Why the Left Won't Leave Ad-verse Social Media

I hadn't realised how much of a social media bore I am; but I read stuff, and being on Mastodon I am subjected to a higher proportion of techie stuff. People on Mastodon are much more likely to be conscious and conscientious of the how corporations harvest personal data – which is why they are on Mastodon I assume.

I wrote some thoughts recently about why the left should move to a decentralised site. Mastodon being the only one I am familiar with, and probably the only one I am capable of figuring out how to use, I nominate it as the left's new home. However I do not think the left will leave the old ad-verse sites and I do not think that is entirely because of complacency, ignorance or scepticism towards anything new. I don't think the left want to leave the ad-verse sites.

This excellent video essay from Angie Speaks tells about the Capitalist trap the left find themselves in and the folly of the left using Capitalist platforms to spread anti-Capitalist messages. And let's face it, she does a better job than I do explaining this shit. She points out how the left often use attention-seeking tricks to gain readers/viewers and how this technique can and will always be hijacked by the disingenuous who simply want to make money, shifting the narrative away from real dissent.

The left are as much part of the right wing political landscape as the corporations who control the information and the shills who work for them. As I mentioned in my previous post Facebore has the largest number of users so it will inevitably attract the most independent bloggers. The bird site also has a large number of established users, so again is a popular place for bloggers to get other users to repost their content.

Fight!

The ad-verse platforms, as with all social media, are attuned to argument and passive-aggression. Many of us like to argue about politics and perhaps social media encourages us to be more of an ass than we would normally be in real life. Angie Speaks points of the arrogance of this phenomenon. Users often argue with an absolute conviction, presenting their ideas as if they are fully formed and well thought out. And this isn't necessarily helpful when aiming to educate and inform.

Maybe the left are more argumentative than the right: the dupes on the right have the entire corporate media to inspire their complacency, so it would not surprise me if most arguments are instigated by the left. I think the so-called left wing aggression is in reality just an expression of incredulity at finding yet another dupe willing to believe and repeat right wing bullshit.

But this lust for argument is another reason why the ad-verse sites will always be the more popular choice and continue to trap the left. If that is where the right wing dupes are found, that is where the left will feel it is their duty to be to offer their counter narrative. Not only that, if there was a left wing exodus from the ad-verse sites, who on the left could sleep easy at night knowing the right wing will have full reign? I cannot imagine the left being capable of walking away their chance to argue their point.

Part of the System

This brings me to the other reason the left won't leave. The left are part of the corporate equation.

I have often read independent bloggers commenting on creating their own news but most left wing bloggers do not do that. They are political news commentators who comment on news that has already been reported by a right wing newspaper that was originally reported by one of the four main news corporations. While what a lot of independent bloggers do is valuable, how much does it compare to an actual news organisations getting to decide which events are newsworthy?

It is clear the voice of the left emerges from the shadows of corporate media who get to choose which stories are the most important. The left get as much bogged down in the latest celebrity or royal bullshit than the right wing press does, and this only works to amplify and legitimise these stories. Meanwhile more important things often go unnoticed.

The left aid the right wing narratives and in a more subtle sense this happens on social media. Bloggers willingly sign up to become unpaid moderators for their own social media accounts on corporate-owned sites. They help make these corporate media giants run their networking sites, creating content for them. They then complain when the algorithms stop working in their favour!

If the left were to shift their focus from the corporate machine, the results could be revolutionary. The narrative could be unadulterated on a decentralised site and the focus could shift to more positive ideas rather than winging about right wing ideas. But I don't think the left will move and they will certainly be reluctant to put their post-reach in jeopardy. So I guess they will stay where they are, where the game is rigged against them.

Over and out for now, guys!

xxx