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Social Media Alternatives for Conservatives
So this may be a topic that is already addressed somewhere on Ricochet, but I am new here and still trying to find my way around. I found Ricochet while searching for social media platforms for conservatives. I’m shocked by the lack of alternatives given the hostile treatment we get on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
Is it that difficult to collect resources and technological expertise for a platform to upload videos (serious question, not rhetorical)? If anyone is aware of good alternatives please list them in a comment. As I am aware:
- Ricochet is a close match to a social media platform
- CRTV is doing a good job providing media content, but it does not allow general users to upload content
- Gab.ai is a Twitter alternative
- Others???
Given the current social media environment for conservative ideas, creating alternatives to the leftist giants should be a top priority for conservative/libertarian movers and shakers. If our voices cannot be heard then our ideas cannot be shared. If our ideas cannot be shared then we will lose the next generation of Americans and with them our liberties.
Published in General
Uhh, not quite. The trick isn’t merely to monetize, but to profit. More importantly, profit enough to continue doing the never-ending work of maintaining said code. There are millions of websites out there that have failed to meet this threshold.
I’ve never understood what the appeal of these commenting services were supposed to be anyway. Comments are either worthwhile or worthless; if they worthwhile it’s not hard to spare some rows for them in your database. If they’re worthless, why integrate some third party thing to handle it for you when you can waste even less effort by simply not having comments?
Unless, the point is to get the user’s Facebook data automatically without making the end user give it to you. Which is, is a pretty sweet deal for the website if they sell data or ads, and only provides the end user 2 to 5 minutes of saved time.
Assorted thoughts:
1.) lo though he annoys me, I think Scott Alexander has approximately the correct analysis here: Neutral vs. Conservative.
2.) Network effects are real, they are powerful, and they are hard to control. Facebook’s power doesn’t come from what it offers the user, it comes from what it offers the users. You aren’t on facebook because of anything you are or do. You are on facebook because your friends are on facebook, your family, your photos… Transferring that, even if it were possible, would be pointless if very few of your friends transferred to.
3.) While Zuckerburg and the other tech moguls may be pushing their agenda a little harder than they used to (and I remind people I’ve been referring to Silicon Valley as the Techno-Fascist Union for a decade or more), the actual damage is coming from the users. If the users considered the steps the tech companies are taking to be problems, then they would stop using the networks. But the truth is that most of them don’t care about guns, or conservative politics, or free speech in the abstract. And maybe they have that obnoxious niece who periodically posts that Bernie Would Have Won meme, but in the main they are satisfied with the service allowing them to see their friends and family and post photos and simply don’t notice the walls closing in. And even if they did, it is affecting those other people.
4.) Congratulations, welcome to the experience of a political minority. After we appreciate the irony and re-evaluate our opinions regarding post 1970 black civil rights activists, we still find ourselves in the same position: that withdrawing into our own institutions just makes us pawns of other players (cf: the omnibus spending bill), but that direct engagement with the larger culture is futile.
5.)
That is exactly the point. I wasn’t aware this was obscure -but James Pethokoukis is making the same fundamental error, so apparently it is. The idea that Facebook or Google would ever let you take your network to a competitor is laughable. That’s their business. That’s like letting Kenner manufacture Barbie.
There’s actually a lot more to Ricochet than just politics all the time. There are in fact conversations here about music, prayer requests, and just about anything else you can think of. Poke around a bit on the member feed, find some people to follow, join some of the groups, or just start a conversation on any topic that interests you.
The two conservative-friendly twitter alternatives that I am aware of are:
http://gab.ai
http://gadsen.net
I think that the argument that twitter is what everyone uses is only valid until the banning of conservatives reaches a tipping point.
Yep Scott Alexander is the one who changed my mind on this issue.
I don’t know that it’s an argument, so much as just understanding what Twitter/Facebook/Instagram have that an alternative site will not have.
But you’re right. If the big social media are stupid enough to refuse service to enough people, “everybody” will no longer be there. I’m not sure things are going to happen that way.
minds.com probably has the lowest population of actual nazis on the alternative platforms.
I recently heard about PARLER (pronounced “par-lay”) & signed up. Read about them at politico & Washington Examiner. Apparently Trump campaign folks are giving it a look. On Twitter they are #Parler but complaints are already rolling in to ban them for being pro-Trump.
The latest bans on twitter include Nick Monroe (human events) one of the most interesting conservative news aggregators. His ban might be permanent. James Wood is still banned along with several others. So I am scouting for other sites that don’t ban individuals I find knowledgeable & worth reading.