• ulkesh@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Since Musk took it, it’s more like an arena where the loudest and dumbest have the microphones. It is neither a haven for free speech nor a forum where legitimate discourse takes place. It has become the trash pit of the internet.

    • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      That’s not what was said though. I was saying that it was a PUBLIC forum. I’m not stating WHAT is being said. Merely that it’s being said in a public way.

      • MagicShel@programming.dev
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        2 months ago

        I don’t think I would agree that just because something is public that it’s a public forum. I feel like the public has to own it as well. I looked it up and maybe it’s because I predate social media by rather a lot, but I think of it in the classical sense:

        Public forums are typically categorized into three types:

        1. Traditional Public Forums: Long-established spaces like parks or sidewalks, where people have historically exercised their rights to free speech and assembly.
        2. Designated Public Forums: Areas that the government intentionally opens up for public expression, such as town halls or school meeting rooms.
        3. Limited Public Forums: Spaces opened for specific types of discussions or activities but with certain restrictions on the subject matter or participants.

        The important factor being public ownership of the forum. I will concede that it has colloquially come to include public social media, but I think it’s important to distinguish that it’s not really the same thing at all as has been discussed through most of our history.

        Food for thought. I just think calling them public forums attaches too much importance to a profit seeking endeavor.

        • ulkesh@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Exactly. You were much more articulate than I, with my comparison, but it was effectively the point I was trying to make — it’s not a public forum at all and it’s now overrun by a cesspool of nonsensical garbage.