I’m not saying that this makes X good, I’m saying it makes it interesting. Most social media sites lean left of center or very hard to the right, yet X seems to have found a balance. Or maybe it’s in transition into being a far right platform, idk, but at least as of this moment, it’s pretty balanced. Users are down, but it seems the current userbase is more balanced than it was.
That has little to do with whether X is “toxic,” but I do think it’s an interesting statistic to discuss.
So, it mostly doesn’t mirror US demographics then, as the US, as a whole, skews away from the GOP.
They also skew away from the Democratic Party. Look at approval ratings for Biden and Trump if you don’t believe me, both were absolutely terrible, and Congress is arguably worse. I think most people hate both parties, but the system is rigged to support a two-party system.
If we look at issues, I think most people lean a bit more progressive on social issues and pretty moderate on fiscal issues. Even in my very red state, there are tons of pride flags out during pride month, and our conservative governor was openly supportive of trans issues (esp. kids). But neither party seems to do much to actually progress social issues, so I think people just end up getting pissed off. Democrats push on climate change and Republicans push tax cuts, when we really just want to legalize marijuana and let people marry whoever they want.
Perhaps it’s because he’s boosting right wing causes that the numbers have balanced.
Again, I’m not saying this is a good thing, merely that it’s interesting. I would like a platform that’s properly diverse, and this is one interesting metric. However, given that total userbase has dropped, I wonder if it’s more attrition than anything that caused the balance. In any case, it’ll be interesting to see where it ends up, and hopefully it’s not just another Truth Social…
The problem is if he is boosting right-wing viewpoints and suppressing left-wing viewpoints then all the casual viewer ends up seeing is the right-wing viewpoints.
So just because left-wing content is on there doesn’t mean people can easily access or find it.
I honestly haven’t used Twitter/X in any meaningful capacity, so I don’t know what that looks like. But if he continually adjusts the algorithm to show a good mix, that would be a good thing. If he keeps pushing right wing stuff, it’ll end up like Truth Social.
If the CNN report is accurate (and I have no reason to suspect it’s not), then it’s probably in a good place. We’ll see in a few months though.
if he continually adjusts the algorithm to show a good mix, that would be a good thing.
Have you been living under a rock or something? He isn’t doing that, stop trying to argue a situation that doesn’t exist. He’s pushing right-wing extremist propaganda in order to get near Trump.
I don’t use Twitter/X, I just see outrage here on Lemmy and other left-leaning media orgs like CNN. So I take that outrage with a grain of salt, especially since those same groups disliked Musk before he bought Twitter. I dislike Musk too, but I try to not let that color my perception of what he’s actually accomplished.
So I’m hesitant to take those complaints at face value. I didn’t like Twitter before Musk bought it, and I like it less now, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot, which is why I rely on statistics like these to help cut through the BS from the big media firms.
If you can point to actual tangible facts and not cherry picked content, we can have a discussion. I provided mine, and the stats look promising.
I don’t think there’s an article, at least I couldn’t find one. I tried to find the original source, but internet searches suck these days (or maybe I’ve lost my touch).
I think this whole concept speaks to how differently we all use social networks. For some, it’s a passive news source. For others, it’s entertainment. For others, it’s a place to be social.
Ideological balance is the least important feature for me in picking a social network. I’m there to joke around and talk to interesting people. In real life, my friends and I don’t go “You know what bar we should go to? That new ideologically balanced one down on 2nd St.” (and then my horny friend says we should go to the bar where he met a hot girl once and we end up at TikTok1, AGAIN).
1 That’s a joke. I’m 40 and my friends pick bars based on proximity, beer selection, and how long they have the baby sitter for.
I’m more interested in ideological balance, because I’m looking for social media to curate news sources for me. If all I’m getting is conservative or progressive articles, it’s not doing its job.
I had a pretty good setup on Reddit with just the right subs to get a good ideological balance (despite Reddit being pretty left leaning), but I bailed when they pulled the API BS and I’m staying away due to their data harvesting. Lemmy is much worse than Reddit as far as bias goes, but it’s better than nothing I suppose. I’ve had to actually go back and follow news sources to rebalance my media consumption, which is a pain because there’s so much BS on news sites.
I don’t want to be social, and if I want entertainment, I’ll play video games or watch a movie/TV show. I just want to stay informed and hear other peoples’ takes on current events, ideally from a diverse set of perspectives. And yet, my main options are left wing or right wing sources, both of whom will misrepresent stuff and nobody will correct them.
I’m probably not going back to Twitter/X because I hate the format, but I am happy to see that at least someone thinks it’s somewhat balanced. I’m working on my own Reddit/Lemmy alternative with the express goal to make it easier to get a balanced feed, so hopefully some day I’ll be able to eat my cake and have it too.
I think you’re saying that because that’s what your political persuasion is. If I asked someone on the right, they’d give me a similar answer with a different justification.
I’m not a fan of left vs right mudslinging, I’m a fan of well thought out policy based on facts. Calling someone else’s ideas bad doesn’t make yours good, in fact it makes me want to disregard yours. It turns out both sides have some decent ideas, as well as a lot of stupid ones, and I’d like to focus on the good.
I can’t accept that anyone accepts or rejects any party’s platform wholesale, they just pick the one that they think goes in the better direction at the time. Some think Democrats are right more than the GOP and thus are loyal to that party, and the same is true in the other direction. A lot of people sit somewhere in the middle, and they’re the ones that decide elections.
That said, forced anything can absolutely promote evil. But tweaks to encourage more diversity is welcome. It’s hard to tell which it is at Twitter/X, but I’m hopeful that Musk actually wants X to be a bastion of free speech where people from all sides can make their case, but also where blatant hate isn’t accepted. I don’t think that’s what he’s actually going for since he seems to just want a platform for ideas he agrees with, but I’m hopeful nonetheless. I don’t and probably won’t use Twitter/X, so it’s a moot point.
According to CNN, X is the most ideologically balanced of the social media platforms (party affiliation stats are at 1:25).
I’m not saying that this makes X good, I’m saying it makes it interesting. Most social media sites lean left of center or very hard to the right, yet X seems to have found a balance. Or maybe it’s in transition into being a far right platform, idk, but at least as of this moment, it’s pretty balanced. Users are down, but it seems the current userbase is more balanced than it was.
That has little to do with whether X is “toxic,” but I do think it’s an interesting statistic to discuss.
So, it mostly doesn’t mirror US demographics then, as the US, as a whole, skews away from the GOP.
Yes, I get it, “but the ballots”… ballot cast are not a 1:1 for the party lean of the US as a whole.
They also skew away from the Democratic Party. Look at approval ratings for Biden and Trump if you don’t believe me, both were absolutely terrible, and Congress is arguably worse. I think most people hate both parties, but the system is rigged to support a two-party system.
If we look at issues, I think most people lean a bit more progressive on social issues and pretty moderate on fiscal issues. Even in my very red state, there are tons of pride flags out during pride month, and our conservative governor was openly supportive of trans issues (esp. kids). But neither party seems to do much to actually progress social issues, so I think people just end up getting pissed off. Democrats push on climate change and Republicans push tax cuts, when we really just want to legalize marijuana and let people marry whoever they want.
Certainly an interesting statistic but one thing to keep in mind is that Elon Musk has control over the algorithm and he uses it to boost right wing causes. So even if the Twitter has an equal number of users from both sides one side is getting an unfair advantage. Sources: https://cybernews.com/news/x-algorithm-changed-musk-boost-right-wing/ https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/x-has-disproportionately-pushed-right-wing-content-since-elon-musk-took-over-reports https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/17/24298669/musk-trump-endorsement-x-boosting-republican-posts-july-algorithm-change
Perhaps it’s because he’s boosting right wing causes that the numbers have balanced.
Again, I’m not saying this is a good thing, merely that it’s interesting. I would like a platform that’s properly diverse, and this is one interesting metric. However, given that total userbase has dropped, I wonder if it’s more attrition than anything that caused the balance. In any case, it’ll be interesting to see where it ends up, and hopefully it’s not just another Truth Social…
The problem is if he is boosting right-wing viewpoints and suppressing left-wing viewpoints then all the casual viewer ends up seeing is the right-wing viewpoints.
So just because left-wing content is on there doesn’t mean people can easily access or find it.
So it’s not really balanced in any way.
I honestly haven’t used Twitter/X in any meaningful capacity, so I don’t know what that looks like. But if he continually adjusts the algorithm to show a good mix, that would be a good thing. If he keeps pushing right wing stuff, it’ll end up like Truth Social.
If the CNN report is accurate (and I have no reason to suspect it’s not), then it’s probably in a good place. We’ll see in a few months though.
Have you been living under a rock or something? He isn’t doing that, stop trying to argue a situation that doesn’t exist. He’s pushing right-wing extremist propaganda in order to get near Trump.
He’s not balancing anything.
I don’t use Twitter/X, I just see outrage here on Lemmy and other left-leaning media orgs like CNN. So I take that outrage with a grain of salt, especially since those same groups disliked Musk before he bought Twitter. I dislike Musk too, but I try to not let that color my perception of what he’s actually accomplished.
So I’m hesitant to take those complaints at face value. I didn’t like Twitter before Musk bought it, and I like it less now, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot, which is why I rely on statistics like these to help cut through the BS from the big media firms.
If you can point to actual tangible facts and not cherry picked content, we can have a discussion. I provided mine, and the stats look promising.
Have a link to the actual article and not some rando with a video without context?
I don’t think there’s an article, at least I couldn’t find one. I tried to find the original source, but internet searches suck these days (or maybe I’ve lost my touch).
Here’s a YT video that talks about it, but it’s also quite biased. The two anchors here are conservative and “libertarian” (I think Robbie Suave is more conservative than he claims). And here’s Sky News YT video about it (right-wing UK media IIRC).
I wish I had more to go on, and I’d really like to see the original story, but there you go.
I think this whole concept speaks to how differently we all use social networks. For some, it’s a passive news source. For others, it’s entertainment. For others, it’s a place to be social.
Ideological balance is the least important feature for me in picking a social network. I’m there to joke around and talk to interesting people. In real life, my friends and I don’t go “You know what bar we should go to? That new ideologically balanced one down on 2nd St.” (and then my horny friend says we should go to the bar where he met a hot girl once and we end up at TikTok1, AGAIN).
1 That’s a joke. I’m 40 and my friends pick bars based on proximity, beer selection, and how long they have the baby sitter for.
I’m more interested in ideological balance, because I’m looking for social media to curate news sources for me. If all I’m getting is conservative or progressive articles, it’s not doing its job.
I had a pretty good setup on Reddit with just the right subs to get a good ideological balance (despite Reddit being pretty left leaning), but I bailed when they pulled the API BS and I’m staying away due to their data harvesting. Lemmy is much worse than Reddit as far as bias goes, but it’s better than nothing I suppose. I’ve had to actually go back and follow news sources to rebalance my media consumption, which is a pain because there’s so much BS on news sites.
I don’t want to be social, and if I want entertainment, I’ll play video games or watch a movie/TV show. I just want to stay informed and hear other peoples’ takes on current events, ideally from a diverse set of perspectives. And yet, my main options are left wing or right wing sources, both of whom will misrepresent stuff and nobody will correct them.
I’m probably not going back to Twitter/X because I hate the format, but I am happy to see that at least someone thinks it’s somewhat balanced. I’m working on my own Reddit/Lemmy alternative with the express goal to make it easier to get a balanced feed, so hopefully some day I’ll be able to eat my cake and have it too.
Common decency and skeptical thinking skew left. So forced equilibrium actually promotes evil.
I think you’re saying that because that’s what your political persuasion is. If I asked someone on the right, they’d give me a similar answer with a different justification.
I’m not a fan of left vs right mudslinging, I’m a fan of well thought out policy based on facts. Calling someone else’s ideas bad doesn’t make yours good, in fact it makes me want to disregard yours. It turns out both sides have some decent ideas, as well as a lot of stupid ones, and I’d like to focus on the good.
I can’t accept that anyone accepts or rejects any party’s platform wholesale, they just pick the one that they think goes in the better direction at the time. Some think Democrats are right more than the GOP and thus are loyal to that party, and the same is true in the other direction. A lot of people sit somewhere in the middle, and they’re the ones that decide elections.
That said, forced anything can absolutely promote evil. But tweaks to encourage more diversity is welcome. It’s hard to tell which it is at Twitter/X, but I’m hopeful that Musk actually wants X to be a bastion of free speech where people from all sides can make their case, but also where blatant hate isn’t accepted. I don’t think that’s what he’s actually going for since he seems to just want a platform for ideas he agrees with, but I’m hopeful nonetheless. I don’t and probably won’t use Twitter/X, so it’s a moot point.