Listen now | Pride month is here, and it arrived just after Statistics Canada has confirmed something devastating: the disinformation campaigns against trans rights are working.
My point is that the journalist has a following on a platform that they’ve built over time and is writing about an important issue.
The NDP still posts on Xitter and Meta platforms, the DSA too. At least the writer has made the article publicly available so no proceeds are going to Substack.
I’m not sure if you’ve seen the alternatives to Substack either. Other than moral criticisms and poor payment models for creators, the only alternative would be to self-host, and that’s not easy for non-tech savvy.
Mastodon is decentralised, Substack is not, Substack corporate can make the decision they don’t want to foster and profit off of nazis whereas Truth Social has literally broken AGPL license terms with things being out of Mastodon’s control due to it’s decentralised nature.
I take the view that we have to do whatever is necessary to make these platforms die. I don’t see the use in continuing to engage in spaces that are packed full of bots and bad faith actors. Let them fester in their own shit. Maybe more and more advertisers will bow out when they see how rotten a platform has become.
A mass exodus of decent people is better than remaining there and claiming you’re just trying to fight the good fight against the torrent of disinformation and propaganda. I think too many people are selfishly worried about not getting enough attention and engagement, rather than genuinely trying to do the right thing.
Only that doesn’t move the needle on the underlying problem at all. After the civil rights movement in the US they busted up Klan rallies, made it more difficult to be openly discriminatory in the workplace and essential services, and made it more difficult for assholes to do their thing. None of that changed them, it just pushed then underground… Where they festered and grew in numbers for 50 years.
We either need forums to engage with these in the hope we can guide them to more enlightened perspectives or, more cynically, we need places we can reliably look for them if we develop the fortitude for more, radical solutions.
Well for one, maybe using a platform like Substack when they’re known to platform literal nazis doesn’t help.
What a horribly pedantic thing to raise when the topic is about people’s rights being taken away.
You’ve centered yourself and your feelings, good job.
Cool. Those rights include my own as someone who is trans.
Happy pride.
Fair enough.
My point is that the journalist has a following on a platform that they’ve built over time and is writing about an important issue.
The NDP still posts on Xitter and Meta platforms, the DSA too. At least the writer has made the article publicly available so no proceeds are going to Substack.
I’m not sure if you’ve seen the alternatives to Substack either. Other than moral criticisms and poor payment models for creators, the only alternative would be to self-host, and that’s not easy for non-tech savvy.
Nazi bar is still a nazi bar. There are alternatives. Would be similar side-eyed if they used AI shit.
They also platform some of the most important trans journalists like Erin Reed.
Someone should connect Rachel Gilmore with Molly White so Rachel can move to Ghost
And Trump uses mastodon. What’s your point?
Mastodon is decentralised, Substack is not, Substack corporate can make the decision they don’t want to foster and profit off of nazis whereas Truth Social has literally broken AGPL license terms with things being out of Mastodon’s control due to it’s decentralised nature.
But nice try.
Edit: Slack to Substack, oops
Journalists avoiding publication options based on ideology is literally how we end up with echo chambers…
On this topic specifically, don’t you think it’s important to try and communicate directly with the people who are being misinformed?
I take the view that we have to do whatever is necessary to make these platforms die. I don’t see the use in continuing to engage in spaces that are packed full of bots and bad faith actors. Let them fester in their own shit. Maybe more and more advertisers will bow out when they see how rotten a platform has become.
A mass exodus of decent people is better than remaining there and claiming you’re just trying to fight the good fight against the torrent of disinformation and propaganda. I think too many people are selfishly worried about not getting enough attention and engagement, rather than genuinely trying to do the right thing.
Only that doesn’t move the needle on the underlying problem at all. After the civil rights movement in the US they busted up Klan rallies, made it more difficult to be openly discriminatory in the workplace and essential services, and made it more difficult for assholes to do their thing. None of that changed them, it just pushed then underground… Where they festered and grew in numbers for 50 years.
We either need forums to engage with these in the hope we can guide them to more enlightened perspectives or, more cynically, we need places we can reliably look for them if we develop the fortitude for more, radical solutions.