This blogger now has nothing to do with Twitter. This blogger does not endorse Twitter nor radical Islam. This blogger is very happy being a moderate, middle-of-the-road, peacable Christian.
This morning for some unknown reason I accessed my Twitter account and found I was locked out for a few hours. Logging in later, I was instructed that I could not access my account unless I deleted a tweet that referred to Islam as being a blood-dripping, murderous excuse for a religion. Clearly Twitter looks like it's now being run by ISIS sympathizers. This blogger does not endorse censorship of ideas and thoughts. What a world away from September 11, 2001 when people didn't bow and crawl before false Gods.
Consequently, my personal Twitter account is now no longer going to be used. The app has been deleted from my phone, my tablet and my life. That actually set me thinking about social media in general. It seems that on social media sites, accusations can be levied against other users by un-named, faceless accusers and judgements made without any defence being permitted. It's so unlike the current real world where the accused has the right to face the accuser and where both parties are entitled to representation. In many ways it has echoes of the 1940s.
Going further along that line, we have people using alleged social media without realising that nothing is ever free. Twitter, like Facebook are businesses and their business is to sell advertising to people that want to sell you things. Thus, as a consequence you have to ignore a barrage of advertising ranging from the ridiculous to the heinous. It is a rare individual that has not come across adverts for illegal and immoral activities on Facebook, Twitter or other social media. Doing business with Twitter or Facebook really seems to mean doing business with Satan himself.
Look at the kind of users that social media (not just Facebook and Twitter) attract... Pedophiles, terrorists, identity thieves, scammers, conmen, murderers, rapists. How many times have we hear of ISIS using social media as a fertile recruiting ground? How many have not heard of at least one rape, murder or pedophile activity carried out on naive social media users. The Craigslist Killer immediately springs to mind.
Allowing social media into your home is like putting out the welcome mat, turning on the light and inviting inmates from the local prison into your home. I must say that without Facebook and without Twitter, life does not end. Indeed I gave thought to life without the internet.
As many of you know, I use an elderly smartphone. It's a Nexus 4 that I bought new in 2013. I believe this month might well be its 3rd anniversary. While I find it interesting and pleasurable to play with the internet on it, I don't really feel I'd miss much with just an ordinary flip phone. It's not as though people line up to phone me. Indeed if they did, believe me, I wouldn't have that phone for long! Ages ago I moved into a residence where I used DSL and that came with free incoming phone. I plugged a phone in and had non-stop junk calls. After three days, the phone was unplugged and thrown in a box.
Simply, since the Internet is clearly being so radicalised by terrorists etc, is there much point to it anymore? Twitter illustrates my biggest gripe with social media. I had had Twitter for several years and found that it's a medium on which (like Facebook) people like to broadcast their lives both intimate and not but who steadfastly refuse to interact. At its most basic, social media is a wooden soap box that is taken to a favorite corner of the local park upon which one stands and shouts inflated opinions at anybody within earshot. Blogs are just one example. This blog might even be pretty much an example of this.
Did I find Twitter fun? Not really. I used it hoping for some interaction but never got any interaction other than some faceless, nameless accusor. Did I find Facebook fun? Not really - there are people I like to keep up with but with all of them, I'd prefer to keep up with them via emal and instant messenger than via Facebook. Sadly, when I left Facbook in June, most dropped out of contact. Perhaps that says a lot of the worth of social media. It looks to be social but looks are deceiving.
Am I surprised Twitter seems to support radical Islam? Not really. Their workers are most likely outsourced to such basteons of democracy and freedom as Pakistan, Russia, China, India etc. Places where radical Islam is widespread! Given the reports of youngsters being recruited by radical Islam via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc, I'm surprised governments have not stepped in to shut down such operations.
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