Some of my thoughts on Democratic messaging & Twitter...

[CaptainTruth]

Recently I’ve seen a variety of comments here on DU about Dem messaging, & in other recent threads, recent developments at Twitter.

I want to highlight a couple items that stood out to me:

1) The point was made that Dem messaging isn’t the problem, media is the problem, because the media doesn’t deliver Dem messaging to the people who really need to hear it most.

-and-

2) Some folks have said things like “If Elon Musk buys Twitter & it fills with right-wing propaganda, I will delete my Twitter account.” Some folks already have.

Do my DU friends see the problem here?

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Musk’s purchase of Twitter increases the amount of right-wing propaganda & lies on Twitter (i.e. the number of accounts repeating right-wing/Reich-wing messaging). Folks, that means you are being handed the opportunity to personally “deliver Dem messaging to the people who really need to hear it most”.

For every one of their GOP messages, you can respond with a Democratic message. For every one of their lies, you can respond with truth.

If you believe “the media doesn’t deliver Dem messaging to the people who really need to hear it most” (& I agree they don’t) then YOU (& ME) should deliver it, directly to them, right in front of their eyeballs on Twitter or whatever social media program they appear on.

In my humble opinion, saying “I quit” & running away, without challenging their propaganda is inviting failure & disaster.

Again, just my humble opinion, & it is not my intention to offend any of my friends here.

Thank you for listening.

[Tree-Hugger]

1. I share your views

Twitter isn't owned by progressives. It's loaded with RWNJs and trolls. It always has been. I've found that a lot of right wing tweets are handedly answered by progressives a good amount of the time. We're not necessarily trying to change the minds of TFG or MTG or their ilk. We're showing solidarity with fellow progressives and, hopefully, planting seeds in the minds of those who are unsure or who are questioning the GQP messaging.

When TFG was still on Twitter, the majority of responses were from progressives pointing out his lies and/or downright mocking him.

I don't think people should remain on a platform that makes them uncomfortable, but I admit I have felt disappointed today when reading so many defeatist tweets from fellow progressives.

[BlueGreenLady]

2. I agree

We need to have a presence on Twitter and we also need bots pumping out our counter propaganda, like the right wing has.

[LearnedHand]

3. That's a really good point

It is an opportunity to frame the message. I agree however that it will likely become intolerable for decent people. One of the most profoundly impactful thing I've ever experienced was when Twitter deplatformed TFG. You didn't really realize how much oxygen that dumpster fire was consuming until the fire was extinguished.

One other thought: some have said Twitter isn't that important. It occurred to me that Twitter is hugely important because it's where every single republican message is framed, trial ballooned, and then spread. Not only do dems need to tighten up their messaging content, they need to take Twitter master classes from AOC and Bernie (and George Takei) on establishing the message frame through Twitter.

[PXR-5]

4. I agree, I may now join!!

Time to give "it" back to them, we need to make our case, not surrender.

Look what happened to AM and SW radio.

[betsuni]

5. Agree. After all the whining about: Democrats don't fight/do nothing/ignore/don't stop whatever.

[Cha]

6. Takei & I agree!

Link to tweet

💙💛

[In It to Win It]

7. My opinion, the people who need to the Dem messaging the most

aren't on Twitter

[CaptainTruth]

8. Ok, I respect your opinion. Please tell me about your experiences on Twitter.

Last I checked Twitter had more than 330 million users.

Do you really believe they all fall into the category you have defined?

If we want to save America we need to be better than that.

[In It to Win It]

10. Not at all, but I think most Twitter users fall into of that category

I assume that's the number for their global user base, the 330 million users.

Last time I check Twitter's user base, about a third (or less) of their users were in the USA. That's not a lot of people. After that, you even have to narrow that down, with a reasonable assumption that some percentage of that don't use Twitter that often to receive the message, and some other percentage of don't look at or engage in politics at all on Twitter.

The people in most need of the Democratic message are the ones that's the most difficult to reach. They are not on social media.

Anecdotally, I'm on Twitter. I get no Democratic messaging through Twitter. That's because I shape what I want to look at and that's content revolving around the courts and SCOTUS. I don't follow any political figures. I follow 5 people and they all are lawyers. They are "court watchers." They write articles about the court and legal issues, blog about the court and legal issues, and podcast about the court and legal issues. When they retweet stuff, it's usually about the court (and cute dogs). Court watching makes up 100% of my Twitter feed. That's the only thing I want to use Twitter for. I don't tweet or retweet. I just look and read.

I imagine there are others (maybe not many) who are like me who won't receive Dem messaging. There are others who engage with friends and post about their life, and don't look at the political stuff. How would the message reach those people through Twitter?

Moreover to the main point... Also anecdotally, my mom, aunts, and people like them (such as their coworkers) who are not on Twitter are the backbone of the Party. Working class people like them need the message because they will win elections for the Party. People like them are who really needs to be reached. Those are the people who will stand in line for hours to ensure their vote is cast, and those people can't be reached on Twitter.

I think the same applies to the right as well. The people that you need to win elections and win power won't be found on Twitter.

Your most frequent Twitter users are the ones who will see the Dem message but those are the people who are already convinced. They already follow Presidents Obama and Biden, AOC, Stacey Abrams and all the others. Getting beyond those particular users (who are likely not the majority of users) is where the difficulty lies.

I agree with you that Twitter is an avenue for getting out the Democratic message and it should remain an avenue for that. There should always be room in the budget for Twitter. Democratic voters should continue to engage on Twitter so that our message remains alive and make it thrive. Democrats and Democratic voters have a dominant presence on Twitter (and so do Republicans) and that should not be thrown away because of Elon Musk. That right wing echo chamber didn't disappear and didn't really diminish after Trump was banned. They just lost one very loud member. That same echo chamber is still there and thriving. I don't think that's going to increase significantly because of Elon Musk.

Twitter seemed more popular and more like a right wing echo chamber than it was because everyday for four years we woke up to the story that Trump tweeted something. His tweets was getting more attention on television and news articles than on Twitter itself. The mainstream media amplified and echoed Twitter for the right in news articles and TV screens. We won't have that luxury. Print and TV media won't blast our Twitter messages for us.

[ecstatic]

9. Musk will control what's trending.

Twitter will be rigged under Musk's rule.

[rockfordfile]

11. That's musk propaganda. Musk is a un-American fascist pos. Staying on Twitter gives support to him

The people who stay on are the quitters. People who push for staying on Twitter are Musk supporters and support everything he's done.
By staying on twitter you're just as much to blame as Musk is. You're funding that un-American pos Musk.
Time for other choices. Don't let others keep you boxed in. Some of the people act like twitter handlers. It's time to quit twitter.

[CaptainTruth]

12. This is the first time I have liked or responded to one of my own posts.

I'm doing so because I had major reservations about posting this. I agonized over it for the whole day, because of how I have been attacked for some of my posts, but I finally said screw it, I need to express my opinions.

It's my desire & intention to express myself more frequently in posts here, & I hope I can have the support of my DU friends in doing so.

Thank you...