Truth Social, Twitter and the Loneliest Reich

Good piece on how "the free speech warriors... [behind] Truth Social and the ... decay of Twitter ... the “Festung” cities of unrestricted expression... still not happy... shouting into an echo chamber isn’t nearly as satisfying as they thought it would be... What they’re really after ... is our attention... The thrill of provocation quickly fades when everyone around you is nodding along in agreement."

This need to provoke, to get attention, is fundamentally human, but social media scaled it enormously. And "Once you’ve tasted that kind of attention, it’s hard to go back." Hence they don't stay in their little echo chambers and instead "push their content into mainstream spaces... “owning the libs” or “triggering the snowflakes.”". The resulting "banhammer" is then seen as victory.

Maybe they're just lonely. Someone who "spends their days spewing vitriol ... [is] not someone with a fulfilling social life, a loving family, or a sense of purpose... [they're] disconnected, alienated... lonely as hell... often socially awkward individuals who’ve found a sense of belonging in the worst possible place", where they are trapped: "the more isolated they become, the more extreme their views get, which in turn pushes away anyone who might have been able to pull them back from the brink".

In the process they create spaces which demonstrate "the intellectual bankruptcy of far-right ideologies ... given free rein ... what profound insights do ... [they] offer? Mostly recycled conspiracy theories, thinly veiled bigotry, and a whole lot of whining about the “liberal elite.”... a house of cards built on fear, resentment, and a profound misunderstanding of how the world actually works... they’ve done more to discredit their own movement than any “leftist plot” ever could".

"They’ve deluded themselves into thinking that free speech means a guaranteed audience ... [but] free speech doesn’t mean free reach... true freedom of expression isn’t about the absence of rules — it’s about the presence of opportunity."

"as long as our platforms are designed to monetize our attention, they will always trend towards extremism. As long as provocation is rewarded with visibility", and building new platforms or protocols or better algorithms won't fix this. "The best we can hope for is to be more conscious consumers. To recognize when we’re being played, when we’re being pushed towards outrage... the only real power we have ... to choose where we direct our attention"