I encourage you to read Android Supercomputer, my Christmas post a year ago – and check out my updated Twitter profile to get a feel for where this post is going to and coming from.
My social media conversation – officially dating back to the Obama Administration – with the @WhiteHouse via the ubiquitous @CIA (and thus hopefully @PulitzerPrizes too) happily bore fruit thanks to many factors – the recent flow of users leaving Twitter amongst them. Try this article from TechCrunch “What’s A Twitter User To Do” for more on the current situation for Tweeters.
Until recently, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were my go-to social networks (from 2016 when I first invested in an android smartphone until a short while ago) and now I’m not as restricted in my options. Thanks also to the general freedom of information on the Internet and articles such as this from Alternativeto that help the weary online traveller on their journey.
I joined Gab Social in March 2019 and MeWe in August 2020. I also joined the now defunct pluspora at a similar time as a #googleplusrefugee and am sad to see that it disappeared earlier this year – although diaspora* continues. That said, I’m no stranger to the #freedomofspeech problems that arise wherever you go online (what I hesitantly rebrand as #freetospeak) And the problem with sites meeting their sorry end as Google Plus did in March 2019 – and the possible demise Twitter faces currently. You can see my Gab better in that light Internet Users!
I’m happy to say there’s now more realistic “room to breathe” (a term Biden used in tweets a few days ago although in a completely different context) when faced with online “megaliths” like Facebook… And the recent Twitter user exodus has gotten the world trying possible alternatives to Meta products and Twitter itself where it wasn’t before @ElonMusk’s October takeover of “The Bird” of the open web. A move he supposedly made with the best of intentions – to free the bird etc. And I must say to the best of my knowledge he seems like a likeable, honest and reasonable gentleman (when compared with many of his peers at the top of the socio-economic pyramid) – something I will probably draw many reactions for saying! But I must expound Musk – Elon Musk owned Twitter is the major reason for my change of heart about Elon the gent! He’s gifted me with a stronger voice in tech generally than I have ever had – a priceless debt I will find hard to repay. Take note Silicon Valley – Intel, AMD et al.
I hope this screenshot from my phone (see image above) provides an open and transparent view of recent changes (and age old problems) on the social media scene. And hopefully a realistic view too! Don’t shoot the messenger Internet users – the darknet doesn’t look pretty in comparison – however we welcome any news on the subject. Decentralized networks like diaspora*, Mastodon and Minds no doubt play an important role in the future of life online.
It would all be a lot simpler to just call Twitter the Elephant Bird, hey Mastodon? Or vice versa Twitter…my rule of thumb: always be weary of an elephant even if you see it on the Internet (Evernote?) – a good lesson Africa has left me with. Let me leave you with that thought good people.
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A footnote or rather postscript Pulitzer Prizes: I’ve just had the pleasure of reading my own book – Sunwhere in Africa (co-authored with Speak-a-little-French) available on Amazon – and am very happy to report that it states the facts correctly on first review. And it very much deserves wider attention on so many fronts – subsequent events – Covid-19/coronavirus and the Russia-Ukraine War – chief among them. I’m reading history very differently as a result of having an invaluable insight into my personal and now historical hell – starting from September 11 2010. Pulitzer Prize Winning journalism Twitter? A virtual cup of tea Internet? Milk or sugar darknet? Tea with the Queen – one lump or two Post-Brexit England? RIP QEII. Somewhere in Africa Donald J. Trump. Coffee on me White House at Big Tree Harare!
Regards from the Ukraine Refuge (previously Kremlin) at Big Tree Harare and with the hopes of a peaceful resolution to the world’s pressing problems, left, right and centrist, Mr. President Joe Biden. Sincerely, Sir.
All the best for the festive season Africa, America and Planet Earth! Catch you all on the social media of your choice folks.
@jnwakeling
#jnwakeling
https://jnwakeling.com