[freebuju]

The moment Twitter finally went mainstream, that was the death knell for "free" speech. Your employer, government agencies, religious & community leaders are all now on Twitter. Self censorship is not obligatory, it is a requirement to use the platform. Same thing to those family Whatsapp groups.

I remember creating a Facebook account in my teenage years, most of my friends used nicknames on the account names. Why? Because the platform was so popular, the chances of your grandma finding your raunchy posts were also high. The same caution should apply to anyone before signing up for a social media account. Your misplaced, misunderstood caption/ viral post will reach your immediate social circles.

Can't turn back the tide of cancel culture. Believe me, you can't win this on a numbers level. You can only hope your ride is less bumpy. And wait for the wave to pick its next victim.

I think it is kind of stupid the whole world now lives on social media. People really do not understand what SM is at all.

[swiley]

Free speech isn't dead, you just need to segregate your online identities.

This has always been true even before the internet.

[tomjen3]

I don't think the family whatsapp groups really fit in here, because by default they contain only things you want with your family. You can also join other groups that are different and have different focuses.

Anyway reddit is as mainstream as the others and they not only permit account names, basically nobody uses their real names. Heck alt accounts are encouraged too.

[pjc50]

Interesting argument because it implies that launching more "free speech" platforms (e.g. Parler) is actually worse for free speech.

Note that twitter still allows pseudonymity that you're talking about.

[freebuju]

You may have misunderstood my argument. My contention is that a mainstream platform and free speech cannot co-exist. You can only choose one of the two options.

About Twitter allowing pseudonyms, it is out of the scope in this context as you cannot cancel a faceless person.

Am pro-free speech as I truly believe this was the original intention of the www and the communities that formed it. If the answer to this return in ideology is in more "free speech" platforms, then am personally more-than-ready to embrace the idea. No one should be policed in or victimized for sharing their opinions on the internet. I find it is so backward and cringy.