A Closer Look at the Insanity of Truth Social…
By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart
As I sit in my Kailyard I wonder often about the future.
It is often said that something which makes an unwelcome comeback turns up like a bad penny. Originally it came from the idea that some coins were counterfeit, false, fake even, and no matter how much you tried to get rid of them, they would reappear. Nowadays it is often used in a mocking and humorous manner – for the more serious, we have much stronger insults at our disposal.
And, we also have much stronger idiots with which to deal.
Truth Social, if it ever gets beyond the conspiracy that it is about to launch and make its presence felt shall no doubt be a media hit amongst certain sectors of the public – they are often demonstrated by a call to do research followed swiftly by an inability to demonstrate a rudimentary understanding of what research may be.
Truth Social’s sole purpose is to bypass the mainstream media and “big tech” which is out there trying to do a job. The mainstream media does not have any kind of 100% fool proof guarantee of the truth. It also does not always manage to show itself in a positive light at times. The emergence of what are called citizen journalists or people online working to expose truth has been a huge positive in terms of finding the veracity of certain situations: in short, they have found truth on our behalf.
There are some, however, who have sent mobs to New York Pizza Parlors because they have not got a handle on the truth or painted signs on the sides of house to expose pedophiles when they cannot tell the difference between a pedophile – a danger to children – and a pediatrician – a doctor for children…
Democracy does not equal mob rule. It should protect and encourage minorities and not pillory or confound them. We should have expressions of freedom but couched in a way where we encourage debate and not shouting, one at the other.
Twitter and Facebook have a checkered history in working on the ideals of democracy. Often their profit motive is central to their creed and the responsibility of ensuring what they have on their platforms is real and not imagined is something they leave to others. They do not see themselves as censors, but nobody ever asked them to be. They were asked to be responsible and show some kind of decency. They fell short time and again.
The problem may be that they have left a vacuum.
I am unsure of who Truth Social shall build permanency with. I have little doubt of with whom it shall build its presence. The conspiracists and the fawning milieu of people that love the Truth Social’s backer and social commentator in chief – Donald J Trump. It is an unsavory bunch of whom it ought to be said, if you are a member of their target audience, then you are unlikely to have read anything critical of it.
This is not because you cannot read – far from it.
The fact is that many who supported and still support Trump read voraciously. Unfortunately, it is in an echo chamber. Truth Social is likely to preach to a converted group who will continue to send each other messages of validation and not criticism. We are seeing an increasing number of people who settle on sources of news and influence and do not shift from there. Seeking what is likely to be the truth has become, for some, an entrenched position.
It’s an uncomfortable one for anyone who believes in democracy.
Why? Because dissent and disagreement ought to be encouraged. Getting out of the echo chamber of hearing your own views sent back to you is a healthy way of challenging yourself and making the whole debate more wholesome, vigorous and likely to hit upon the truth. My views over the last ten minutes have changed. My views over the rest of my life ought to too.
The platform being prepared for social media is not however about the Truth, it is about the message. They want people to get the message, stay on message and then spread that message. Donald J Trump is a political master of that. The worry is that people do not see that and what shall happen is they continue to not do that very thing they want others to do – do their own research.
And therein is the true threat to democracy – ignorance. Donald J Trump needs yours, are you going to oblige or are you gonna… do your own…
A view from the new Kailyard or, how you look over there, from over here…
(kailyard n. a genre of sentimental Scottish literature turned into effective invective comment from one Donald worth reading…)
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