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by funcDropShadow 709 days ago
Why do you think it is toxic? Sometimes, I read a tweet or posts on X that I disagree with. Currently, I am missing the ability to express that. On the contrary the status quo of social networks interprets me - reading a post - as a signal to boost its spread, whereas I come to the conclusion it should not be spread.

Twitter and X were often compared to a global town square. Imagine you hear a rumor on a town square, but decide not to spread it. You can just do that in reality. This is practically impossible with most social networks. That leads to the fact that click-bait dominates so many social networks. That is toxic in my opinion.

There is a growing number of people that seem to be uncomfortable with the idea that people might not share their opinion. This is not a sign of extremism of the others, as it is often stated, but a sign of a healthy and diverse pool of opinions. One can agree with a post and disagree, neither is bad per se or even toxic.
2 comments
unsignedint 709 days ago
I think the inherent problem is that it's nearly impossible to have a civil conversation on social media. It's just a terrible place for it. Especially with controversial topics like politics, religion, and AI, it's impossible to discuss anything without people being jerks. Not everyone uses social media to debate; many just want to reaffirm their views and interact with like-minded people. I'm not saying that's without issues, but that's the reality. People can already mute or block others, so a dislike button would just be another tool in their toolbox.
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andrewstuart 709 days ago
>>> Sometimes, I read a tweet or posts on X that I disagree with. Currently, I am missing the ability to express that.

Errrrr..... you must have missed the "reply" button. The entirety of everything, every conversation on Twitter is people disagreeing with other people.

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core_dumped 709 days ago
Yeah but he misses the ability to express it to the algorithm. Commenting on a post you disagree with invariably boosts its rankings, replying to a person you disagree gives them more visibility. It would be nice if the rankings system could understand dissent
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funcDropShadow 706 days ago
That is what I meant.
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