Twitter's Dorsey: I Want to Reduce 'Echo Chambers' by Controlling What you See | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This informational nugget was sent to me by Ben Shapiro, who represents the Daily Wire, and since this is one of the most topical news events, it should be published on BCN.

    In an interview with The Washington Post this week, Twitter head Jack Dorsey talked about the supposed issues facing Twitter. No, not the lack of an edit button, or the inconsistent policing of threatening content: how best to manipulate users' access to information. He explained that he wanted to reduce "echo chambers" on the platform. Dorsey stated, "The most important thing that we can do is we look at the incentives that we're building into our product. Because they do express a point of view of what we want people to do - and I don't think they are correct anymore."

    This sort of "nudging" is a favored tactic among Leftist policy makers. Taking their lead from Cass Sunstein of Harvard Law School, these policy makers seek to utilize the tools of technology to gently prod certain behavior. Change the social environment ever so slightly, and you can manipulate human beings to choose different behavior. Clearly that's what Dorsey thinks he's doing by suspending Alex Jones from the platform - he says that he hopes to change Jones' behavior. This sort of manipulation is often dubbed "libertarian paternalism" - it doesn't force choice, it just inhibits certain kinds of choice.

    In many cases, that's just fine - when a grocery decides to place vegetables and fruits at eye level in order to cause you to take a second look, that's not actually inhibiting choice. But that's not what Twitter does. Twitter is supposed to be a grocery store for viewpoints. And viewpoints aren't like candy and vegetables: which views are worthwhile is almost entirely in the eye of the beholder. It's easy to say that neo-Nazis should be downgraded while Harvard professors are upgraded in terms of reach - but there's no absolute standard, no limiting principle here. Conservatives are deeply suspicious that people on the Left will simply classify them alongside the junk food, while ridiculous Leftist views are promoted as "the stuff that's good for you."

    It's also true that Twitter's tactics for elevating the vegetables aren't quite as libertarian as all that. They make it impossible to find certain accounts unless you search for them; they suspend accounts at whim. This isn't a case of merely placing the candy food away from the supermarket aisles - it's a case of placing the candy away from all display, so you don't even know that the grocery sells it.

    Before Twitter can "make the conversation better," they're going to first need to solve a serious trust problem with their audience. And that problem is only exacerbated by Twitter's newly-stated desire to define our vegetables for us, and then cram them down our throats.
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Louisiana Denies Citibank, Bank of America $600 Million Over Gun Control Push Guest Editorial, Editorials, Op-Ed & Politics Why are the County Commissioners of Beaufort County not spraying for Mosquitoes?


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

Be careful what you wish for, you may get it
America needs to wake up and get its priorities right
Former President Donald Trump suggested this week that if he becomes president again, he might allow Prince Harry to be deported.
It's a New Year, which means it's time to make resolutions — even for prominent evangelical leaders. The Babylon Bee asked the following well-known figures in the faith what they hope to accomplish in 2024:
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic, reportedly the first time a president or vice president has visited an abortion facility.
An eight-mile stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville has been temporarily closed due to a string of “human and bear interactions,” the National Parks Service announced.
University of Wisconsin tried to punish conservatives for the fact that liberals regularly commit crimes to silence opposition
most voters think EU officials not doing a good job on illegal immigration
Come from behind by GOP candidate is a blueprint to 2024

HbAD1

Biden spending and energy policies to blame
Tuberculosis carried by illegal invaders has already infected Texas cattle
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said this week that the only campaign promise President Joe Biden has delivered on as president is the complete dismantling of the U.S. southern border.
Hamas is reeling after losing two of their most cherished leaders on the same day: military commander Saleh al-Arouri, and Harvard President Claudine Gay.
President Joe Biden’s brother told the Internal Revenue Service that Hunter Biden told him he was in business with a “protege of President Xi,” referring to the leader of China, according to notes by an IRS investigator that were divulged during a congressional interview of Jim Biden.
Gov. Roy Cooper seeks a temporary restraining order to block a law changing the composition of the State Board of Elections.
X owner Elon Musk mocked a news segment from ABC News this week that promoted President Joe Biden’s talking points about the Democrat-led Senate’s failed border bill, which critics and many experts have said would make the situation on the border worse.
That’s the question Marguerite Roza of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab sought to answer in a recent webinar on the topic.

HbAD2

The University of Florida has fired all of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employees and shut down its DEI office.
Hot on the heels of its highly publicized television performance on New Year's Eve, the pop-punk band Green Day announced the release of an edgy new album titled Get the Vaccine, Climate Change Is Real, and Trump Is Bad.
Glenn Beck: 'When the United States government can come after individuals, that's when you know our republic is crumbling.'
Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) reportedly blasted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for “stonewalling” details about the illegal immigrant accused of murdering Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia college student.
Financial asset manager BlackRock said in its annual report that environmental, social, and governance policies could hurt its bottom line after Republican state officials cut ties with the company over its ties to China and climate activism.
Daily Wire host Matt Walsh passed away Monday aboard Southwest Airlines Flight WN2208 after the passenger in front of him reclined her seat and crushed him to death, officials announced.
“The Biden administration's plan in the Middle East is to hand over power to the Palestinian Authority, which literally pays the families of terrorists who murder Jews.”
Washington, D.C. — Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. issued the following statement on the latest continuing resolution:

HbAD3

 
Back to Top