Duty to Warn is warning us about Twitter.

[pnwmom]

Remember Duty to Warn? The group of academic psychiatrists who joined together to warn us about Trump?

Now they're warning us to NOT leave Twitter.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Dorian Gray]

1. Mental Health professionals?

I feel like most mental health professionals I know would tell everyone to get off twitter/social media and live life to the fullest.

While Musk stinks and twitter may very well become a right wing cesspool, it would benefit people not to mire themselves too much in it.

[pnwmom]

2. No. They don't want smart, informed people to desert social media. They're needed there. n/t

[Dorian Gray]

3. Do I agree that smart, informed people

shouldn't cede territory to deranged conspiracy theorists? Sure.

Do I think a collection of mental health workers should be encouraging people to stay on twitter? That's where the dissonance starts for me.

Also, I bristle at twitter feeds that seem overly partisan and fear mongering for clicks. Their feed reads similar to Occupy Democrats to me. (Which recently had negative stories posted here on DU.)

[hlthe2b]

4. You should read more about this group of mental health professionals who have been

on the forefront of warning about Trump and his obvious mental issues and the cult that he has developed.

Perhaps start first with viewing their first documentary (free on Amazon Prime if you have it):
UNFIT

and their upcoming follow-up documentary: UNTRUTH


Here is their Twitter account web link:
https://twitter.com/duty2warn

I encourage you to read more about them. Skepticism is one thing. Lashing out against dedicated professionals trying to help the situation is like the RW going after Fauci IMHO. Perhaps read a bit about Dr. BandyX. Lee, who dared to speak out about Trump's narcissistic personality in opposition to the long-standing and outdated so-called Goldwater Rule that restricts professional discussion--even on a general nature--sans personal examination. This, despite the emergence of decades of video, interviews, and personal writings of many public figures, like Trump--something never available when the Goldwater Rule was first enacted.

If you think that is appropriate, then it could even be used to argue against any form of telemedicine consultation that many of us in medicine now depend on to assist with diagnostic and therapeutic follow-up.

I have respect for what this group of psychiatric professionals is trying to do. You should investigate yourself, but I would hope it would be eye-opening for you.

[Dorian Gray]

6. Thanks for the information

I will look into them. Though I do take exception with the idea that I'm "lashing out."

Skepticism about twitter feeds that seem to promote panic is not lashing out. It's skepticism. But you're right, I should inform myself better about this group.

ETA: I'm searching on my Prime Video, and I can't find the movie. Do you have a direct link to it?

Also, upon searching google, I only find the Kickstarted for Untruth. I don't see anything specifically about who the mental health experts are who make up the twitter feed "Duty to Warn." There isn't any public info about them at all. At least not easily accessible.

[pnwmom]

25. There were lots of stories about them when they started.

She was at Yale when she started this, but I think she was forced out. Anyway, here's an article to get you started.

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2020/05/13/profile-dr-bandy-lee-and-the-psychiatric-case-against-donald-trump/

She published in 2017 a book of essays written by mental health professionals called The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump. I'm sure you can find info about that.

[Dorian Gray]

34. Thank you!

[GarColga]

7. Thanks!

I downloaded Unfit and will watch it tonight.

[Dorian Gray]

9. How did you download the movie?

I did a search on Prime Video and it's not coming up in my account at all. Maybe I'm overlooking something obvious.

[hlthe2b]

22. You went to Amazon Video while logged in as a Prime member,searched for Unfit and it didn't come up?

https://www.amazon.com/Unfit-Psychology-Donald-Trump/dp/B08HSKHJL4

Go to that link, click on the movie and you'll see an icon to watch (live stream), and several to the right of it. The one on the far right is the download button. Hover your mouse over it and it should say download.

[GarColga]

35. Piracy!

I do the piracy thing.

[PlutosHeart]

33. I was in process of pulling some Handles off

But they have a point. My concern was the current amount of power Twitter allows right wing Musk to get his millions to do his bidding. Which he does. He say says attack and they do.

So fair point. Am staying until I cannot.

[oldsoftie]

12. "fear mongering for clicks". Its certainly become a "thing"!

Occupy Democrats was a joke from the jump. And after the fiasco in ATL embarrassing Rep John Lewis, the whole thing thankfully collapsed.
The GOP has done it for years; "if they win its all over!!" And now on social media for those clicks & ads. I've always criticized Senate hearings for the same thing; everyone grandstanding or asking the same questions trying to get the "gotcha!" moment for YouTube or twitter

[hlthe2b]

13. "Senate hearings for same thing": Did you perhaps FORGET to distinqguish between the 01/06 hearings

and the old traditional performance-based combative hearings run by Republicans?

Generalizing everything is problematic. Is that REALLY what you intended?

That you would think that warning the public on very real threats is ALL akin to "fear-mongering for clicks"--making absolutely no distinctions is beyond the pale to me.

[oldsoftie]

19. The 1/6 commission isn't a regular hearing. And the House is running that anyway.

Anyone who watched the 1/6 hearings on TV didnt see what we usually see in the Senate. Totally different. The 1/6 committee pretty much outlined the events & let the witnesses confirm them and expose the inner insanity of the trump admin & the insurrection.
I generalize because the "regular type" hearings; confirmations etc, are usually all very similar. And I'm referring more to the Senate than the House. The Senator gives an opening statement that wastes a lot of time & is basically a campaign speech, then asks questions that have already been asked by OTHER Senators, then they raise their voices & get all passionate to get that sound bite. Not ALL of them do it but many do. I could post some good examples but I wont because not all would be received equally.
I know I would probably not be a good Senate witness

[hlthe2b]

21. Generalizing all Congressional hearings, whether Senate or House in the derisional way you have

is to excoriate all the DEM-run hearings. I find that abysmal and disingenuous as hell. Do you really have such a low opinion of our Democratic Senators and House members that you feel the need to disparage them as one would with their Republican counterparts? Really? I suppose with that attitude you think there is no real difference between our party and theirs? Reminds me of the need for so many MSM talking heads to resort to "bothsiderism" and to normalize by placing equivalence on bad behavior, when the truth is not at all so.

[oldsoftie]

23. Sorry, I have a fairly low opinion of MOST politicians. Especially the life-long ones.

"Politician" can be a noun or an adjective. I support the total defeat of all trumpism; down to the local school board. But if you think everyone with a "D" behind their name is always 100% committed to only doing what's best for us, fine; that your opinion. But the reality is usually different. Plenty of examples out there. And a big difference from the past is the "star power" of today. We rarely saw politicians on late night shows years ago but now they're celebrities & its addictive. Same thing for reporters.
But I'm also not sitting at home waiting for that apparent "perfect" candidate either. Doesnt exist. Sitting at home is a vote for the worst & I wont have a hand in that.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Balanced online use is good healthy social experience. Addiction to anything is a problem. . . .nt

[TheBeam19]

36. Yes! Quit FB 10 years ago, Twitter this summer.

[Joinfortmill]

8. Yikes! What a god awful mess

[bucolic_frolic]

10. Twitter's best days are behind it

When it ceases to exist as a thinking man's platform its influence will decline even faster.

[oldsoftie]

11. I've long said much the same thing; too many just cover their ears & walk away

Staying in your little echo chamber doesnt expose you to reality & it skews your perceptions.

[Samrob]

14. Rapid Response is the name of the smart game.

Every falsehood on Twitter and FB deserves a rapid response of truth and facts. You reach more people responding to their lies than you do texting to each other.

[Elessar Zappa]

15. I agree.

Twitter is a huge platform and needs a liberal, fact-based presence.

[bullimiami]

16. Sorry to disagree. Let Twitter wither and die on the vine taking musks money along with it.

[pnwmom]

28. Right, just like Naziism withered and died because ordinary Germans were ignoring it. nt

[bullimiami]

31. Whaaaatt? Twitter is pre-naziism now. I didn't realize.

[pnwmom]

32. Our whole country is. What do you think the White Nationalists are up to? n/t

[Sympthsical]

17. Looks like rationalizing an addiction to me

There are a lot of people who don't want to give up the clicks and eyeballs they get from Twitter.

There are others who will justify why they can't give up their doom scrolling.

The "Fuck Facebook!" crowd is about to find religion on the topic of, "We can't leave the platform, it'll be just like fighting the Third Reich!"

It is ever amazing how the human creature will judge others for doing something they themselves have no temptation to do, but the minute they're asked to give something up, "Well, we can't. There are highly principled reasons for why I'm being hypocritical!"

K.

[pnwmom]

24. They are using it to inform people and so can we. Here at DU, we are sharing information

among people like us -- and that is useful.

But it's also useful to share it in a situation that isn't so much of an echo chamber, with people who might not otherwise hear it.

[Sympthsical]

26. Do you know how much daily misinformation gets posted from there?

Daily. Blatantly unfactual things. Daily.

I know, because I take note every single time I see it. Does it get corrected? Almost never.

If twitter is anyone’s reliable information source, we’re doomed.

[pnwmom]

27. Yes, and that's why we should counter with FACTS. Who do you think should correct it,

if people like us don't even try?

[samnsara]

18. im not leaving twitter. I got on it seriously during the bundy stand off and i

..helped get one of their 'meeting' places shut down due to it being next to a playground and all those attendees were going to be armed. It took a lot of twitter hours to keep an eye on this group.


These days i only spend a cpl hours every morning identifying and labeling bots.

[oldsoftie]

20. Its the easiest way to keep up with the situation in UKR too

Last edited Thu Oct 6, 2022, 12:53 PM - Edit history (1)

You do have to weed out the crap but there are a lot of good sources there.

[rockfordfile]

29. Just go to another text message site.

Besides Musk is buying. Not given. Without people twitter is useless.

[Baggies]

30. Twitter is a cesspool

It is now and has been. Who owns it matters not to whether it is a cesspool, which it is.