Twitter: Occupied Territory
Twitter is now fully committed to silencing anyone using its service to voice “problematic” opinions. The details are everywhere; no reason to cover them here. Your local college will need to update the syllabus for their Dictators 101 class; Twitter’s censorship techniques are must-study material for any wanna-be Authoritarian.

In every single article I’ve read, a commentator (or dozen) points out how they never used it, never understood it, what a waste of time it was, and how arguing in 140 characters or less was for imbeciles. That last one is my personal favorite. So, where’s the harm? Let it die an ignoble death. Stick a fork in it and roast a marshmallow over the corpse as it burns.

There are a long line of people in history who share your opinion, silly commentators.

Where was the harm when Marxists started getting hired as professors? Where was the harm when Marxists started getting hired in news rooms? As reporters? As movie producers? How about when Marxist authors were the only ones invited to television shows and placed on bestseller lists, even if those lists had to be fudged a little? Where was the harm when the news became so slanted that Russian KGB agents were awed by the power of the government to control the thoughts of an entire “free” people? How about when Marxists started booting any non-Marxist out of the organization? Even better: manning the gates so that wrong-thinkers could never get in at all?

I’m using the word Marxist in these examples. Substitute your own name for Authoritarians-thru-the-twentieth-century. They changed names frequently.

Yep, there was harm. Our forebears surrendered our culture in their day. We’re partly in the cultural mess we’re in because the long march through our institutions was free to proceed. It doesn’t affect me, so why should I care?

Welcome to the cheap seats, folks. Pull out your popcorn and let’s watch as we surrender the culture once again.

Whether you or I like it or not, social media is an integral part of the culture today. Bumper-sticker communication? Argument via Emoji? Annoying status updates and vapid content? Check, check, and mate. Just because idiots use a hammer to fix their phone doesn’t mean either the phone or the hammer lack value.

The culture war is upon us. Tweets are bullets.
When the British took New York did the Colonials say, “Ew, bad luck, boys. That’s okay, we’ll build Newer New York across the river, and it’ll be better than ever!” When the British marched to Lexington and Concord did the Colonials say, “Sorry, men. The King has ordered all access to guns and ammunition blocked. Just leave your musket in the city square so they can come pick it up.” They did not.

We face the same choice with our culture today. It hardly compares. My apologies to any American Revolutionary still kicking around, berating us for our timidity.

Those of you who don’t understand Twitter and denigrate it don’t know how to use your muskets, and therefore think they are worthless. Back in my day we used swords, dagnabit, and we stabbed each other for fun!

Yeah? Now we point this big metal tube at the enemy and it fires off an idea. The idea isn’t even aimed at the target, it’s for the benefit of onlookers or those who’ve only been presented with one prejudiced side of the argument. It can also send up a smoke signal to notify onlookers that new content is available, or that you’ve discovered an article worth reading, or an argument worth knowing, or a picture that is funny, pithy, or both. There even exist collections of pictures, played rapidly in a series, used to make excellent points in a whole new medium called video. It’s like television, but educational.

Replacements are coming. Twitter, Facebook, and others will surely undergo the creative-destruction process just like their predecessors. Hopefully those successors will be more robust, more useful, and have safeguards built in so SJWs can’t destroy them like everything else they appropriate.

In the meantime, Twitter Lists are block-free and you can see all the Tweets of those you follow. Apparently some third-party apps are available that do the same thing. Meanwhile, hashtags remain toast and forget about making anything trend. The Twitter Safety Committee will make sure that wrong thoughts can’t gain traction. We’re in Valley Forge; we’ll just have to hang in until Christmas. Metaphorically speaking.

For those of you leaving, can you at least go out on your shield? In the coming days, “Banned by Twitter” and “Banned by Facebook” badges will be all the rage. Think of them as medals. You’ll want one. They don’t give them to people who take themselves out, even in frustration. In Digital Valhalla, we’ll all be arguing over who got banned the most, and when it comes down to Milo and Vox Day, Vox Day will win because he is way more stubborn.

Everyone will still think Milo is prettier, though.

For those of you who never signed up, sign up! It’s free. Follow someone. Retweet something. Forget that feeling of shame or stupidity for participating in the madness. This is Culture War, dammit, and that illusion you harbor as being “intellectually superior” is helping to get us killed. Get banned. Proudly display your badge. We are helping the Twitter Safety Committee in their important task, and if that task involves blocking and banning and inconveniencing even more people, who are we to interfere?

If you really want to have fun, contact the advertisers that show up and ask them why they are supporting a platform that is censoring and banning so many people because they disagree with them politically. Be sure and Tweet their response. You know, for irony and entertainment value.

Lastly, if you have time to leave a comment on an article discussing social media censorship that criticizes social media users, you have time to Tweet your comment with a link to the article, too. If you can’t be bothered, then please stop commenting.

Quizzer: Twitter Hypocrite
Yep, I’m a Dewberry because, although I’ve had a Twitter account for 5 years, I’ve never Tweeted on it. I’m not only a Twitter Hypocrite but a Twitter Neophyte as well. That changes, starting tomorrow.

I dusted off my account today, made my “blocked people I’m following” list (I named mine Disavowed) and actually kept checking for Tweets throughout the day. I’m hoping to make my first Tweet tomorrow. It will probably be a link to this post. Shameless baby steps, but I have to start somewhere.

Otherwise, Tweets are pretty much like comic strip dialog or the brief comments I sometimes leave using my Disqus account. Yay!

I doubt they’ll ban me. I’m hopeful, though, and started out with the best chance by following @voxday and @nero. Maybe that will be enough, but it’s hardly something to brag about. In case you care, my Twitter name is @QuizzerW. I don’t know if case matters. Heck, I don’t know if my account will still exist tomorrow.

The Spork Speaks – Tempest in a Teardrop – Quizzer