Question about Twitter if the Democrats all leave

[Peacetrain]

Now when we still had cable, I know the news channels would often refer to something trending on Twitter(as to what was on the average Americans mind) ... If all the Libs leave Twitter can the news media honestly call something trending on Twitter or do they have to change how they refer to it.. as something trending in conservative talk outlets.. just curious

[Better Days Ahoy]

1. If we all leave,

Twitter becomes Parler.
Next question ....

[Nevilledog]

7. Yup. That's why those RW sites aren't successful.

Their whole reason for living is to "own the libs"... Hard to do with no liberals on the platform.

[Better Days Ahoy]

10. Right? Stupid jackmules

Vulgarly put:
It's a bit of a circle jerk if we're not there.

[Nevilledog]

12. Can you imagine them sitting around talking about policy issues?. LOL

MAGAt 1: I don't think anybody should have anything.
MAGAt 2: You're gotdamned right!

[Better Days Ahoy]

13. Well played. Agree! Based on their layers of stupidity

BTW: thanks for replying. I follow your posts as a fairly new DU member. Always excellent and relevant. Respect, Neville dog.

[Nevilledog]

15. ...

[Cha]

16. lol. I was thinking along

those lines.

Super business model

[Otto_Harper]

2. If we all leave Twitter

Then main stream media will still do whatever the hell it feels like doing and say whatever the hell it feels like saying.

[GenThePerservering]

3. No, our news media

will still both-sides and decide whatever is trending on twitter is trending, period.

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. No matter what crazy crap the GQP would post there, it could still be called trending.

I think they base that on how many people read the tweet.

[karynnj]

5. Even now, something trending can be a partisan ct, a celebrity or something newsworthy

If all or even most Democrats left, it would likely have the same celebrity nonsense, rw ct and anything they think newsworthy. As it is, people are soloed. My feed has right-wing stuff only when someone on the left is debunking it..

[SharonClark]

6. It doesn't matter because twitter no more

represents what is trending than those 1) man on the street interviews, 2) small town people at the diner interviews, or 3) online polls.

[sanatanadharma]

8. If the left, democratic, reality-world left, Twitter would reach RW critical mass and implode

The not-insane on Twitter dilute the craziness. Unfortunately, they can't negate it.

It is as though the reality-twitterers were the cooling rods in a nuclear reactor. Remove them and the maga will reach critical mass of runaway internal contradictions and recriminations; mistrust of their own mistrust.

It will be ugly. No decent person ought stick around to watch, least one be drenched in exploding ectoplasma.

[sop]

9. "Trending" will mean nothing after Twitter commentary devolves into the social media equivalent

of graffiti on the men's restroom walls at a local MAGA bar.

[BlueIdaho]

11. The real question is...

What will Twitter become when all the legit money paying advertisers* leave?

*Not counting Mr. Quillow, Dr. Oz Quack Cures, Trump Hernia Belts, etc.

[Emrys]

14. "Trending on Twitter" has never been a reliable measure of anything except trending on Twitter.

Topics trend for a variety of reasons.

Trending can easily be manipulated by concerted effort from relatively few temporarily hyperactive accounts, and even then, if you look at individual tweets within a politically motivated (for example) trend, a fair proportion of them will be from people pushing back on or hijacking the trend.

Any news source using Twitter trends as a quotable, let alone reliable, guide to public opinion shouldn't have been taken seriously in the past and certainly shouldn't be taken seriously in the future.

Such media sources also misrepresent polling appallingly, but even the worst polling outfits usually have more transparent and reliable metrics than Twitter's algorithms, which were designed to reinforce trends (and encourage clicks), not reliably represent them.