It's Working -- Twitter Gets Crushed on Poor Ad Revenue

Twitter's earnings report was a mountain of suck. Americans are getting sick of being herded into smaller and smaller echo chambers and are leaving the platform.

Good. This is a company that epitomizes what is wrong with both our culture and our business environment. Twitter is partly owned by the most repressive and disgusting regime on the planet, Saudi Arabia, and it's programmatic squelching of views anathema to the social and political goals of its leadership will ultimately be the source of its demise.

True Net Neutrality

While I respect their right to control the information that flows across their network I also think it's a stupid business decision. Twitter should be neutral. So should Facebook and Reddit.

But, they aren't. They aren't because they are operated by children who want to punish you for wrongthink. They have made it abundantly clear that they do not want people like me on their service having any kind of business potential. So, I'm happy to only use them to bring people to Steemit.

Because, Steemit is the future of social communication and Twitter is built on a model that will die simply because people will choose to avoid being punished if they have an alternative. And it is incumbent on all of us to help them find a better solution to their communication needs.

They aren't neutral because they are ultimately would-be oligarchs who preach tolerance only insofar as they have defined it. As an anarcho-capitalist again, I respect their wish to stick to their convictions and if they can reconcile banning people for mild confrontations while Salafists post videos of themselves chopping off heads (linked from Social Justice Giant You Tube) that more power to them.

Don't Whine, Steem on

I finally had enough of Twitter once I found Steemit. There was no argument which was the platform that served me as opposed to served them. I still use Periscope for live streaming but only under duress. It became obvious that both companies believe my audience should only be a certain size.

And that audience shrinks with every broadcast. I'll move to You Tube Live knowing it's not a solution to the problem but a stop-gap until a block-chain version becomes a reality. Then I'll back it with my full weight.

Oligarchs and rent-seekers like Zuckerberg and Dorsey (and his Saudi benefactors) believe in barriers to competition. In this case, it is in the realm of ideas. Why Steem is so brilliant is that it bypasses the barrier erectors, including their government good squads, and puts content creators truly in command of their destiny.

Be Interesting, or Be Ignored

This is my first rule of the internet. You have to embrace it or you will fail to matter to anyone. The free market is a tough place to make money. You have to earn your customers' loyalty. I've done that do a small extent here on Steem and I'm grateful for every upvote, no matter how small the reward.

It tells me I'm on the right path and in the right community. Twitter isn't interested in craft. It's interested in snark and one-upsmanship. While that may be fun it's ultimately hollow. The failure of people like Jon Stewart is that comedy without pain isn't resonant. You're not a truth-teller, you're a sock-puppet.

I'd rather be a failed Truth-Seeker than a successful Sock-Puppet. That doesn't mean I won't gloat a little (or a lot) dancing on Twitter's grave.