Time to Log Out of Twitter
We are being urged to leave Facebook for our own mental health and for the sake of democracy, and with the same two goals in mind, it might be time to leave Twitter.
On August 17, Twitter users will organize an exit on the social network under the hashtag #DEACTIDAY. BoingBoing writer Mark Frauenfelder responded that his decision to leave was motivated mainly by the platform’s refusal to ban Alex Jones, whom they found to be in violation of their official policies. Jones has long been spreading conspiracy theories to his many followers and encouraging continued harassment of the parents of Sandy Hook’s victims. He’s a terrible troll, and Twitter ban policies are inconsistent and confusing, as CEO Jack Dorsey admits:
According to the Guardian , Jones and his Infowars channel have been blocked on Apple, YouTube, and Facebook, but Twitter is still on hold and no one knows exactly why. But one working theory is that as the site becomes more and more the domain of people with extremist and hateful views, they probably don’t want to piss off their user base.
So why not disable #DEACTIDAY? Those who join the campaign will deactivate their accounts on Friday and give Twitter 30 days to do something substantial about Alex Jones and his general tolerance for bigotry and abuse. According to the participants, if nothing has been done, the deactivation will become permanent.
If you don’t feel like leaving the Twitter world forever, this is an option, Shannon Coulter, co-founder of Grabyourwallet.org , recommended on her own thread that people also try to block Twitter’s biggest revenue streams, which she writes, is Fortune. 500 companies. Coulter even provided her own block list and instructions on how to use co-blocking to keep Twitter from making money from you – at least through the ads of these companies:
You can also do this manually for each company by checking this list . There may come a time when you no longer want to be involved in the social media world, but while you’re still here, get companies to do the right thing by pursuing what they care about: money.