Every morning I start my day by going on Twitter to see what my dear leader (who has a great personality) has said this morning.
One of my favorite things is to answer his tweets in his own voice, extending the logic of what he has said to reducto ad absurdum, but that is apparently not found at all funny by the Twitter artificial intelligence screener or, possibly by the human beings who Twitter may pay to read posts.
Most recently I was locked out of Twitter for 12 hours as a punishment for posting to our President's description of children crossing our Southern border without documents as "an infestation." I extended his remarks to say we are terribly threatened by this baby infestation, and by other infestations, like Democrats in Congress and we should take steps to exterminate this infestation.
Likely "exterminate" tripped some circuit in Twitterdom, and Twitterdee sent me a stern rebuke for having violated the Twitter rules.
I can't recall exactly what I said previously which got my hand slapped. Might have been something about "fine Nazis." It's hard to remember.
In Twitter's defense, I do sometimes get responses from readers who say, "If you are being sarcastic, okay, but if not..." when I have said something like "Well, we really don't need courts any more. So obsolete. Just make an accusation and run with it. That's all that's necessary in the information age."
So maybe Twitter has a point. Readership is not all that sophisticated.
Which is why, one supposes, Twitter is so in love with Mr. Trump.
PS/NEWSFLASH: Apparently what happened to me was just a part of a "purge" of 9 million bots and trols. Don't know how they did it exactly, but I was warned another infraction and I'd be permanently liquidated from Twitter.
At first I thought, oh, so I'm to watch what I say and not speak freely, even in parody but Donald Diapers can say whatever he wants about baby infestations!?!
But my children inform me, well, you see, there actually are people out there in Twitterdom who when they say, "Oh, then if this is a baby infestation then we ought to eradicate that and all the other infestations, like Democrats in Congress," they actually, really, truly do mean that.
I may have been "reported" as being offensive. By whom, I will never know.
Sounds like Soviet Union or the Third Reich. I got turned in for unacceptable speech.
On the other hand, as Oliver Wendell Holmes famously noted, there are limits to free speech, even in America. You cannot falsley shout "Fire" in a crowded theater.
Of course, that extreme analogy invokes a circumstance where speech calls forth panic and mayhem and death by trampling, whereas "incitement" by bellicose or inflammatory speech presumes the listening is incapable of rejecting the content of the speech.
I am told there are enough Americans who cannot think through through implications the use of parody and irony is justifiably forbidden, because in certain settings the audience has no reliable way of understanding irony.
One of my favorite things is to answer his tweets in his own voice, extending the logic of what he has said to reducto ad absurdum, but that is apparently not found at all funny by the Twitter artificial intelligence screener or, possibly by the human beings who Twitter may pay to read posts.
Most recently I was locked out of Twitter for 12 hours as a punishment for posting to our President's description of children crossing our Southern border without documents as "an infestation." I extended his remarks to say we are terribly threatened by this baby infestation, and by other infestations, like Democrats in Congress and we should take steps to exterminate this infestation.
Likely "exterminate" tripped some circuit in Twitterdom, and Twitterdee sent me a stern rebuke for having violated the Twitter rules.
I can't recall exactly what I said previously which got my hand slapped. Might have been something about "fine Nazis." It's hard to remember.
In Twitter's defense, I do sometimes get responses from readers who say, "If you are being sarcastic, okay, but if not..." when I have said something like "Well, we really don't need courts any more. So obsolete. Just make an accusation and run with it. That's all that's necessary in the information age."
So maybe Twitter has a point. Readership is not all that sophisticated.
Which is why, one supposes, Twitter is so in love with Mr. Trump.
PS/NEWSFLASH: Apparently what happened to me was just a part of a "purge" of 9 million bots and trols. Don't know how they did it exactly, but I was warned another infraction and I'd be permanently liquidated from Twitter.
At first I thought, oh, so I'm to watch what I say and not speak freely, even in parody but Donald Diapers can say whatever he wants about baby infestations!?!
But my children inform me, well, you see, there actually are people out there in Twitterdom who when they say, "Oh, then if this is a baby infestation then we ought to eradicate that and all the other infestations, like Democrats in Congress," they actually, really, truly do mean that.
I may have been "reported" as being offensive. By whom, I will never know.
Sounds like Soviet Union or the Third Reich. I got turned in for unacceptable speech.
On the other hand, as Oliver Wendell Holmes famously noted, there are limits to free speech, even in America. You cannot falsley shout "Fire" in a crowded theater.
Of course, that extreme analogy invokes a circumstance where speech calls forth panic and mayhem and death by trampling, whereas "incitement" by bellicose or inflammatory speech presumes the listening is incapable of rejecting the content of the speech.
I am told there are enough Americans who cannot think through through implications the use of parody and irony is justifiably forbidden, because in certain settings the audience has no reliable way of understanding irony.
Using words like "exterminate" around Trump's base is dangerous. These are NOT smart people. They don't get irony or sarcasm. They are very literal - so using "exterminate" becomes a dangerous suggestion (command). Twitter was right to constrain you! Always remember who your audience is - and if they are following Trump's twitters, they are not very bright!
ReplyDeleteLesson learned.
ReplyDeletePhantom,
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand it's infuriating to think a computer program devoid of the ability to detect sarcasm (or anything else) can get you shipped to the Twitter Gulag. Not to mention then Twitter gets to claim it has tough security measures in place... But Anon is right-there are plenty of Trump loving Twitter followers who also lack the ability to detect irony and sarcasm and could see "exterminate" as a call to action...Will be annoying, but probably necessary for you to pussyfoot around certain topics. SAD!!...hahaha...heehee...kidding...get it...
UGH.
Maud