Thread
Will I regret this? Let's find out.
This has been a very shouty week on Twitter. That makes sense, as one of the platforms big shouters has been very shouty. But what are we shouting about? Well, a bunch of things, but here's one:
This has been a very shouty week on Twitter. That makes sense, as one of the platforms big shouters has been very shouty. But what are we shouting about? Well, a bunch of things, but here's one:
Everyone wants Twitter to contain open conversation that drives humanity forward. There are two visions of this that are at-odds with each other, which means that it's well-structured for over-simple argument on a platform that gamifies simple argument.
Vision 1: If you let everyone say whatever they want, the best ideas will eventually win. People are complex and it will be messy but the alternative is putting some mysterious computer program / subjective human decision-makers in charge.
In this version of reality, no institution could possibly be smarter than three hundred million people making tiny individual choices to like, share, repeat, and reply to ideas. And having a centralized power making those choices is dystopian. 
Vision 2: If you let everyone say what they anything, the most loud, angry, cruel, and manipulative people constantly poison the culture. They chase away anyone who doesn't want to deal with their abuse, and they manipulate people by dragging them into conspiracy theories.
So, in this vision, you need moderation to ensure that Twitter is a place where people are free to speak without being chased away because by the meanest, worst people. And also, they are free to speak in a society that is not being dragged into manipulative delusions. 
These are two contrary visions. In one, you have to get rid of moderation to ensure free speech. In the other, you need moderation to ensure free speech.
And voila! The perfect Twitter argument. Everyone gets to be a champion and a victim. Big win for shouting.
And voila! The perfect Twitter argument. Everyone gets to be a champion and a victim. Big win for shouting.
Except, plot twist, everyone /actually knows/ that Twitter is not going to be one of these things or the other, it is and will always be both. The actual argument is one of degrees and no one knows what the degrees are because no one is talking about them because...it's Twitter.
Twitter won't have no moderation...one of Elon's stated goals is to get rid of spam bots...that's moderation. But also, if you've ever been in an internet space that has no moderation, you know that it's not a productive platform for speech. It just...sucks.
Likewise, Twitter will always host a lot of anti-social behavior. is a platform that very intentionally rewards simple perspectives and reactive thinking that eliminate context and nuance. It is always going to be that way. This is not a bug, it's a feature.
I'm self-aware enough to know this is a huge part of why I keep feeding this little bird. It feels good to watch the numbers go up. Anyone who gets a lot of likes and says that's not part of it for them is a big ol' stinky liar.
Elon is clearly a Vision 1 person...the point where he seems to think that a "just follow the law" policy is the right call. I am a Vision 2 person, though maybe not as much of one as many people assume.
The simple version of why this Elon has chosen this hill is that he hasn't considered these questions in complex ways, and mostly imagines Twitter through his own, extremely unusual lens. When (if) he's faced with actually dealing with them, he's going to find it very annoying.
The more complex version (somewhat backed up by things he's said) is that this is more about perception. He goes out and starts replying to a bunch of popular anti-elite elites and right-wingers...genuinely allying himself with them (they seem to agree on a lot.)
Then, when (if) he's in charge, relatively small changes might make those people feel like they've won, and they'll love Elon even more. He will have a broadened fan club that gets to come along with him on whatever bizarre thing he actually wants to do with Twitter. (BIRDCOIN!!)
This seems pretty 4D chess, but I do think Elon (and a lot of influential people) understand that perception is everything, and it's a whole lot easier for Elon to create the perception of a platform dedicated to free speech than it would be for @Jack or @paraga.
But the takeaway, if you want it, is that almost no one would use a Twitter exclusively devoted to careful, thoughtful, sanitized, pro-social speech. And almost no one would use a Twitter that allowed the worst people to chase almost everyone away and terrify everyone left.
Moderation is hard now, it will be hard when (if) Elon Musk owns Twitter. If he breaks everything and that future sucks enough, lots of people will leave and Twitter will become much less relevant. But I kinda doubt it.
If it did happen though, considering the fact that Twitter is and will always be structurally more about playing the game than building understanding, and that everyone on it is constantly having to fight to be better than what Twitter is asking of them, it might be, like...ok.
