Today, the EU has sent a formal letter to Elon Musk about X/Twitter being used to disseminate illegal content & disinformation in the EU in the wake of the terrorist attacks by Hamas against Israel. Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, has given him 24 hours to take crisis measures and report to the European Commission.
A clear and succinct account of the mess made of a once reasonably reliable source of information exchange.
Much respect for the EU in taking action putting Elon Musk on notice of his irresponsible and dangerous management of a platform that yields much power even in its polluted form.
It’s beyond disheartening to see the dismantling of Twitter, either by design or incompetence, by an egomaniac not unlike Donald Trump.
Your use of the photograph makes your point brilliantly. Much of what we find on Twitter now is an illusion.
Thank you for addressing the very troubling conundrum.
And something I didn’t address since it didn’t fit in the overall context is that Twitter used to be so much fun. It’s a bit like Trump; you can laugh about him, but not with him. The sense of humor is so much less present now.
Agree - I stopped my Twitter account because I couldn’t stand the thought of Musk benefiting from ad revenue from one more person! I used to get most of my news from Twitter and miss the variety of voices, from Ukraine to the UK.
I left Twitter long before Musk even thought about buying it. Some of the comments I began seeing were just so "out there" and I just didn't want to see them. So I went back to NYT, WaPo and the Tampa Bay/St. Pete Times for news. I left Face Book in 2016 because of the vitriolic discourse during the 2016. But because my family and most of my friends are on Facebook so I relented and set up a new FB account to keep up with them - all 40-ish of them! LOL Not to mention, I was spending way too much time checking my social media! Now I read the online papers, you, Dan Rather and Heather Cox Richardson. I'm glad you're still on Twitter and please let me know if it ever gets close to what it was before Musk changed everything.
Frankly, I don't have much hope that Twitter will get back to how good it once was. It's interesting to see who will be the winners in the fast moving landscape of social media. I'm also on Mastodon and BlueSky, but none of them gets close yet to the size of Twitter. On both platforms the better quality is a huge plus that compensates at least in part for the lower quantity of followers. And like you, I my favs on Substack are Heather Cox Richardson (it was her blog that brought me to Substack) and Dan Rather. And yes, I do read the NYT daily.
I doubt a letter from the EU will have impact upon an individual who loves playing the bad boy. There are two things melon enjoys and these are 1) melon and 2) chaos. That's it.
When I joined Twitter in May of 2011 I was amazed at the content. Local power behind creating the first and largest No Kill community in the country with Austin, TX. The First Arab Spring. Alex's commitment to environmental security. Learning pandemic news directly from epidemiologists.
Since melon has tried his best to wreck Twitter I have deleted many accounts, surrounded myself with those I trust for correct information, blocked ads and hundreds of porn bots, vet news before sharing. My favorite course when studying photography and photojournalism was Ethics. Be accurate, resist staged opportunities, avoid presenting one's own bias in a photo, treat all subjects with respect and dignity with special consideration to the vulnerable, maintain the integrity of the image in editing. There are more but these are the most important to me.
Integrity. The media and the world of disseminating information has lost its way with the introduction of clickbait. The word clickbait says it all.
Like you, I limit what I see. Lists on Twitter are great for that. But since "melon" took over, Twitter has the bad habbit of automatically opening on the "for you" page, meaning that the first tweet I usually have to see is one of Musk, often with a picture of Musk, and often about Musk.
Still got a bit of time to write (check your inbox), but just have to finish reading the book I bought today. Love it. Thanks for mentioning me here. Yes, busy busy busy - but it is good busy. Loving my new job. And spending less time on social media is not the worst thing that could happen.
Yes absolutely.. Twitter in its self has become a platform of spewing disfunction, division an utter war platform. This will not help our beautiful world and eradicate hatred people seem to want to engage in.
As Judith has said in one of the comments, I don't have much time to spend on X or elsewhere. And I'm glad I don't. Sounds like it has become a real cesspit. I changed my settings to notifications from people I follow only and I only ever check the notifications. So, I've largely stayed away from the nastiness. I also don't see replies from people I don't follow. What makes me sad is that this way I don't really get to connect with new people. I've made some wonderful friends through Twitter and will be hanging out with a bunch of them on Zoom later this week.
Well done the EU - not sure it will help, but we can hope it does.
Thank you for making me reminisce about friends I made on twitter and for sharing this story. Another well-written piece. Love the picture as well. It confused my eyes and brain at 5 AM, but what a great shot!
Thank you, Alexander! Thought my new eyes 👀 were fine (cataract surgery) but need better reading glasses since I could not tell if your photo was a reflection or otherwise. No one man (Elon) should have this much power on a media platform. With his Starlink, he can and has if I recall shut down the internet used by Zelenskyy to detect incoming bombs! For a period of time. He could do much worse if so inclined and that gives me more to fear. What can we do? Anything? There was a great deal of vitriol on Substack pages today too, Richardson and Reich I noticed and links to others. Facebook comments are full of bots and trolls, vicious, phishing, etc. There are still a few friends I follow there but I hate to open the app with excessive awful advertising every other post. No answers come to mind and it’s late so I’ll say goodnight. So pleased you are on top of this. 🧐
I see Facebook mentioned several times in the comments. When it became clear how Facebook played a pivotal role in creating the Brexit disaster, I left. Once a year, on my birthday, I check for birthday wishes and still a few come in now seven years after I left :-)
Again, spot on, Alex! And Bravo to Thierry Breton for his letter to Mr. Musk who, as evidenced by many of his past publicly reported remarks, thinks just because he's uber-wealthy, his opinion is more valid than anyone else. (Remind anyone but me of the recent-former POTUS?) Just another example of wealth equals intelligence and, therefore, above any of the rules/laws/ethics/morality.
Indeed, sadly another example. Wealth, by the way, that was aquiered tax free; wealth that should have been shared with those in society that made it possible for him to get that rich.
A clear and succinct account of the mess made of a once reasonably reliable source of information exchange.
Much respect for the EU in taking action putting Elon Musk on notice of his irresponsible and dangerous management of a platform that yields much power even in its polluted form.
It’s beyond disheartening to see the dismantling of Twitter, either by design or incompetence, by an egomaniac not unlike Donald Trump.
Your use of the photograph makes your point brilliantly. Much of what we find on Twitter now is an illusion.
Thank you for addressing the very troubling conundrum.
And something I didn’t address since it didn’t fit in the overall context is that Twitter used to be so much fun. It’s a bit like Trump; you can laugh about him, but not with him. The sense of humor is so much less present now.
I really miss that too. It was once a real pleasure to log on to Twitter.
Although you continue to interject fun at every opportunity.
Please don’t stop. Let’s not let Elon take that too.
It was so much fun!! I made so many friends IRL through twitter. Makes me sad.
Agree - I stopped my Twitter account because I couldn’t stand the thought of Musk benefiting from ad revenue from one more person! I used to get most of my news from Twitter and miss the variety of voices, from Ukraine to the UK.
I can understand, although I’m still there. Holding the fortress…
I left Twitter long before Musk even thought about buying it. Some of the comments I began seeing were just so "out there" and I just didn't want to see them. So I went back to NYT, WaPo and the Tampa Bay/St. Pete Times for news. I left Face Book in 2016 because of the vitriolic discourse during the 2016. But because my family and most of my friends are on Facebook so I relented and set up a new FB account to keep up with them - all 40-ish of them! LOL Not to mention, I was spending way too much time checking my social media! Now I read the online papers, you, Dan Rather and Heather Cox Richardson. I'm glad you're still on Twitter and please let me know if it ever gets close to what it was before Musk changed everything.
Frankly, I don't have much hope that Twitter will get back to how good it once was. It's interesting to see who will be the winners in the fast moving landscape of social media. I'm also on Mastodon and BlueSky, but none of them gets close yet to the size of Twitter. On both platforms the better quality is a huge plus that compensates at least in part for the lower quantity of followers. And like you, I my favs on Substack are Heather Cox Richardson (it was her blog that brought me to Substack) and Dan Rather. And yes, I do read the NYT daily.
I doubt a letter from the EU will have impact upon an individual who loves playing the bad boy. There are two things melon enjoys and these are 1) melon and 2) chaos. That's it.
When I joined Twitter in May of 2011 I was amazed at the content. Local power behind creating the first and largest No Kill community in the country with Austin, TX. The First Arab Spring. Alex's commitment to environmental security. Learning pandemic news directly from epidemiologists.
Since melon has tried his best to wreck Twitter I have deleted many accounts, surrounded myself with those I trust for correct information, blocked ads and hundreds of porn bots, vet news before sharing. My favorite course when studying photography and photojournalism was Ethics. Be accurate, resist staged opportunities, avoid presenting one's own bias in a photo, treat all subjects with respect and dignity with special consideration to the vulnerable, maintain the integrity of the image in editing. There are more but these are the most important to me.
Integrity. The media and the world of disseminating information has lost its way with the introduction of clickbait. The word clickbait says it all.
Be careful out there.
Like you, I limit what I see. Lists on Twitter are great for that. But since "melon" took over, Twitter has the bad habbit of automatically opening on the "for you" page, meaning that the first tweet I usually have to see is one of Musk, often with a picture of Musk, and often about Musk.
Hello Rena, saw a post by you on (X) today and simply said, hello. But saw the chaos, Biden Bashing especially,
so got off before I got too triggered and blew my top! I don’t know the answer. I never got the blue checkmark or paid.
I check in once in a while to follow Alex and Evelyne Luethy but she’s busy with a new job these days. So, just hanging out for now.
Still got a bit of time to write (check your inbox), but just have to finish reading the book I bought today. Love it. Thanks for mentioning me here. Yes, busy busy busy - but it is good busy. Loving my new job. And spending less time on social media is not the worst thing that could happen.
P.S.: Take Rena's code.
Still holding a Blue Sky code for you 🙂 Let me know
Yes absolutely.. Twitter in its self has become a platform of spewing disfunction, division an utter war platform. This will not help our beautiful world and eradicate hatred people seem to want to engage in.
Thank you Alexander for your positive feedback 🙏
Still thinking.....just wrote to you on chat Re: McHenry? So tired, not thinking, I’ll be back said Schwarzenegger! 😴
What time zone are you?
We do need some voices of reason on there, too 😊
🙏
Of course he doesn't know ... what a tool!
As Judith has said in one of the comments, I don't have much time to spend on X or elsewhere. And I'm glad I don't. Sounds like it has become a real cesspit. I changed my settings to notifications from people I follow only and I only ever check the notifications. So, I've largely stayed away from the nastiness. I also don't see replies from people I don't follow. What makes me sad is that this way I don't really get to connect with new people. I've made some wonderful friends through Twitter and will be hanging out with a bunch of them on Zoom later this week.
Well done the EU - not sure it will help, but we can hope it does.
Thank you for making me reminisce about friends I made on twitter and for sharing this story. Another well-written piece. Love the picture as well. It confused my eyes and brain at 5 AM, but what a great shot!
Thanks, and yes, Twitter friendships between people all over the world that will likely never meet is something special
Thank you, Alexander! Thought my new eyes 👀 were fine (cataract surgery) but need better reading glasses since I could not tell if your photo was a reflection or otherwise. No one man (Elon) should have this much power on a media platform. With his Starlink, he can and has if I recall shut down the internet used by Zelenskyy to detect incoming bombs! For a period of time. He could do much worse if so inclined and that gives me more to fear. What can we do? Anything? There was a great deal of vitriol on Substack pages today too, Richardson and Reich I noticed and links to others. Facebook comments are full of bots and trolls, vicious, phishing, etc. There are still a few friends I follow there but I hate to open the app with excessive awful advertising every other post. No answers come to mind and it’s late so I’ll say goodnight. So pleased you are on top of this. 🧐
I see Facebook mentioned several times in the comments. When it became clear how Facebook played a pivotal role in creating the Brexit disaster, I left. Once a year, on my birthday, I check for birthday wishes and still a few come in now seven years after I left :-)
I left FB when Zuck sold all our data to bannon & cambridge analytica.
Again, spot on, Alex! And Bravo to Thierry Breton for his letter to Mr. Musk who, as evidenced by many of his past publicly reported remarks, thinks just because he's uber-wealthy, his opinion is more valid than anyone else. (Remind anyone but me of the recent-former POTUS?) Just another example of wealth equals intelligence and, therefore, above any of the rules/laws/ethics/morality.
Indeed, sadly another example. Wealth, by the way, that was aquiered tax free; wealth that should have been shared with those in society that made it possible for him to get that rich.