When a business turns on roughly half of its customers, treats them like criminal suspects or seeks to deprive them of their services, can they prosper? The answer is “No.”
Social media is dying, they just don’t know it yet. All the so-called “giants” of Silicon Valley: Twitter, Facebook, and their ilk cannot continue successfully “as is.” In the lead-up to the 2020 election, and certainly in the aftermath of the January 6th Capitol riot, persons and organizations not subscribing to the new orthodox socialist ideology of the American Left have found themselves “de-platformed,” suspended, erased, minimized and banned.
Most famously, of course, is the banning of the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump. But there are many, many others. A policy analyst colleague with a few hundred Twitter followers watched an unexplained and precipitous 20% reduction overnight. They had not posted anything “controversial,” or anything at all in several weeks, but clearly some algorithm had identified the analyst as “one of those people.” Journalist friends from center-right outlets saw tens of thousands evaporate. Colleagues were suspended for reposting something they had said on multiple occasions for a year. No explanations, no remedy, no recourse. Another symptom of the cancel culture syndrome.
Social media’s death knell is not immediately apparent and there appears to be little or no public awareness of the tolling bell. But, as far back as November 2017 there were indications detailed in a CNN Money article that is loaded with irony, and a striking void of self-awareness that verges on satire. If you do not follow the link to read the entire article, then contemplate the following excerpted blurb:
“It is completely misunderstanding the nature and threat of ‘fake news’ to suggest that Facebook and the people behind it, past and present, bear any personal responsibility for what happened in last year’s election,” the former employee said, “and the general state of political discourse in America today.”
Social media is a bit like the just-diagnosed patient with a terminal disease. By outward appearances, they may seem fine, but the clock is ticking, and they know it.
The social media giants are still flush with cash, convinced they are righteous and enlightened, and most of all, are exceedingly arrogant. They believe they will continue to define and influence society – and they may – but only half.
Other social media platforms have surfaced to offer alternatives. Former President Trump is purportedly on the verge of launching his own new social media platform. Like most Internet innovation, there is a “Wild West” air and stream-of-consciousness style to how things have been launched, modified and maintained. There was a day back in living memory when the entire Internet was that way. Today, however, the “respectable, establishment” social media platforms do not like any competition. The nearly consistent claim from established social media companies against their start-up competitors is that they are guilty of some “ism.” Take your pick: racial, ethnic, political, religious, sexual, whatever. Some crime, syndrome, or deplorable belief – some “ism” – is usually attached to any platform other than themselves. The new companies purportedly trade on either hate or phobia.
Read more: Gatestone Institute
