A couple of events happened today which pointed out what a vital utility Twitter is, and the huge hole in my information ecosystem avoiding it is going to cause for me.
First, this morning, in the middle of my 10 a.m. meeting, my phone started blaring a Silver Alert. I mentioned what was going on to my teammates, and opened the link to get more information. Instead of landing on an official website or a press release or even an expanded version of the truncated notification, I was taken to the Twitter profile of CHP - Alerts. Now, thankfully, it’s a Verified account. But under Twitter’s new regime, that may only be available for agencies willing to shell out dozens to hundreds of dollars each year for the privilege of reassuring people that they are who they say they are. What a dangerous path this could lead us down.
Imaging trying to find accurate, timely, credible information during a crisis, like fires, earthquakes, or hurricanes, only to have to navigate the throngs of accounts wealthy enough to pay to play in order to get their information prioritized in front of you before that of a public service agency trying to save your life. Now, I’m under no illusion that a for-profit company — whether it’s publicly traded or not — has a responsibility to help ensure your safety just because you’re a citizen of the world. But we’ve grown as reliant on Twitter for timely updates about public safety as we have for memes and hot takes. Those habits are going to be hard to break. And people may be harmed as we retrain our muscles to lean on other information sources.
The second moment I lamented my loss of The Bird App today was during the SFUSD protest. Did you know that a not insignificant number of San Francisco’s public school teachers and staff have either been underpaid or not paid at all, some for as many as 10 months‽ It’s true, and today, they took to the streets in front of the SFUSD offices to let district officials know that they’ve had enough.
As I joined them in and around the district headquarters, my first inclination was to Tweet out where I was, what I was doing there, and to encourage others to join us. But how? Without Twitter, I felt muzzled. Sure, we made our case, and we got media attention, but without the power of the platform which helped topple authoritarian governments during the Arab Spring, my impact was limited to a sign, my voice, and the stamina of our feet in the picket line.
I know I’ll get used to not being able to share my every idea instantly on the internet, but right now, that’s an uncomfortable feeling. I’m obviously still able to share my thoughts (you’re obviously reading them now), but they lack the immediacy and urgency that I’m used to. This may ultimately be a good thing, as now I have to take a little more time and effort to put these missives together, but blogging is a skill I haven’t used in quite some time. I hope I stick with it. And I hope you’ll stick with me.
No Attention
02 November 2022
Sign o’ the times.
A couple of events happened today which pointed out what a vital utility Twitter is, and the huge hole in my information ecosystem avoiding it is going to cause for me.
First, this morning, in the middle of my 10 a.m. meeting, my phone started blaring a Silver Alert. I mentioned what was going on to my teammates, and opened the link to get more information. Instead of landing on an official website or a press release or even an expanded version of the truncated notification, I was taken to the Twitter profile of CHP - Alerts. Now, thankfully, it’s a Verified account. But under Twitter’s new regime, that may only be available for agencies willing to shell out dozens to hundreds of dollars each year for the privilege of reassuring people that they are who they say they are. What a dangerous path this could lead us down.
Imaging trying to find accurate, timely, credible information during a crisis, like fires, earthquakes, or hurricanes, only to have to navigate the throngs of accounts wealthy enough to pay to play in order to get their information prioritized in front of you before that of a public service agency trying to save your life. Now, I’m under no illusion that a for-profit company — whether it’s publicly traded or not — has a responsibility to help ensure your safety just because you’re a citizen of the world. But we’ve grown as reliant on Twitter for timely updates about public safety as we have for memes and hot takes. Those habits are going to be hard to break. And people may be harmed as we retrain our muscles to lean on other information sources.
The second moment I lamented my loss of The Bird App today was during the SFUSD protest. Did you know that a not insignificant number of San Francisco’s public school teachers and staff have either been underpaid or not paid at all, some for as many as 10 months‽ It’s true, and today, they took to the streets in front of the SFUSD offices to let district officials know that they’ve had enough.
As I joined them in and around the district headquarters, my first inclination was to Tweet out where I was, what I was doing there, and to encourage others to join us. But how? Without Twitter, I felt muzzled. Sure, we made our case, and we got media attention, but without the power of the platform which helped topple authoritarian governments during the Arab Spring, my impact was limited to a sign, my voice, and the stamina of our feet in the picket line.
I know I’ll get used to not being able to share my every idea instantly on the internet, but right now, that’s an uncomfortable feeling. I’m obviously still able to share my thoughts (you’re obviously reading them now), but they lack the immediacy and urgency that I’m used to. This may ultimately be a good thing, as now I have to take a little more time and effort to put these missives together, but blogging is a skill I haven’t used in quite some time. I hope I stick with it. And I hope you’ll stick with me.
See you tomorrow?