Notices by Jeff Byrnes (jeffbyrnes@better.boston)

@astatide @mmasnick I think you’re pointing out a clear-eyed and deeper view into it!

I think right up until Musk showed up as a buyer, Twitter was getting better; it was still way worse than it needed to be, but some right signs had been appearing.

As for Substack, you’re also right that their CEO has given up or is trying to avoid the question in plain sight, and that’s just ridiculous & shameful.

@astatide @mmasnick I also think that both things can be true simultaneously: we were in the midst of a content moderation experiment that has failed, AND social media has been juicing us for clicks/views/etc via antagonistic content b/c algos reward that kind of behavior by their nature.

@Hyolobrika @MylesRyden @mmasnick you can consider that 4channers are a smaller group than Redditers, and so in those terms, 4chan is worth less than Reddit b/c fewer people value it & use it.

Reddit is also worth more in financial terms, so there’s that one, too.

@lookatmeimdanny sure is! Also a perfect example of the coddled insulated naïveté of folks like substack’s CEO.

Especially bizarre that he won’t even stand by his own company’s terms of use!

This from @mmasnick is so spot on:

“your reputation when you refuse to moderate is not ‘the grand enabler of free speech.’ Because it’s the internet itself that is the grand enabler of free speech. When you’re a private centralized company and you don’t deal with hateful content on your site, you’re the Nazi bar.”

https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/14/substack-ceo-chris-best-doesnt-realize-hes-just-become-the-nazi-bar/