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0 pointsml-anon1y ago0 comments

Twitter was a net positive for many. Millions of people around the world relied on it for timely news and updates in the absence of other avenues. This was particularly pertinent in places like Africa where state infrastructure wasn't able to provide or indeed, the middle east, where censorship prevented accurate news being disseminated.

So your assertion that "Twitter was _never_ a net positive for anyone" is not only false but an absurdly biased and frankly wrong view on how the world accesses information.

Also, the Arab spring overthrew several decades-long brutal dictatorships. Given that overthrowing The Taliban (lol) and Saddam is hailed as a positive of the trillions of dollars and millions of lives spent on the GWOT, at least give the people of the Middle East the courtesy of acknowledging the overthrow of Ben Ali, Assad, Mubarak and Gaddafi.

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everdrive1y ago

>Given that overthrowing The Taliban (lol) and Saddam is hailed as a positive of the trillions of dollars and millions of lives spent on the GWOT, at least give the people of the Middle East the courtesy of acknowledging the overthrow of Ben Ali, Assad, Mubarak and Gaddafi.

I don't believe either of those ended up positive either. The Taliban waited out the US; they may have been overthrown, but given that he Taliban are back in power it seems like the entire effort was waste. In Iraq, Saddam was the only force holding back the Shia majority. Iraq has largely devolved into another proxy for Iran, and I don't believe it can be argued that Iraq is any better off with Saddam gone. I'm not supportive of Saddam, either; he was truly evil in ways that people don't always understand. My point would just be that populism and revolution do not necessitate positive outcomes.

DrScientist1y ago

> and I don't believe it can be argued that Iraq is any better off with Saddam gone > [....] My point would just be that populism and revolution do not necessitate positive outcomes.

The current worse state of Iraq ( post Saddam ) is nothing to do with populism - and all to do with foreign inference.

Though I agree with the general point about revolutions - one of the key problems with violent revolutions is quite often the most hardline nutters ( of whatever flavour ) tend to end up in charge as they are the most prepared to be violent.

hoseja1y ago

And you didn't even get to Libya.

concordDance1y ago

> So your assertion that "Twitter was _never_ a net positive for anyone" is not only false but an absurdly biased and frankly wrong view on how the world accesses information.

I presume the grandparent was being rhetorical and trying to say Twitter was always a net negative for society as a whole.

Even today, its a net positive for plenty of people (myself included).

lukan1y ago

Indeed. It was always a drama tool for me. Short and clickbaity.

That occasional good information also succesful spread, doesn't mean that information would not have also flowed with different communication tools and maybe then even in a better way.

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