In A World of Alternative Facts

I was thinking about Twitter earlier tonight. I know, we're all supposed to call it X, but it will always be Twitter to me (I usually write it Twitter/X these days). I joined it in 2008, at the behest of some of my students. Everybody said it was really influential: a lot of well-known reporters, politicians, broadcasters, and celebrities posted there. And while I didn't spend a lot of time on social media, I agreed that I should probably have a presence there, even just to read the Tweets of people whose work I cared about.

Back then, Twitter was a fascinating place. Yes, it had its share of trolls, but it also had a wide range of folks who just wanted to keep up with what was going on. I met a lot of wonderful people on Twitter: many were Rush fans, many knew me from radio, some had read my books or articles, and some were colleagues (past and present). Now and then, I had to block someone who wanted to argue over politics and decided that calling me names was the way to do it; but 95% of my interactions, even with folks whose political views differed from mine, tended to be friendly and courteous. 

I miss those days. Since the ownership changed in 2022 and Elon changed the name to X, the number of trolls has increased, and the courteous conversations have decreased. I still maintain a presence there, for the same reason that I joined in 2008. Yes, most of the journalists and many other folks I respected, have left, frustrated by how the platform became more open to angry and hateful messaging; but there are still some nice folks there, and I stay to maintain my communication with them. I also think it's important to hear viewpoints that aren't just the ones I agree with.

But staying there isn't always easy, especially when I find myself verbally attacked for having the "wrong" political views. Twitter/X has become the home for folks who are pro-Trump. I am the same center-leftie I always was, and that never used to be a problem; I had some conservative followers and we chatted about the news all the time. We saw things differently sometimes, but we never felt the need to insult each other. These days, however, if I say anything even mildly critical about the president, there are folks who are quick to tell me what a horrible person I am. 

Of course, I'm not the only person to notice that when it comes to social media, we've self-selected into two parallel universes, especially about politics. There are the pro-Trump spaces (like Twitter/X), and the anti-Trump spaces (like Bluesky). And that means two very different realities. For example, in the pro-Trump space, President Trump gave Zelenskyy what was coming to him, since the Ukrainian leader is just an ungrateful moocher and Vladimir Putin is the one who should be admired. But in the anti-Trump space, Mr Trump put on an embarrassing display of rudeness and pettiness, insulted a heroic ally, and made us look bad on the world stage. 

I admit I don't understand why folks on Twitter/X seem convinced that Putin is wonderful, and I'm sure some folks there can't understand why I'm no fan of Donald Trump. But at least the prior version of Twitter/X wasn't so hostile to debate, and fact-checkers weighed in if something was demonstrably false. These days, "alternative facts" are drowning out what's actually true, and this president's relentless (and often undeserved) attacks on journalists have diminished the public trust in actual reporting. And what keeps worrying me is that some folks are fine with that. They no longer seem to care about respecting "the other side"; they don't value dialogue, and they see basic courtesy as weakness. Some folks are fine if we have an autocratic leader who loves to insult his perceived enemies, and who constantly spreads alternative facts. And for those who like that sort of thing, Twitter/X is the sort of thing they like.