Evan Prodromou
So, this is probably the most contentious poll I've put on Mastodon to date.
Partly it's the structure. I sometimes do a format with a statement then options to agree or disagree. Other times, I do a question with options to answer yes or no. I do this interchangeably, picking whichever is clearer.
In this case, I think a lot of people took it to mean that I was making the statement, because it's what I believe. That elicited a lot of emotion!
In the future, I'll tend towards questions.
Evan Prodromou
@gojomo https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/24/elon-musk-twitter-meltdown-tesla/
Gordon Mohr ꧁?꧂
@evan re: "They are giving full access to DMs and private accounts to conservative journalists."
Twitter, including through the Agrawal, Dorsey, & Costolo regimes, has always had the technical capability to read user DMs, & a long history of poor internal access controls.
but, I've not noticed Twitter user DMs being part of any "Twitter Files" reporting.
did I miss a reveal? do you have a link documenting this claim?
Evan Prodromou
I think we should all be clear on the stakes.
Journalists who cover Elon Musk had their accounts suspended *last week*.
Twitter announced a policy disallowing outlinks to other social networks at the same time.
They are giving full access to DMs and private accounts to conservative journalists.
It is a really fucked-up system. It's not just another social network.
Evan Prodromou
"Calling out", or "name and shame", is also a really strong response. I don't think I'm there yet, even with individuals and organisations that should be supporting this network.
I'm at a point, now, where I'm pretty disappointed to see friends here posting there. And I've told one or two as much, privately.
Evan Prodromou
In this case, I'm a qualified no.
I think participating in the Twitter ecosystem is net evil for the world. It's a system that runs on content, and generating content for that system is being complicit with a very bad company.
But I don't think everyone's ready to extract themselves 100% from that ecosystem. Some people might need to keep up contacts there. Posting there and here, minimizing posts there, providing exclusive content here, are all good strategies.
Evan Prodromou
@gojomo you should definitely write a blog post about this topic which is important to you.
Gordon Mohr ꧁?꧂
@evan …
it'd be easy enough for same insiders leaking other details to WaPo to testify, "DMs *were* accessed for Weiss" if they were.
that WaPo only engages in artfully-arranged speculation here implies they have no such testimony.
that said, given the architecture flaws & decade-plus laxity at Twitter Inc, it'd be reasonable to assume DMs probably have & will be accessed for flimsy purposes.
I just don't think it's fair to declare that as a certainty in particular cases where not sourced.
Gordon Mohr ꧁?꧂
@evan thanks!
but, I don't see the speculation in that article – from a former employee, choosing the most extreme implicature of one leaked Musk Signal message – as actually telling us whether user DMs are being accessed by favored journalists.
has Weiss reported seeing user DMs, or reported anything indicating user DMs were viewed?
if not, the former employee's extrapolation seems unwarranted. …+
Evan Prodromou
@gojomo ??
Gordon Mohr ꧁?꧂
@evan I may! but the texts here sem pretty clear about what has and hasn't been confirmed, so all of us who assign importance to accurate-foundations-for-beliefs likely have all they need from the toots.
Evan Prodromou
@gojomo so, I was a little flip about this. I'm not sure I would change my single sentence out of my longer tootstorm to match your pov, but I appreciate that you took the time to think it through.
Evan Prodromou
@PeterWyrm I did quotes for my most recent poll!
Peter Oram
@evan Or you could make it clearer that it isn’t necessarily your own opinion. E.g. using quotation marks, or a phrase like “Some people say that…”
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