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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   29716 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 12, 2022

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Was their credibility somehow based on not getting banned from Twitter?

Yes.

There is no such thing as credibility any more for the chattering classes; only popularity. And you can't be popular if no-one can see you.

And yet, their publications will go on to be cited as reliable coverage in the halls of government, academia, etc. They'll be given a more favorable look as historians look back. The people who support them will still do so and the people who hate them won't. Not really seeing how much they lose if they can't cultivate a twitter persona.

Gee, I guess they’re really silly to be so upset about it then.

That's like asking why someone with good healthcare coverage would care if you punched them. That it doesn't impact the rest of their life doesn't mean you didn't do something wrong to them.

This is not to argue the bans are unjustified, I have no opinion on that right now, only that this logic does not hold at all.

You said you didn't see how much they lost by losing a twitter persona. Being punched is painful or frightening, hence an actual loss.

Why would it be a loss?

If losing their twitter accounts isn't a loss, then I don't see what they'd have to be upset over. Being punched is a loss, hence I can see why it would upset someone. Therefore, so I'm saying, your analogy is wrong.

Ah, I see. Yes, I would agree that it is a loss. I suppose we would differ on how significant of a loss it is.

Streisand effect says otherwise. I hadn't heard of any of the banned journalists until my timeline was flooded with people talking about the banned journalists.

Are you going to start following them on Mastodon (or on Twitter when they return in a week), or will you forget most of them in a month's time?

I feel like so many invocations of the Streissand Effect are like that meme that's structured like 'Awareness + ???? = Profit'. Being kicked off a platform of immense visibility is surely at counterwinds with the small bump of notoriety you receive for a week.

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