UPDATE ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA CHOICES: TWITTER EDITION

There are a couple of personal updates that need to be given before diving headfirst into this topic.

First, I have come across some problems with publishing my book. Like always, I did lots of research on which self-publishing independent publisher to hire. The first publisher turned out to be an internet conman. In the publishing industry, there are lots of fraudulent websites, scam artists, and individuals willing to take advantage of a person’s artistic creation. Luckily, I figured out what was happening to me before submitting my manuscript and losing control over it. This mistake cost me 300 dollars. I moved onto another publisher back in December and as of April, they are SLLLOOOOWWWWLLLLLYYYY finishing the final round of copy editing. This has been incredibly frustrating, but I hope to get a professionally edited book in my hands soon that I can review and then release for publication.

Second, I started a Twitter account back in February and was building up a nice contact list by following some of my favorite people online like Danny Elfman, Michael Malice, Glenn Greenwald, Tom Luongo, Matthew Stafford, etc. There was a part of me that took Elon Musk for his word regarding his passionate restoration of free speech on Twitter. Unfortunately, this “faith” turned out to be misguided mainly for two reasons. First, as the Twitter Files have shown, the US Government can impact the Twitter algorithm at its convenience. Meaning that Twitter has mutated into a fascist entity, a private company that operates under the control of the government. Twitter’s censorship is still active and ongoing throughout the world. Second, Elon Musk is a monopolist. Think about the three most famous companies he has created. They were ideas that had no particular competition at the moment of initiation (PayPal) and the other two require government subsidies or contracts (Space X and Tesla) to be profitable. Recently, Elon Musk decided to shadow ban all links on Twitter to Substack due to that platform’s new feature called Substack Notes which works in similar ways to the Blue Bird. The ban also prevented liking, replying, and retweeting anything from that platform. This has led to an online war between Matt Taibbi who has one of the most popular Substack’s called RACKET NEWS and Elon Musk who hired him to release the Twitter Files. This divorce led to Taibbi leaving the Twitter Files journalism project. To stand in support of the individual journalists on Substack who need Twitter and other social media platforms to feature their work since for many, this is their primary form of income, I deleted my Twitter account yesterday. This is the second time I have done this (I had a Twitter account from 2010-2014 but got bored and deleted it). I am done with this platform. Twitter can fuck off once and for all!

So here is an updated list of what the Expert of Some does not use.

The Facebook Family: (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp)
Amazon
Google (YouTube): I use open-source replacements which can play YouTube videos without the ads or having to log in.
Twitter
TikTok
Pinterest
Apple
LinkedIn (Account is on pause and will likely be deleted soon)

The only major tech company I am linked to is Microsoft due to my family’s requirement of Microsoft Office for work and school plus my own usage of the Xbox platform.

Here are my current social media websites

MeWe
Locals & Rumble (Both owned by Rumble): Username - Mister Blasty
Telegram: Username - @MisterBlasty
Substack

I wanted to use a couple of other platforms for promoting my upcoming book. But there weren’t many options that were appealing. I tried both writer and novel social media platforms GoodReads and WattPad but they just lacked the features I wanted. After investigating, I found a new platform called Counter Social started by a hacker called The Jester. Here is why I am going to remain on this website and start promoting my blog and novel there.

First, they have no algorithms, no advertising, no tracking of any sort. The platform has more options available if you pay for a subscription. The content is also a wonderful check on many of the social media websites that I read. MeWe and Substack are more independent but loaded with individuals and groups of all political leanings that have been expelled from mainstream and social media for rejecting the US government’s narrative by telling the truth. The Rumble Family and Telegram are a little more conservative and libertarian. Counter Social is a proudly liberal website. I don’t want to find myself inside of a “bubble” so meeting new friends on this ideologically opposite website is my new form of self-promotion. The liberals here are still anti-war and have a certain amount of concern for human rights and the Constitution. My biggest problem so far is that their hatred for the “right” appears to have reached genocidal levels. I had this problem on Twitter constantly. Unfortunately, many of these people are filled with a frightening rage. In fighting the right wing, many of these individuals on Counter Social believe that they are fighting Hitler, Mao, and Stalin who now takes the form of the orange man Donald Trump. It is a bizarre delusion and misguided. Also, I find them much more intolerant of opinions they do not support than the individuals I talk with on conservative sites. They flat out reject anything that goes against what they believe. My fascination and interest in trying to understand this mindset is what keeps me on there. So if you want to try it out, please add:

ExpertofSome
to your friends’ list and we can dive into the craziness together.

For now, I will remain with these five social media websites. My intention is to have a medium amount of success promoting my blog and book without using any of the trillion-dollar tech companies. I want to put my money where my mouth is. I am opposed to all forms of censorship, moderation of content, and propaganda. It is time to stop using the platforms that are promoting these ideals.
 
Until next week!