Many folks who think they're supporting an issue online are really just taking direction from Twitter's algorithm.

There is an unmistakable stylistic convergence of many different ideologies. What is rewarded is Twitterism.

What is Twitterism? The sick burn, the public feud, the sarcastic meme, the purity test, the hysterical mob.

Some ideologies claim to be for tolerance. Others preach order or moderation. But Twitterism is none of these. And it is what actually happens.

Even if you personally try to resist Twitterism, it doesn't matter. The most sarcastic tweets go viral. It can be 1% of your output but 100% of what the world sees from you.

We do want to surface people's best work. But short-term popularity is not long-term quality.

There are of course very good parts of Twitter. That's why we're here.

But the internet increases variance. It amplifies extreme good and bad.

A critical technical question for this decade is how to build high-pass filters that amplify the good. https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1216451640703815680

See also:

1) @vgr's excellent Internet of Beefs
https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2020/01/16/the-internet-of-beefs/
2) The internet increases variance, but why? https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1216376451076849664
3) Some crypto-based design ideas for new social networks https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1134307657173442560

Twitter is a dispatch mechanism for our attention, in the same way Uber dispatches drivers to riders.

You could imagine very different dispatchers that maximize long-term wealth creation.