Stay, Don’t Run From Social Media

CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, CBS, NBC, TWITTER, FACEBOOK/IG/THREADS, and TIKTOK, are owned and operated by awful men and a few women.

They are bastions of misinformation, hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism, transphobia, anti-democracy, misogyny, and unfiltered porn.

We are the users and some of us pay for the privilege of a verified account.

We know why because there are many reasons. To feel important, be seen, sell books, music, ideas, or any number of new-age work from home businesses, multi-level marketing, or to dubiously make money on how cute one’s kids are.

We are on social media because we have community, family, friends, and interests that keep us coming and using the apps. We share, learn, laugh, commensurate, and celebrate. We mourn, we get astonished, and of course we get angry.

We bring fun, humor, and humanity to these apps. And we call out the ugly with regularity because we have to or else it would be even worse than it is now.

Many of us have thought to leave social media, especially when vile men like Elon Musk took over Twitter from the former owner, vile Jack Dorsey.

Elon has gotten worse as a human, racist, transphobic, white nationalists, while his app has devolved into a crapier, more vile, more disgusting social media app.

But our communities keep us there and elsewhere and keeps us doing what we do.

We’ve seen friends leave social media, take breaks, and come back time and again after multiple accounts of theirs have been suspended, or the ugliness was just too much.

We look for each other when we haven’t seen each other. That’s community that Elon, Zuckerberg, Jack, and those mass media networks never quite understand.

The apps don’t make us or make communities, we make them and sustain them.

There was a recent kerfuffle on Spoutible and some users were suspended by the owner Christopher Bouzy in a disagreement over Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s lightening quick retort and takedown of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green.

Crockett’s Bleach Blond Bad Build Butch Body alliterative response went viral went viral, is now in multiple songs, and served the type of quick response takedown women, especially Black women, are known for.

Rep. Crockett retort was in the form of a question to the leader in charge of the committee who didn’t take issue with Marjorie’s direct insult of Crockett but suddenly took umbrage at Crockett defending herself.

Some LGBTQI+ were not happy with the word “Butch” in the alliteration, feeling that it was used as a pejorative. Others in the community pointed out that butch is a descriptor, while still others reminded everyone that butch isn’t just used by white lesbians, but other members of the community, including Black gay folks.

The last group expressed frustration that Rep Crockett’s takedown was being targeted and she was being asked to apologize because white lesbians were centering themselves and drowning out other voices. And this was happening while Marjorie Taylor Green, an avowed white supremacist who supports January 6th insurrectionists, attends white nationalists rallies, who bullies Sandy Hook kids, and who asked for a pardon the day after she was sworn into her job, was ignored even though her insult started the whole mess.

And on Spoutible, many in the community took exception to Christopher Bouzy and after tit-for-tat arguing, he suspended a few accounts. Those suspended accounts returned to Elon’s Twitter to blast Bouzy for failing to protect gay folk.

Black women again pointed out that white women, even allies, always find a way to attack them while defending the worst women and men if those women and men are white.

We know about the entire incident because on social media because the town square is bigger, especially on Twitter and Facebook.

Elon suspended my original Twitter account yet there I am with another account.

Christopher Bouzy started Spoutible to provide an alternative to Twitter after Elon took over. It’s a good, not yet great app, but has better features than Twitter and they’re all free. He is a Black man and he owns it, and that fact doesn’t sit well with everyone.

He and his app has been attacked relentlessly by foreign and domestic bots, bad actors who thrive on Twitter chaos, and by former supporters.

Some of the attacks seem similar to what happens to Democrats and what Black people. The higher standard argument that is really insidious and awful:

“We know Twitter/Elon are awful but you are Black and therefore your app should be perfect and YOU should be perfect.”

Whew.

That standard is odd and misplaced in this age of disinformation, bots, threats to democracy, and an upcoming election.

Facebook has 3 billion users and the app allowed Russia to target Black people in 2016 and 2020, and I still go there to connect with family, advertise my books, and check in on friends. Three billion other people do it as well.

Elon Musk allows Twitter to spam porn, excuses racist attacks, and lets homophobia run rampant. Racism and Antisemitism are off the rails on Twitter. And yet.. there are 619 million users.. we are all are there.

Spoutible has about 240k users. The size difference matters because one owner cares about democracy and the other owners… do not.

In America Black folk know we work for, with, and exist with are often capital R racists because that is who and what this nation is.

Hiding doesn’t work.

I recently tweeted how Trump is again advertising on Twitter, even though he created Truth Social after Twitter banned him.

You go where the users are — Facebook, Twitter, Threads, Spoutible, Spill, Instagram, Tiktok are outlets to use and manipulate to push democratic values, books, idea, merchandise, and more.

That is where we need to be.

None of these places are “safe” for whatever triggers us. None of the owners are our friends. None of the bad actors will go away. Especially just months away from election 2024.

Every Tweet, Spout, Thread, Tiktok video, and Facebook post matters.

You will see my stuff on all these apps because a different person sees every post and that person matters in the voting booth.

Elon, Zuckerberg, Tiktok, and Bouzy won’t lose if Trump wins, we will. You and me.

So if Trump will advertise on Twitter or on those other apps, then I will post there, too, with the same energy and frequency.

And you should, too.