Read on Twitter
1/ Part of DJT& #39;s power is he can mobilize many thousands of pseudonymous @Twitter accounts - people afraid to associate their real name w/ their publicly espoused views, along w/ trolls & bots - to amplify conspiracies w/ little to no real world accountability. @karaswisher @jack https://twitter.com/karaswisher/status/1265273224109142017">https://twitter.com/karaswish...
2/ There is a reason traditional newspapers (nearly always) would not accept anonymous letters to the editor - when you remove real world accountability from your views; when you can& #39;t be embarrassed amongst your family & co-workers, people can & will just let the crazy fly.
3/ I am a (very very small) $TWTR shareholder & get that the total number of accounts, & total monthly actives, are key measures. Addressing the scourge of pseudonymity, trolls, & bots would hurt those metrics for sure. But the result might be more civil AND more monetizable.
4/ I have see folks like @balajis & @hunterwalk make the case for pseudonymous accounts. There are some valid reasons (whistleblowers, dissidents, etc.) for pseudonymous accounts. But they should be exception, not the rule.
5/ Here& #39;s my @Twitter reform idea: the opposite of a blue check. It& #39;s the "red warning" mark that are put to accounts on Twitter, using a combination of A/I & human inspection, that appear to be pseudonymous.
6/ There would now be 3 tiers: the blue check elite, a middle tier of "regular folks" w/ some evidence of a connection to a real life person/org, and the "red warnings". Critically, that middle tier would be able to filter out tweets, RTs, & likes from the 3rd "red warning" tier.
7/ Ultimate reform I think is to "blue check" everyone, which would also address the issue of the stratified discourse/network the "blue check" creates, but in absence of the will/time to do that level of inspection on all accounts, at least flag the obvious pseudonymous accounts
8/ An additional step could be to introduce a "pseudonymous on request" appeal process whereby owners of pseudonymous account could present to Twitter (w/o disclosing any more info than required to open an account) a case for removing the "red warning" and replacing it with this:
9/ Loosely related reform: Lifetime ban from Twitter for anyone that buys or sells followers. If you& #39;re so insecure that you need to buy followers for yourself or you org you need serious psychiatric help & probably Twitter is not a place you should spend much if any time.
10/ A clarification on "pseudonymous on request". This would/could be a people intensive process for $TWTR depending on the scrutiny. I do not envision this as a high bar. It& #39;s simply an extra "friction" to discourage pseudonymity as default. https://twitter.com/brooklynrob/status/1265305231849652231">https://twitter.com/brooklynr...
