Conor Friedersdorf

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

So am I correct in sensing that Twitter has changed things to reduce the reach of legacy-verified accounts, compared to pre-Musk days, in hopes of selling subscriptions to increase reach? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@LGray15 @MattWalshBlog He doesn't have a point. Ride a train in Denmark or Spain or Japan or South Korea. Visit a park in Seville or Munich or Gothenburg. All very nice, no petty criminals running rampant, and no draconian laws either. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Last week, I asked Atlantic readers to share their opinions of diversity training and DEI based on their experiences. The first batch of responses is here: https://t.co/MvwU9qQZEv They are striking in the diversity of objections diversity-loving people have to the industry. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Can someone please invite @MattWalshBlog to Switzerland or something? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm I have just made a cogent argument: what Musk tweets and what he does behind the scenes are distinct and don't necessarily align, for better or worse. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm I get the sense that you are unwilling to engage in a different forum and I can't say I blame you. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm You should really stick to the literal text of what I say because every time you stray from it you introduce inaccuracies into our exchange, which has been consumed by me correcting them. To avoid that dynamic I have suggested debating Covid vaccine mandates in a different forum — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm So in your telling it's bullshit to think Musk would Tweet something on his feed and act in a directly contrary way behind the scenes? The claims you make are preposterous because you let your disdain for Musk and your right-side approach to engagement overwhelm — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm Regardless of how much control Musk has exercised over moderation policies––neither of us knows the exact answer––the question of how he Tweets in his feed, on one hand, and what policies he implements behind the scenes, on the other, are distinct, and you are conflating them. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm questions, and I find the way you conflate all manner of questions to be baffling. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm it could be that Musk is less impulsive and chaotic in his Tweets now than in his early days owning the platform, and also that its overall moderation policies are less to your liking, or worse, or having worse downside consequences in the outside world. The two are different — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm Yes, my thought is that, once again, you are conflating different questions as if unable to see the distinction between what I was discussing--Musk's personal behavior on Twitter--and the separate question of how the platform moderates the tweets of all users. So, for example, — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm Then I reiterate my willingness to adjudicate that question in a written back-and-forth in a medium better suited to a constructive exchange than this one. Are you game or not? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm Michael, we have been discussing a comparison of the period immediately after Musk bought Twitter and a more recent period. This article is comparing pre-Musk Twitter with immediately after its purchase. So it's a bit baffling that you would offer it as evidence in our discussion — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm If you'd ever like to adjudicate that in a written back-and-forth in a public forum I am game, though I'm beginning to think we should have a referee to judge when you've imputed views or statements to me I didn't make! — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm but at this point it seems more likely that you'll reply with something about how you can't believe I'd be so dumb as to deny the moon landing. That leaves the matter of mandates for the Covid vaccine and whether opposing them is a discreditable opinion. And I reiterate my offer: — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm "I wasn't a fan of the early Musk era due to both his comportment on the platform and the predictably ill-fated initiatives that seemed to be rolled out impulsively and chaotically." Those were the dimension I was talking about. And you could agree or disagree... — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm And then you changed the matter at hand again to whether Twitter is stupider or more irresponsible now than just after Musk took over. I don't really know what stupider means and I'm not sure about "irresponsible" but as I already clarified for you... https://t.co/srcbBU50DN — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm That is, you put words in my mouth and acted like the contrary was obvious when actually I did not say that and the answer is non obvious! I tried to point out that I had said nothing of the sort... — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm Your response was mystifying both because the amount of hate on the platform is a distinct question from Musk's behavior on it and because neither of us has any idea whether there is more hate now than there was, say, two weeks after Musk's purchase. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm Mystifyingly you replied with the Tweet below, even though neither of us had been talking about the question of whether Twitter has more or less racism or hate or antisemitism now than in the first weeks of Musk's ownership. https://t.co/hcsqfEIAKs — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm Then you asserted that he is stupider and more irresponsible now and I clarified that I was thinking of different dimensions like chaotic and impulsive, and I asked what you found stupider and more irresponsible compared to early on https://t.co/rkjMlxQLcJ — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm Michael, this is getting a bit ridiculous, but let me lay out what is happening in this exchange from my perspective. First, I made a claim: that as I perceived it Musk's engagement on Twitter was very different early on compared to now. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm I'm not opposed to all vaccine mandates, just the ones that proved unjustifiable once the course of the pandemic changed. Are you presuming that opposition to a mandate for any vaccine implies opposition to all vaccines? That does not follow! — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm If you'd like to do a public written back-and-forth on Covid vaccine mandates I'd be happy to take part, but I have to warn you that I have substantive arguments to bring to hear so if all you've got is snide insults best to pass. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm What's wrong with Tweeting against vaccine mandates? Do you regard that as an intolerable position? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm I asked, "What now do you find stupider and more irresponsible than before?" Why don't you just tell us the answer? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm These are the most recent Tweets I've seen. https://t.co/B01NWkRMWC — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm I'd love for you to explain how you got from what I wrote to that characterization, which bears no resemblance the question I asked or any claim implied by it. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@hiltzikm I wasn't a fan of the early Musk era due to both his comportment on the platform and the predictably ill-fated initiatives that seemed to be rolled out impulsively and chaotically. What now do you find stupider and more irresponsible than before? — PolitiTweet.org