Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported today that trolls flock to Twitter to post offensive hate speech. But two of the three tweets he describes were taken down from the site a few hours later. Another mentioned tweet of just the n-word repeated over and over again may still be active. But there has never been a ban on tweeting just that word. Nothing seems to have changed in terms of moderation yet. But the trolls have made their point, loudly: “We’re here, we’re pieces of shit, get used to it.” It’s bullying, and it’s working.
It is impossible to predict at this point what will happen to Twitter in the short or long term. For all the saber-rattling Musk is making about “free speech,” the reality is that most of the work of politics and moderation has less to do with edgy “misthinking” in the US. Y more about comply with restrictive laws in other countries. Or it’s just plain old bullying. It’s hard to guess what the impact of letting some assholes back on the platform will be on those larger issues that Twitter has spent the last few years cleaning up.
I am an optimist, it must be admitted that sometimes naively. I want to believe that Twitter can change, and some of these changes I may not like, but they won’t be that bad. I want to believe that it is not going to become 4chan, invaded by lords of shit. I also want to believe that it will not die a slow death as a result of declining user numbers and reduced revenue.
I want to believe that Twitter will still be good, because I love Twitter. How can you login and see something like this and not I’m lovin ‘it?