‘on balance’
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I have never used, and never will use Twitter.
However, unlike some others who have posted, I am concerned about the proliferation of fake and malicious content on Twitter and other social media platforms. I have no idea of whether Twitter will be more or less ‘guilty’ in this respect under the ownership of Musk, but I think that we all have a right to be worried!
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Never is a long time.
I saw a report a while back that looked at the time it took British banks to respond to requests for help from a customer with a problem. I don’t recall the exact numbers they quoted but for most banks it was something like:
A letter usually got an answer in one to three weeks.
An email usually got an answer within one to three days.
A tweet (ie on Twitter) usually got an answer within a few minutes, except for a couple of banks which at the time hadn’t yet woken up to Twitter.
So why wouldn’t you use Twitter if you have a problem you want solved?
Sums up all that is wrong with social media. Companies having to pander to the shrill chorus rather than dealing properly with customer service issues. Frankly we’d be better off without it. Don’t see why I should sell my soul (data) to one company in order to get a response from another…
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Up to you obviously. But most of us make technology work for us rather than turning our back to it.
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I am worried about the effect of SM on societies.
I know very little about Musk.
I have no idea:
- whether he will do what he says.
- what his policies as a whole (esp. as regards content moderation) will bring about.
Musk has been abundantly clear that, as a ‘free speech absolutist’, he wants to reduce moderation rather than add to it. The Republicans for one are delighted with this turn of events and my view is that we should be very worried. Twitter is a fantastic tool for disseminating ‘alternative facts’.
Musk is a visionary and very brilliant in many regards but his levels of empathy and interest in the views of others are limited. Not a great surprise given his Aspergers.
Any future regulation will have to imposed from the outside in - as per GDPR - but, given the depth of his pockets, the regulators will have a fight on their hands. One glimmer of hope is that he apparently wants to turn Twitter into a paid for, subscription service. That in itself may depress usage and penetration.
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Different opinions surely?
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That is exactly the problem. ‘Facts’ are routinely subjectively downgraded to ‘opinions’ and then trashed as ‘just opinions.’
It’s the standard M.O. and nothing remotely new but Twitter (and others) can - given sufficient resource and expertise - amplify the message with all the effectiveness of a brace of NAP S1s.
“Alternative facts” was a phrase used by U.S. Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, during a Meet the Press interview on January 22, 2017, in which she defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s false statement about the attendance numbers of Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States"
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Mentioning political parties/individuals is probably skating on thin ice due to forum rules, best avoided or the thread will disappear. Not heard that phrase before.
I guess what needs to be differentiated generally in all forms of media is incorrect/erroneous material which is clearly wrong or cannot be independently verified vs differing opinions which are simply that but not grounded in any statement purporting to be fact.
I think this type of observation is too political to be within forum rules?
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But a good old fashioned telephone call (or the online ‘chat’ facility that most banks offer) will potentially get an answer even more quickly (potential telephone queuing excepted!).
Sometimes, and probably this is the case most of the time. But also often a means of delivering with impunity deliberate and potentially dangerous falsehoods!
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A few years ago the local electricity substation went down, one of the neighbours works in this field.
He told me no point phoning your supplier as people have already flagged it via twitter which is more frequently monitored, it was fixed very promptly.
Then we have the opposite such as people in a waiting room at a hospital complaining on the hospital’s social media about the wait or something else rather than interacting with the reception staff a few meters away who would be better placed to advise them or attempt to correct an issue. Yes, if they have comments to feed back use social media but it’s not always the fastest solution when a human interaction might work better.
Really? It’s not my view - it’s that of a named Republican Senator
However, I do agree that it’s a conversation out of place on a hifi forum so will desist.
While many here would probably be happy to enter into good natured debates of all kinds, the forum rules forbid overt political references/discussion. All too easy so cross that line intentionally or unintentionally, but ultimately just creates work for the moderator.
Best wishes
AC
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In France , as for my bank, which is one of the biggest, you can’t join directly by phone your advisor. Only by mail or by appointment. If you want to join someone just for some general informations on your account, you have to phone to a private line which is well taxed.
Of course it’s for normal people like me. The wealthy clients have very probably someone who can respond directly and very quickly.
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I remember hearing about someone tweeting that he was in the toilet in the second carriage of the 8.37 from Woking to Waterloo and there was no toilet paper. Someone at SW Trains read it and a message was sent to the Guard, who promptly obliged.
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Once more we mourn the passing of the newspaper. Back in the day he could have wiped his bum with the Opinion section.
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Brilliant.
I think my point with the hospital sceanario was that even if someone was monitoring the feed real-time I doubt the twitter comment would have resulted in rapid resolution but might have been helpful later as feedback.