28,563,000 or so at the moment. For now the site has a 2015-era Twitter feel, except the culture is slightly different - much more blocking of trolls and less engaging with them. We’ll see if it lasts, but it’s way more interesting than Xitter was at the end.
The malignant bots are out in force on Bluesky, now that the open trolling approach hasn’t worked. At the moment they seem to take two forms:
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Engagement bots, who often start posts with “I disagree” and continue on in fluent sealionese; and
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Blockbots, which are accounts that have no posts or replies but set up blocklists that just throw vast swathes of active users onto them, label them something like “Porn bots” or “MAGA Scum” and encourage the users to block each other.
True: so long as you know that I didn’t say that, either. What I said was:
- using a platform operated by an active fascist does not make you a fascist (though I agree that it’s also not a good choice, and it certainly doesn’t make you anti-fascist).
- avoiding a platform operated by an obvious, active fascist does not mean that you aren’t supporting fascists elsewhere.
It’s a continuum, of course, and I would hope that everyone is doing their best to move their dollars and eyeballs away from fascist-supported spaces, starting with the most obvious. I just don’t think it’s true or helpful to label people as fascists for continuing to use a platform that they’ve been using for a long time.
You are absolutely correct. It’s not being on X that makes one a fascist. It is the support one gives an authoritative dictator that makes one a fascist.
It is also true that if you are still active on X that it is likely because you support an authoritative dictator. If you didn’t support him, you wouldn’t listen to and engage with those who do.
Just so I follow the logic, if I follow Marc Elias, who stays active on X to encourage people to fight back, I’m still supporting a fascist. Even though he doesn’t.
I ask this as someone who killed off his own X account.
I’m a prescriptivist about licorice. If it’s not flavored like anise, it’s inappropriate to call it licorice.
It sounds like this bothers you. Here, calm down with a nice cup of herbal tea.
At this point the only real way most of us can influence stuff is by voting with our feet, our eyeballs.
An important part is fucking of from twitbook, ridiculing Tesla drivers, and steering your shopping away from Amazon.
Make it hurt in the only way they understand.
They only have as much power (or money) as we give them.
Well, to be fair, I did say “likely”.
Not to mention, Mark Elias is on Blusky. If following Marc Elias is what you want to do, you don’t have to put up with all of the racist, xenophobic, homophobic, and other nasty stuff that overwhelms X. Even if you have figured a way to keep all that stuff out of your feed, and state you hate everything Trump stands for, you are still supporting Elon by regularly logging into X.
So, as I stated in the part of my post you edited out,
It’s hard to argue that you support Elon but don’t support an authoritative dictator.
What muddles this is the word “support.”
Twitter users can pay money for stuff: that supports the company, some of which supports Musk.
Twitter users can also pay nothing: their use of the platform still contributes to its overall size, which allows it to raise revenue from advertisers, some of which goes to Musk.
To my mind, espousing fascist views is one level.
Reading what the fascists have to say is another: perhaps you like them, and perhaps you are just trying to know the enemy.
Just using the platform isn’t moving the needle much either way on an individual level, though like voting it’s the aggregate that matters.
Lumping all of these together is not particularly useful, because they have very different effects. I would argue that someone who remains on X but actively works to combat American fascism is doing better than someone who leaves X but otherwise does nothing.
(That said, my spouse finally decided to leave the platform after Musk’s antics yesterday, which I was pleased to hear, and is doing as suggested above and moving over to Bluesky.)
“Liam Nissan” is fun to read over there.
“Liam Nissan” is fun just for watching all the people failing to notice that he is not, in fact, a famous actor. I think he’s now completely on Bluesky.
Meanwhile in Italy…
(That should obviously read “Mussolini’s body”)
This what we’re going with?
‘I only have a Stormfront account because of all the great recipes, I ignore all the bigotry so you can’t can’t say I support a site that promotes bigotry!’
I heard Göring made great Süßspeise. I should sign up.
I’ve seen this GIF elsewhere, Hitler and Musk doing the "Roman salute."
ETA: Some of the comments are mentioning that this GIF keeps getting taken down. My link is to Reddit, and I don’t know if the GIF will be deleted here too; it apparently has been up for six hours.
ETA2: If it’s gone by the time you go to look, it’s showing Hitler and Musk doing the exact same salute, starting with the hand slammed onto the chest.
I am not sure if people are saying those on X are bad? Dan Savage, my favorite weather people, etc?
The suggestion is that any content provider who is not fleeing X now is guilty of actively supporting X.
I personally don’t believe that idea 100%, but maybe 85%.
Elmo’s daughter isn’t buying her dad’s excuses.
Apparently a bunch of subreddits are now banning Twitter links in response to Elmo going full Hitler.
Imagine how much of an asshole you have to be to get banned from New Jersey. 
Great one!
Next thing we know, 4chan will decide that Elmo is too outré for them.