Miriam Orr
For the first time since 2014 when I was forced to make a Twitter handle by a college professor, I hopped back into the Twitter tree.
(After fighting for like two years to actually delete my old account 😅).
When Elon Musk takes over with the promise of freeing the big blue bird, you just have to.
And boy has it been entertaining, to say the least!
Thus far, Mr. Musk has been true to his word.
There are some pretty radical accounts out there holding him accountable and blazing the trail for other conservatives to speak up and not just sit behind the screen and consume, so I can't say I'm surprised that he's playing nice right now.
Conservatives are rattling the cages so much that Democrats, Liberals, Leftists, celebrities, politicians, and everyday users are falling off the platform in droves. And this was even before Musk announced that verified ☑️ (blue checkmark) accounts would face an $8 subscription fee to keep their verification.
Talk about triggered? Twitter was triggered.
I find it interesting the droves that come when platforms tout a "free speech" campaign promise.
Gab exploded with 1.5 million confirmed users and over 3.7 million visitors from an in-beta period (2016) to going live in 2020. For a website "Widely described as a haven for neo-Nazis, racists, white supremacists, white nationalists, antisemites, the alt-right, supporters of Donald Trump, conservatives, right-libertarians, and believers in conspiracy theories such as QAnon..." that's not too shabby.
On Sept. 15, Rumble announced in its press release announcing the platform going public that it had approx. 78 million active viewers from its in-beta period. Again, pretty spiffy from a platform that's regarded as an alt-right haven.
Twenty-four hours after "the bird is [was] freed," as Musk himself tweeted, the platform saw an immediate spike in activity.
Thousands upon thousands were flying the coop or nesting. USA Today reported that far-right politicians were gaining followers by the multiple thousands, while far-lefters were losing them at mach speed.
My takeaway? People are desperate for their rights. They respond to promises.
They crave what the forefathers of this nation carved out for us in the founding documents, the right to speak freely without repercussions, to worship and believe how We The People see fit.
Divinely inspired, these rights have been under attack really since the beginning of the nation, but more publicly, I'd say, since the revolution of the hippie, feel-good 1960s.
But back to my personal testimony.
It's been amazing to see people both rally behind Mr. Musk, verbally stone him, or hold him accountable to promises. Not only is Elon in the process of wiping the chessboard clean, but he's also bringing some of his TESLA loyal with him.
He's engaging with big accounts and controversial users who sway the masses, on both sides.
He's simultaneously roasted and heard people. Something I cannot say for the former beak in charge.
Elon's doing a decent job, thus far. Time will tell if he caves into the woke agenda of the Soros-controlled internet, or not. My hope is not, because I love posting about Joe Biden not being my president and not facing Twitmo or cage time, and I equally thrill at watching my fellow "radicals" do the same.
I think the activity swirling around this takeover and the amount of attention it has drawn is a good lesson—casts a very good gaze—at the power of social media platforms. How comfortable we as users feel when there is a faceless, nameless other halfway across the world that we can choose to engage with, and how.
This is a good lesson about how predominant social media is in our day to day, and what sway it has over news, politics, and economic success.
Musk spent $44 billion dollars on this platform, and the most brilliant businessman of our generation wouldn't have done so if he didn't see the value.
On the other hand, a lot of the platform is unconvinced. "Nothing's changing", "It's all the same", "I was so wrong" are common diatribes floating out there in the Twitter-verse.
People aren't sure Elon can stand up to Big Tech, if he can stand the fires of opposition and bare losing as much money as the opposition brings.
But a man with 📍Hell literally set as his location, I think he'll be alright.
It's been what? A week?
Give the man some time.
Time is the best teller of these things. There's a currency in waiting to see what happens. For now, I and my 19 little followers are stirring up the proverbial pot as much as 20 insignificant users can, and so far, Elon Musk hasn't said one word to me.
I sense that in the past, I'd have landed in Twitmo with some of the posts I've engaged with.
Oh how the Twitter tables have turntabled. 🧐
From watching AOC experience full meltdown at the idea of spending $8 to keep her ☑️ to watching the White House take down a press release because it was flagged for fact-checking, it's been a pretty amusing ride.
I'm curious and a little tickled to see where it goes.
If you haven't built a little nest in Twitter, it's worth checking out. At least, for now.
And no you can't have my Twitter handle. That shizz is anonymous for a reason.
CITES—