I have some questions for Twitter
Lead Summary
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By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist
We owe Elon Musk a debt of gratitude for the exposure of the malfeasance of the actions of the former Twitter management group, various government agencies such as the FBI and CIA, the Democratic Party, liberals and possibly the mainstream media.
This makes Richard Nixon look like a choir boy. Hopefully, appropriate investigations will be conducted, and the perpetrators held accountable.
It will take years to sort through all this mess, bring it to a just conclusion and establish safeguards to prevent it from happening again, not only at Twitter but at popup clones.
This revelation spawns more questions, however. It is obvious that Twitter and others like it have an outsized impact on the public discourse. What else have it and its lookalikes influenced or silenced in a similar way?
• COVID-19, its causes and its cures? Recent testimony from Dr. Fauci has indicated that all has not been forthcoming in this area. What has been suppressed that we should know in order to make accurate, informed decisions for ourselves and our loved ones? Was Twitter complicit in this?
• The accuracy of climate change data. We certainly know that much has been suppressed. We know, for instance, that Dr. Judith Curry was essentially run off the campus at Georgia Tech in 2017 because of her climate change views that did not fit the mainstream narrative. What else is going on here and what is the role companies like Twitter have played in this?
• The “woke” movement. What has been suppressed, or on the other side, promoted, regarding the “woke” movement in order to push this issue forward in the public narrative? How did Twitter help in this suppression?
• Then there is Antifa, the 1619 Project and a myriad of other narratives on the front burner of the public conscious. What’s been done to promote them and suppress counter views using Twitter and similar technologies.
The political revelations are serious in and of themselves. But what else in the public conscious is being molded and shaped by the likes of Twitter? It goes deeper than just Twitter, too.
You may not have a Twitter account nor ever heard of Twitter until you read this column (doubtful), but Twitter and things like Twitter are no doubt major influencers in today’s culture. You don’t have to have an account to be influenced by this.
Musk has revealed another great secret, too. As Tucker Carlson was reporting on Friday, Dec. 9, “Musk has fired 80 percent of the staff and Twitter is functioning just fine (an approximate, not direct quote).”
This raises the question of how bloated are these modern software behemoths? How much are we overpaying for services from the likes of Apple and Microsoft due to their likely bloated staffs? How many other technologies could be released for our benefit if these bloated staffs were released as Musk has released his to go elsewhere and be real contributors to society?
Perhaps some boards of directors and some management teams will awaken and “right size” their organizations for the sake of competitiveness. It is very clear we are overpaying for their services.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.
HCP columnist
We owe Elon Musk a debt of gratitude for the exposure of the malfeasance of the actions of the former Twitter management group, various government agencies such as the FBI and CIA, the Democratic Party, liberals and possibly the mainstream media.
This makes Richard Nixon look like a choir boy. Hopefully, appropriate investigations will be conducted, and the perpetrators held accountable.
It will take years to sort through all this mess, bring it to a just conclusion and establish safeguards to prevent it from happening again, not only at Twitter but at popup clones.
This revelation spawns more questions, however. It is obvious that Twitter and others like it have an outsized impact on the public discourse. What else have it and its lookalikes influenced or silenced in a similar way?
• COVID-19, its causes and its cures? Recent testimony from Dr. Fauci has indicated that all has not been forthcoming in this area. What has been suppressed that we should know in order to make accurate, informed decisions for ourselves and our loved ones? Was Twitter complicit in this?
• The accuracy of climate change data. We certainly know that much has been suppressed. We know, for instance, that Dr. Judith Curry was essentially run off the campus at Georgia Tech in 2017 because of her climate change views that did not fit the mainstream narrative. What else is going on here and what is the role companies like Twitter have played in this?
• The “woke” movement. What has been suppressed, or on the other side, promoted, regarding the “woke” movement in order to push this issue forward in the public narrative? How did Twitter help in this suppression?
• Then there is Antifa, the 1619 Project and a myriad of other narratives on the front burner of the public conscious. What’s been done to promote them and suppress counter views using Twitter and similar technologies.
The political revelations are serious in and of themselves. But what else in the public conscious is being molded and shaped by the likes of Twitter? It goes deeper than just Twitter, too.
You may not have a Twitter account nor ever heard of Twitter until you read this column (doubtful), but Twitter and things like Twitter are no doubt major influencers in today’s culture. You don’t have to have an account to be influenced by this.
Musk has revealed another great secret, too. As Tucker Carlson was reporting on Friday, Dec. 9, “Musk has fired 80 percent of the staff and Twitter is functioning just fine (an approximate, not direct quote).”
This raises the question of how bloated are these modern software behemoths? How much are we overpaying for services from the likes of Apple and Microsoft due to their likely bloated staffs? How many other technologies could be released for our benefit if these bloated staffs were released as Musk has released his to go elsewhere and be real contributors to society?
Perhaps some boards of directors and some management teams will awaken and “right size” their organizations for the sake of competitiveness. It is very clear we are overpaying for their services.
Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.