It’s been just over one month since Twitter Spaces was rolled out to all users across the board and, surprise, surprise! It’s being used as a font of misinformation and supremacist rhetoric.
A journalist from Logically, named W.F. Thomas has two Twitter accounts. One is a basic account, used for everyday discourse and following the typical day-to-day social media hubbub. The other, however, is a bit more interesting, at least in terms of functionality. W.F. Thomas has a separate account that acts as a sock-puppet imitating a member sharing the far-right philosophy that the Twitter userbase encounters far too often online. Honestly, it’s like 4Chan users decided to take a break and then head off to the first microblogging platform they could think of. Then again, it’s not like microblogging social media site is the most competitive of marketplaces in the first place, right? At any rate, what W.F. Thomas ended up encountering were far-too-numerous instances of the new Spaces feature being utilized as a medium for disseminating factually wrong, and often racist, information.
So, let’s take a step back: what even is Spaces? Well, it’s a new feature introduced to Twitter, having been announced all the way back in 2020. Spaces acts as an alternative to the social media site Clubhouse, where users can essentially build audio-rooms. Think of it as a members-only live podcast situation. Discussions can be held between users on relevant topics, while a limited number of users can attend. My, my, a podcast equivalent for Twitter? Seeing as podcasts have disseminated absolutely no amount of misinformation on YouTube, or contributed to the prevalent far-right rhetoric online, this could only be a good decision, right?
If you as a user have never encountered just how toxic online podcasts are, congratulations! Everyone else, however, has definitely caught on to exactly what route Twitter Spaces ended up taking. Mr. Thomas recorded several instances of online discourse through the new feature, with hideous and disgusting topic headlines discrediting people of color, or actively denouncing members of the LGBTQ+ community for playing make-believe. It’s a horrendous example of what people will do with the best of what’s provided. The fact that we have online live audio rooms so easily available should be cause for celebration and respectful discourse. Instead, we have middle-aged white people in their 30’s, with too much free time on their hands, discussing their favorite COVID-19 theories.
I feel like the fault sort of lies on my shoulders for even attempting to expect something different from the Twitter community.
H/T: Logically / TWP.
Read next: Twitter releases its most trending topics and tweets as the year ends
A journalist from Logically, named W.F. Thomas has two Twitter accounts. One is a basic account, used for everyday discourse and following the typical day-to-day social media hubbub. The other, however, is a bit more interesting, at least in terms of functionality. W.F. Thomas has a separate account that acts as a sock-puppet imitating a member sharing the far-right philosophy that the Twitter userbase encounters far too often online. Honestly, it’s like 4Chan users decided to take a break and then head off to the first microblogging platform they could think of. Then again, it’s not like microblogging social media site is the most competitive of marketplaces in the first place, right? At any rate, what W.F. Thomas ended up encountering were far-too-numerous instances of the new Spaces feature being utilized as a medium for disseminating factually wrong, and often racist, information.
So, let’s take a step back: what even is Spaces? Well, it’s a new feature introduced to Twitter, having been announced all the way back in 2020. Spaces acts as an alternative to the social media site Clubhouse, where users can essentially build audio-rooms. Think of it as a members-only live podcast situation. Discussions can be held between users on relevant topics, while a limited number of users can attend. My, my, a podcast equivalent for Twitter? Seeing as podcasts have disseminated absolutely no amount of misinformation on YouTube, or contributed to the prevalent far-right rhetoric online, this could only be a good decision, right?
If you as a user have never encountered just how toxic online podcasts are, congratulations! Everyone else, however, has definitely caught on to exactly what route Twitter Spaces ended up taking. Mr. Thomas recorded several instances of online discourse through the new feature, with hideous and disgusting topic headlines discrediting people of color, or actively denouncing members of the LGBTQ+ community for playing make-believe. It’s a horrendous example of what people will do with the best of what’s provided. The fact that we have online live audio rooms so easily available should be cause for celebration and respectful discourse. Instead, we have middle-aged white people in their 30’s, with too much free time on their hands, discussing their favorite COVID-19 theories.
I feel like the fault sort of lies on my shoulders for even attempting to expect something different from the Twitter community.
H/T: Logically / TWP.
Read next: Twitter releases its most trending topics and tweets as the year ends