Remember when progressives decided to flee Twitter/X because it had become a hellish pit of despair once Elon Musk bought it and allowed conservatives to talk? Meta tried to capitalize on that exodus by introducing Threads, another copy of Twitter which promised to be a safe space for the left.
Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be working out as planned. Columnist Pamela Paul says that Threads has been driving her and others on the left crazy.
“All right, let’s do this thing,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted. “May this platform have good vibes, strong community, excellent humor and less harassment.”
And now, after a mere 10 months, we can see exactly what we built: a full-on bizarro-world X, handcrafted for the left end of the political spectrum, complete with what one user astutely labeled “a cult type vibe.”…
Threads’ algorithm seems precision-tweaked to confront the user with posts devoted to whichever progressive position is slightly lefter-than-thou. It knows, for example, exactly where — on the left, bien sûr — you stand with regard to the Middle East, gender ideology, D.E.I., body positivity, neurodivergence, Covid and the creative industries and shows you posts screaming from whichever position is just far enough from your own to drive you out of your mind…
But it wasn’t just me. “Threads seems to be purposely pushing content that opposes your personal beliefs & values — Thus getting everyone TRIGGERED,” one user wrote.
You get the impression that Meta is aware of the problem. Last year it announced it was limiting search for “sensitive topics.”
Instagram’s text-based social platform Threads last week rolled out its new search function, a crucial step toward the platform’s expansion and one that would give it more parity with X, formerly known as Twitter.
Not even 24 hours later, the company was embroiled in controversy. When users went to Threads to search for content related to “covid” and “long covid,” they were met with a blank screen that showed no search results and a pop-up linking to the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Meta acknowledged in a statement to The Washington Post that Threads is intentionally blocking the search terms and said that other terms are being blocked, but the company declined to provide a list of them.
But censorship of problematic terms apparently wasn’t enough. This week the site introduced a new option (which is on by default) to limit the visibility of politics in your feed.
You can find it under your “Content preferences” account settings in Instagram. From there, “Limit political content from people you don’t follow” is enabled by default…
Meta doesn’t want the blowback that comes from its role in actively surfacing political content, which it defines as posts about “governments,” “elections,” and “social topics” — an ambiguous term that is likely intended to give lots of wiggle room for what can be included in this policy.
Meta is doing its best to save leftist users on Threads from other leftist users on Threads, which can’t be easy. Meanwhile, outside activists are condemning the platform for being too far right.
Meta is failing to enforce its own rules against anti-trans hate speech on its platform, a new report from GLAAD warns. The LGBTQ advocacy group found that “extreme anti-trans hate content remains widespread across Instagram, Facebook, and Threads.”
Several readers of the Pamela Paul column suggested social media was like the old 80s film WarGames, i.e. the only way to win is not to play.
Of course – you could just get out to the house and talk to people.
Just stay away from talking about politics, religion or money – and you should be fine.
Or – if such restrictions are too confining for you – volunteer to canvas for your favorite local politician or get involved in a politically-oriented group – or go to church – or find an investment group (if such things still exist) / audit a course in economics.
“Social media” is a wasteland that gives the illusion of social interaction – while preventing social interaction.
Leave social media in the rear-view mirror. An adventure that failed.
You’ll be better for it.
I doubt the lefties on Threads will heed that advice. They’ll mostly stay on the site, triggering and woke-bullying one another until not a single one of them is sane. It turns out they brought the hellscape with them.
Read the full article here
