A long, long time ago, social networks were a fun place to visit. You could catch up with your friends, learn something new, and share your thoughts and opinions. Heck, if you owned a business, you might even make a few new customers. The last thing you thought about was how these social networks were rating your content, deciding if your reach should be throttled based on your political views.
But that’s the world we live in now. Major social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook routinely decide if your opinions should or shouldn’t be shared. It all depends on whether you share their far-left, progressive views or not. Many people have complained that these social giants have effectively shut down free speech. Now, it’s getting so bad that major movers and shakers are deciding to get involved. And it appears one of the world’s leading innovators is mulling the idea of his own social network.
Entrepreneur Elon Musk said late on Saturday that he is giving “serious thought” to launching a new social media platform that will be transparent with its algorithms, prioritize free speech, and will keep propaganda to a minimum…
Musk conducted an informal poll late last week on Twitter, which stated: “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?”
More than 2 million people responded to the poll with 70.4% saying that Twitter did not adhere to the principle…
“I’m worried about de facto bias in ‘the Twitter algorithm’ having a major effect on public discourse,” Musk continued. “How do we know what’s really happening?” [Source: Daily Wire]
Businessman and billionaire Elon Musk is considering building his own social network, after extensively polling users about their views of Twitter’s heavy censorship. Musk responded, “Am giving serious thought to this” to a tweet about building such a platform that would run an “open source algorithm” that would protect free speech, giving it top priority.
Numerous alternative social networks have been launched in recent years, as established social networks have become more and more tyrannical. Most of them seemingly have failed to make a dent in the reach of giants like Facebook and Twitter. Some of them have become little more than echo chambers for the right. Others, like Trump’s TRUTH Social, seem to have failed to launch, as the social network has not met its “end of March” deadline.
Perhaps a social network by a man like Musk is the key? Someone who is known for critical thinking and is not married to one partisan view. An open-source algorithm would be something anyone can look at—and see if it contained political bias. That kind of social network might actually encourage meaningful conversation, since nobody’s views are being censored or “shadowbanned.”
And with the reach of someone like Elon Musk, such a network might be robust, fun to use, and very popular.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Author: Kit Fargo