Twitter has many problems, but these myths are not among them
Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey is on a media tour to fight for his company’s reputation. On the left, activists are angry that the platform hasn’t kicked off InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. On the right, President Donald Trump accuses Twitter of “shadow banning” conservatives. It’s worth debunking some of the more common myths about Twitter.
▪ Myth No. 1: Twitter systemically bans conservatives.
Once, “shadow banning” was a relatively obscure term, referring to referring to one of the oldest internet moderation techniques: hiding a user’s posts from others on a platform without booting them outright. It has since become a politically-loaded catchall for censorship, as a conspiracy theory from the fringes of the internet has crept into the mainstream, claiming that Twitter is sytemically banning conservatives from the platform because of their ideology. Which is how President Donald Trump, in a recent tweet, came to claim that Twitter was “‘SHADOW BANNING’ prominent Republicans.”
His tweet followed a Vice News article discussing the fact that Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and “several conservative Republican congressmen” were not auto-filling in a drop-down menu in Twitter’s search function.
Although Twitter limits the reach of some accounts as part of its anti-abuse and anti-harassment strategies, the issue also appeared for others on the left.
The clearest proof that this theory is spurious may be that many of the voices amplifying it, such as Trump and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, have a powerful platform from which to do so: Twitter.
▪ Myth No. 2: An intern runs that brand account.
Whenever a social media account for a major celebrity, brand or media organization tweets something particularly clever — or particularly offensive — you’ll inevitably hear that it was the work of a “social media intern.”
But in 2018, interns are not generally put in charge of major accounts for influential institutions or people. In 2008, sure — back when social media was a new idea.
Between 2010 and 2013, one study using data from LinkedIn found, postings for social media management positions increased on the job-finding platform by more than 1,000 percent.
▪ Myth No. 3: Trump has broken Twitter’s rules.
Twitter’s rules bar hateful conduct and violent threats. So whenever Trump tweets something that seems to be a threat — as when he lashed out at Iran’s president in July — there’s a viral call to ban him from the platform for breaking the rules.
There’s just one problem: A handful of loopholes protect Trump’s account from running afoul of Twitter’s policies. The most important is an exception for “military and government entities.” As the company explained: “Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate.”
▪ Myth No. 4: Trump’s account is followed by a suspicious number of bots.
“Account has gained over 5 million followers in less than 3 days. Mostly bots. He’s getting ready for something,” tweeted @th3j35t3r last year. That message accumulated more than 10,000 retweets before it was deleted. Hillary Clinton even appeared to cite it.
The Washington Post and others debunked the rumor: Trump did not gain more than 5 million followers in less than three days, as the tweet claimed, and it wasn’t even close. The followers he did gain were not mostly bots. And while Trump may have a substantial number of bot or suspected bot followers, data suggests that isn’t any worse than for other prominent politicians.
▪ Myth No. 5: Twitter is the voice of the internet.
Twitter feeds can sometimes feel like a free-for-all, where everyone’s trying to talk at once, but it is not representative of public opinion. According to a 2018 Pew Research Center poll, only about 24 percent of Americans use Twitter. Spending a lot of time on the platform may make it feel like the whole world is talking about one topic or another. But step outside the timeline, and you might be surprised.