants to safely discuss conservative issues does not post there.

[quote]I lasted a few weeks on the conspiracy sub.[/quote]

Speaking of sick jokes....😆 most of the people on that are complete idiots, trolls or bots.

@LeopoldBloom I don't care about Twitter. I just mentioned it as one of the big ones and noted the change since Musk took over.

What you consider "hate speech" could be considered freedom of expression in some circles. It's highly subjective.

@SumKindaMunster Yes, Andrew Anglin should be able to spew whatever he wants. And it's not "freedom of expression" if making fun of Elon Musk earns you a lifetime ban. Of course, it's his platform, so he can do anything he likes, but please don't pretend that it's "freedom of expression."

@SumKindaMunster twitter always sucked. I've never used Reddit or insta or snap. FB and here are my limits. I used to be on whirlpool but that site doesn't accept free speech fully open discussion and I got permanently barred.

@zonavar68 I never heard of Whirlpool. I googled it and everything that came up had to do with the appliance company.

@LeopoldBloom [quote]Yes, Andrew Anglin should be able to spew whatever he wants[/quote] Strawman response. Do better bloom.

[quote] And it's not "freedom of expression" if making fun of Elon Musk earns you a lifetime ban. Of course, it's his platform, so he can do anything he likes, but please don't pretend that it's "freedom of expression."
[/quote]

It's freedom of Elon's expression. I'm sure you were just as quick to express your outrage when conservative pundits were throttled, deplatformed and banned on there too huh?

@zonavar68 I say with pride that I never had a Facebook account and I never will. Yes Twitter always sucked. It says something about contemporary culture that you had a character limit as to what you could say.

@SumKindaMunster You don't think it's a problem when actual Nazis are given a public platform? This allows them to reach more people who are susceptible to these ideas but otherwise wouldn't have encountered them.

If I owned Twitter, I wouldn't ban people who made fun of me. But as I said, Musk is entitled to ban anyone he wants for any reason. Under the old management, people were banned for hate speech (and that doesn't mean "saying mean things about liberals") calling for violence, and spreading false medical information.

Regardless, I don't think Twitter is as influential as people think it is. It's mostly journalists and celebrities making short comments, with thousands of their followers piling on.

Facebook was great when I joined in 2008. I connected with people I hadn't seen in years. The feed was mostly things people were doing, along with a forum for discussing current events. It started to deteriorate around 2015 when it became more focused on ad revenue, and the feed changed from chronological to curated based on your interests and engagement. So now, it's just a few people I know who are on it 24/7, ads, and clickbait. It's unfortunate because the early Facebook will never be replaced. It's not like everyone I know will magically decide to migrate to MeWe or Mastodon or Tribel or any other platform. It's like an anthill that's destroyed in a rainstorm - all of the ants are still there, but the organization and connections are gone.

@LeopoldBloom [quote]You don't think it's a problem when actual Nazis are given a public platform? This allows them to reach more people who are susceptible to these ideas but otherwise wouldn't have encountered them.[/quote]

I don't, no. Why are they targeted as being so dangerous but we allow all kinds of other bad influences all over social media? What about the Scientologists? The incels? Gangster rappers promoting a life of crime? Anti-fa? MLMs and cults sucking in good, hard working people trying to make a living?

You think whatever "Nazis" that exist in this country have a chance against the NSA, the FBI, the MSM, and the entire intelligence community? It's overblown and is being used to frighten and divide people.

[quote]If I owned Twitter, I wouldn't ban people who made fun of me. But as I said, Musk is entitled to ban anyone he wants for any reason. Under the old management, people were banned for hate speech (and that doesn't mean "saying mean things about liberals") calling for violence, and spreading false medical information.[/quote]

If you dived into the media that was released in the "Twitter Files" you would see that the old regime was just as capricious when it came to throttling and banning thoughts, and individuals that did not promote the narrative around Trump or the mRNA vaccines.

[quote]Facebook was great when I joined in 2008. I connected with people I hadn't seen in years. The feed was mostly things people were doing, along with a forum for discussing current events. It started to deteriorate around 2015 when it became more focused on ad revenue, and the feed changed from chronological to curated based on your interests and engagement. So now, it's just a few people I know who are on it 24/7, ads, and clickbait. It's unfortunate because the early Facebook will never be replaced. It's not like everyone I know will magically decide to migrate to MeWe or Mastodon or Tribel or any other platform. It's like an anthill that's destroyed in a rainstorm - all of the ants are still there, but the organization and connections are gone.
[/quote]

Do you remember the internet before all these stupid social media companies took over? It was a patch work of individuals promoting their interests and hobbies. It was very interesting, cool and fun. You had a laundry list of sites to go to, that you visited on a regular basis.

Now everyone is congregated into these large social media sites. Very convenient if you wanted to control the information being disseminated to the masses.

@SumKindaMunster Yes, everyone's congregated into the large social media sites, and Republicans want to do away with net neutrality to make sure those are the only sites you can access easily.

You should listen to the "Behind the Bastards" series on Andrew Tate. I don't know any teenage boys, so I had no idea of the influence he had on that demographic. Listen to that and then tell me that he "didn't have a chance" against the MSM.

We shouldn’t tolerate the intolerant. I don’t put Nazis or people like Tate in the same category as MLM or Scientology. It’s absurd to equate them just because you don’t agree with them.