{"id":11405,"date":"2022-04-26T16:36:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T22:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/?p=11405"},"modified":"2023-08-09T11:33:35","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T17:33:35","slug":"happy-rejoining-twitter-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/media-education\/happy-rejoining-twitter-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Rejoining Twitter Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
A condensed version of this was published April 26, 2022 in the Deseret News. <\/a><\/div>\n

When the news broke late yesterday that Elon Musk had successfully acquired Twitter, the reaction among many was predictably dire. <\/span>Hofstra University associate professor Kara Alaimo, for instance, <\/span>forecast on CNN<\/span><\/a> that the Twitter sale \u201cmay be the death knell for the social media platform.\u201d And u<\/span>nder the ominous headline, \u201cTwitter Under Elon Musk Will Be a Scary Place,\u201d <\/span>Greg Bensinger suggested<\/span><\/a> that when Musk insists Twitter be an \u201cinclusive arena for free speech,\u201d what he <\/span>really <\/span><\/i>means is \u201cfree speech for people like Mr. Musk.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This New York Times editorial board member went on to portray Twitter\u2019s new owner as a paragon of racism, sexism, and wealth\u2014with Dr. Alaimo further speculating that <\/span>public figures \u201cwon\u2019t want to be associated\u201d with a platform that isn’t \u201cinclusive\u201d and which is known to spread \u201cquestionable\u201d content.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These are precisely the concerns, of course, which have motivated well-intentioned efforts over recent years<\/span>\u2014<\/span>accelerated since the election of President Trump<\/span><\/a>\u2014<\/span>to use moderation on social media platforms to encourage people to have <\/span>the right <\/span><\/i>kinds of conversations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About the election. About the pandemic. About sexuality and gender. About climate change.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If only we could help people embrace the <\/span>right <\/span><\/i>information and \u201cdiligently combat misinformation\u201d<\/span>\u2014<\/span>so the argument goes<\/span>\u2014<\/span>then we could ensure people (and society as a whole) would be moving forward in \u201chealthy\u201d and \u201csafe\u201d ways.

As people of faith have fled social media in record numbers, they\u2019ve also made it an even more barren landscape intellectually and spiritually.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>I<\/span>t\u2019s understandable that many found this line of thinking comforting and reassuring, especially amidst the political, social, and health turmoil of recent years. But equal numbers have found it all a bit creepy, prompting some of us to crack open Brave New World<\/i> or 1984 <\/i>for the first time since high school.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing wrong with strongly advocating one\u2019s convictions about truth to all the world<\/span>\u2014<\/span>an unabashed specialty of Christians everywhere. But when any particular view gets enshrined in a state or other corporate or media entity with the power to dictate thought and action for millions of lives, that\u2019s a whole \u2018nother story.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Which is why many of us see news of Twitter\u2019s new ownership as something to celebrate, not a sign of impending doom, and why some people who had left the platform wasted no time in returning.<\/p>\n

\n

Thanks to new ownership, I\u2019ve decided to come back! ?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) April 25, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n