Twitter Doesn’t Quite Get It

The preferred social media tool of jihadists and eco-terrorists, Twitter banned supercilious Breitbart blogger Milo Yiannopoulos. He’s the gay British one who writes inflammatory shit online to get attention. So what everybody without teenaged fans or tits has to do to get noticed on social media. Under the screen name, @Nero, Yiannopoulos amassed several hundred thousand followers before Twitter gave him the boot for going after comedian Leslie Jones. Therein, the rub.

According to Twitter, you can’t use their service to harass or threaten people. Or forty percent of what occurs on Twitter which is forever high school in 140 characters. Yiannopoulos was in a raging one-way battle with Leslie Jones performance in Ghostbusters, narrowing the focus to the fact that social re-engineered movies suck, that she has poor diction and is the kind of woman that makes men gay. Though not himself who just grew up loving cock. Numerous Twitter trolls took Yiannopoulos’ commentary to the next level by launching black nigger ape girl assaults on Jones account. Such is the bittersweet nature of creating a public square where nobody has to show their face.

Twitter permanently suspended Yiannopoulos’ account even though he himself didn’t say anything specifically untoward or abusive. But Leslie Jones is trending in the news now and when she quit Twitter the CEO of the company felt a need to do something entirely subjective and symbolic. People who don’t understand the legal meaning of censorship are demanding that Yiannopoulos’ First Amendment rights be restored. People who understand publicity are jealous that Yiannopoulos figured out how to raise his mini-celebrity profile while having a valid excuse to never have to be on Twitter again. Win-win for the real reason these guys are on social media in the first place.

It seems super important to ever keep in mind two things about social media platforms. First, they’re private companies, they can do whatever the fuck they want that doesn’t break the law. Second, they’re the tools of the masses, like toilets only non-essential. You can complain about how nasty the gas station shitter is, but you’re in there for a reason of you’re own making. Leslie Jones could’ve blocked Yiannopoulos instead of feuding with him. The Twitter CEO could’ve admitted that a solid chunk of his users are anon accounts set up to largely to be asshole trolls. But smart choices aren’t what got you on Twitter in the first place. It’s social media, Jake.