I think Twitter does have that power, but not in a way that Twitter or Twitter users understand. Most people aren't on Twitter and don't get their news directly from Twitter. And people who are on Twitter and who follow politics on Twitter tend to already be hyper-partisan, unlikely to change their minds in response to tweets. The majority still get most of their news from traditional news media. What's really been changed by Twitter is how the traditional news media is produced. Journalists themselves are very active on Twitter and report tweets as if they were news. So Twitter ends up filtering down to the public anyway, even if most of the public isn't on the platform.
As a result of this, Twitter's changes won't have much effect. It still all depends on whether journalists are reporting tweets to the public, and which tweets. Even if tweets get censored by Twitter, ironically that in itself becomes "newsworthy", and journalists spread the censored tweets.
Politicians love Twitter because it allows them to say whatever they want, without having pesky reporters ask them unpleasant questions. And the reporters nonetheless report these unfiltered messages (often lies) to the public. It's basically free press, free advertising. A politician doesn't have to be invited onto a news program, they can just make "news" whenever they want, in convenient soundbites.
The ultimate danger of Twitter to society is that journalists can't resist the temptation of reporting tweets as news. Of course this is a failing of journalists, not Twitter, but Twitter is giving these people a global public unfiltered platform they wouldn't otherwise have.
It's a myth that twitter drives news. Before Twitter we had "man on the street". Journos write the story first and then cherry pick the quotes they want.
As a result of this, Twitter's changes won't have much effect. It still all depends on whether journalists are reporting tweets to the public, and which tweets. Even if tweets get censored by Twitter, ironically that in itself becomes "newsworthy", and journalists spread the censored tweets.
Politicians love Twitter because it allows them to say whatever they want, without having pesky reporters ask them unpleasant questions. And the reporters nonetheless report these unfiltered messages (often lies) to the public. It's basically free press, free advertising. A politician doesn't have to be invited onto a news program, they can just make "news" whenever they want, in convenient soundbites.
The ultimate danger of Twitter to society is that journalists can't resist the temptation of reporting tweets as news. Of course this is a failing of journalists, not Twitter, but Twitter is giving these people a global public unfiltered platform they wouldn't otherwise have.
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