Much has been written these past few weeks of the exodus from Twitter/X to BlueSky and other platforms. The victory of Donald Trump in the US election seems to have been a trigger point for folks on the left, those concerned about democracy, and those disgusted by the autocratic, Trump-loving musings of the world’s richest man being forced to the top of their feeds.
Despite the obvious manipulations of the Twitter/X site, many members of the fourth estate can’t seem to quit the wreckage of what is left of their beloved digital venue. Daily, I read news stories with multiple embeds of Twitter/X posts. No doubt the authors of these articles will advise that their work demands the use of Twitter/X as that is where political parties, their leaders, news junkies, journalists, etc, continue to congregate. Why not use quotes or screenshots rather than linking back to Twitter/X? Why embed a post that steers traffic to a site seeking to destabilize real journalism?
All this begs the question: What are the fourth estate's and political leaders' obligations to a healthy social media ecosystem? Why would many of the key influencers and leaders of Western democracies knowingly continue to post to a site whose owner traffic supports the worst autocratic tendencies?
Twitter/X is a sewer bent on destroying democracy. It masquerades as a public square while it is the private domain of a man bent on brainwashing people into believing democracy should be dismantled. Those who continue to post on or cite the platform should look hard at their social media practice. I’d suggest that if you see an article with an embedded Twitter/X post, you remind the author that they are simply acting as the worst type of lapdog for America’s new emerging plutocracy.
