Instagram Wants to Limit News and Information

We are in an interesting time when much of what we digest in the way of "news and information," happens in a very different way than it did many decades ago when there were only a handful of networks, newspapers and radio stations to get it from, and all of them mostly came from centralized news organizations like the Associated Press ultimately.

In many ways, there was also much less bias presented in news. It was straightforward journalism that sought to get to the truth, even when the truth may be painful and even destroy political careers.

Perhaps news has never truly been completely reliable. But certainly, it was more reliable than it is today.

Beyond the 24-hour news cycle, of course, the advent of social media outlets also changed a lot of the way that we receive news and information. Discussions or opinions that would otherwise be relegated to the dinner table or other social gatherings, and perhaps the occasional "Letter to the Editor," now moved into more public territory. 

Social media is largely a place where everyone has an individual voice that they can share with masses of other people. 

But that's not what everyone wants, of course, and after Trump's reelection efforts in 2020, we saw a side of truth that doesn't want to be heard, and we saw freedom of speech come under fire. Social media outlets began shutting down anyone who said things the social media powers that be did not like, and even banned certain people from being heard at all.

Suddenly truth was not being determined or examined. It was simply being decided.

Sure, it doesn't mean that many can't still have a voice. Many people, such as myself, can still freely write and publish blogs or articles sharing my thoughts and opinions, or findings on particular topics I find interesting that I think others may also find interesting.

But the sites that I write on can be limited by the places where I can post the links, such as Facebook, X and elsewhere. That can have a limiting effect on who gets to see it, let alone find it.

When Elon Musk took over X, his aim was to put an end to that and allow a freer forum for people to express themselves. It can be hotly debated whether he has actually accomplished that. But the fact remains that social media is still pushing back on certain speech.

That can be shown in the recent decision by Instagram to limit political speech in particular. 

Regardless of whether or not news or information is better with so many voices in the pool of news and information is also debatable. Because not everyone is going to have the whole truth and nothing but the truth necessarily. 

Even when it comes to my own writing on various topics, it's my opinion and it is up to the reader to decide whether or not they agree with it. It's also up to the reader to seek out more information to better form their own opinions.

What social media and blogs and podcasts and whatever other media source is being used offers is another side. An alternative. I think that does, in fact, make things better. Because otherwise all you have is one centralized source who collectively decides what is true or not. 

That makes news and information potentially propaganda. Because one group can simply control the flow. 

The problem is not so much the limiting of news and information. It's the clear agenda behind it. Because it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that most of social media and news outlets are slanted to the liberal side.

And you can't make an informed decision without hearing all sides. It is better to form an opinion based on multiple sources and perspectives than to rely only on one.

Especially when it comes to politics, I think it is important for people to be able to think openly and constructively. If we had a media now that were more prone to just tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, perhaps a decision like Instagram's would make more sense. 

But that's not the world we are living in. The truth can often times now be questioned. It is often shaped and configured rather than told as it is. People need to have the ability to hear all sides and decide for themselves. That's part of why freedom of speech is so important. Why it is necessary. 

And again, it doesn't mean that anyone else is absolutely going to preach the Gospel. People still must do their own homework. But the discussion is needed, and every voice should have an opportunity to at least be heard, even when we don't like what is said.

Instagram members can opt back into political content. But the first choice should be to be able to see and hear the content before a decision is made whether or not it should appear at all for the viewers. But again, it also puts control into the hands of a very select group of people to decide what we can see or hear. 

That is not a good thing. Every American, regardless of their political leanings should want every word to potentially be heard. Because when you begin to silence one speech, eventually speech you want and need to hear will also be silenced.

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on my Facebook page or follow me on X to keep up with the latest writings wherever I may write them. 

myLot Is Run By Weird People

I want to be clear here, a site called myLot, which is a social media site where people talk about their everyday lives, what they ate for dinner, or just pretty much anything at all, is a pretty fun site. I am not going to dismiss that aspect of it. And it is certainly worth a look if you want to talk about anything and nothing and also make a few bucks while you do it.

But what makes the site fun and interesting are the people who are part of the community. Not the owners of the site. And not the admin.

Honestly, they are quite weird. And I have talked about this aspect of the site many times. And like this time, from time to time I feel the need to remind people of the abnormality that exists as part of myLot's existence.

You know, anywhere on the Internet, anywhere in social media, on the very platforms I am using, I can say whatever I want about those platforms. I can air my opinions freely. Those platforms may not like what I have to say. But they at least acknowledge it is not my job to say good things about them.

It is their job to encourage me to say nice things about them through what they do to make me happy about using their site.

I could, for example, write a blog, right here on Blogspot, saying things about Blogspot that won't put Blogspot into a good light. So be it. And that would be perfectly acceptable.

But myLot? They're different. You can't say a single negative thing about the site. It's against their rules. And well, it's a public site just like any other site on the Internet and anyone can find the posts that are written there. 

It's all front and center, searchable, and the posts will and do come up in searches. 

As such, they are scared of any bad publicity, even if it isn't direct, but simply implied. It is them saying, under no uncertain terms, "You will not say bad things about us that others might see outside of the site."

I mean, it's a thing with them. They are scared of it, and I just find it to be rather peculiar. I said it's weird. And that's exactly what I meant. It's weird. They are weird for it.

Take a post I wrote there earlier today. It really was a benign post. It was not making fun of myLot. It was not being disparaging of myLot. It was not scolding myLot, or even complaining about myLot. It was simply a tongue in cheek post about activity being a bit slow in myLot for the day.

That's a no-no, you see. Because God forbid someone out there, the five or so people who might see it, see that post and think there might be something wrong with myLot.

That's why they took it down. Because in their eyes it potentially communicates something about their site they may have reason to be embarrassed about. Why? Who the hell knows? But it's why they took down my post.

The problem there is this; some of us are writers outside of myLot with bigger platforms and louder voices than others. People like me who happen to have a very large audience and the potential for many more eyes to see what I will say here than they might ever have found on their actual site.

And worse, the words I post here are far less tongue in cheek, far less careful, far less friendly, far more scathing, much more critical, and perhaps in some ways, more dangerous to their reputation than anything I might post within the confines of their iron fists.

Like I said, myLot is still a site that can be fun and earn some money. But just know that when you step within their doors, you're locked inside, and they will command you to behave their way or else. Make sure you praise them to the High Heavens. They like praise. They can't handle scorn. They can't handle ridicule. And frankly they fear the truth. 

Like the way I write or the things I write about? Follow me on my Facebook page. If you want to check out myLot as a place to write about anything and get paid without having to be a writer? You can find them at mylot.com. You can find me there as well. My name is Porwest. If you sign up and write an introductory post, let them know Porwest sent you there from The Springboard. 

A Blocking We Will Go

MOST RECENTLY I DECIDED TO CHANGE MY POLICY A BIT WHEN IT COMES TO BLOCKING OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS. For years my longstanding policy on social media has been to engage the other side in any debate, feeling that in order to have a well shaped opinion on any issue one must be able to take in multiple viewpoints, and be open minded when it comes to how any issue is perceived, reported on, and what the opinions of others are. Sometimes I actually do change my position if the opposing argument is strong.

I am a conservative of course. But despite what some hard core conservatives may say, there are actually SOME liberals out there who do have the ability to think and formulate a common sense opinion.

I will admit it is rare. But I am not being fair minded if I simply discount every single liberal as a total idiot.Which brings me around to why I have changed my policy on social media blocking.

There is a trend, and it is certainly not a new one, for many on the left (and let's be fair, some on the right do this too, guys) to, instead of return with a valid and cohesive argument, they will simply start lobbing unfounded accusations, character assassinate, and respond by calling people names.

Racist and Russian bot are all the craze.

When the opposing argument begins to resort to that sort of thing I am of the mind that 1) there is no valid argument the other side can make, and 2) there is no argument I can make to change a mind or make a case for. So, why bother really? What's the point?

Sure. On some days it can indeed be fun. But honestly, more and more it just becomes an irritation. A back and forth of wasted energy that just gets more and more ridiculous and crazy the more you go along with it.

And then there's those lists the left has resorted to creating. They don't even bother to respond. They just put you on some unfounded list that places you into a corner that you really have nothing to do with, and accuses you of having a position you don't have at all.

It does not bother me. I should be clear about that. It does not bother me anymore, really, than being called a racist or a bot or any other moniker the left wants to place on me simply because I happen to disagree with their view of the world.

But it does mean there is no longer an argument.

The thing for me is that I know where I stand on any issue, and so whatever I may be accused of is really meaningless and pointless to try to defend. You cannot rationalize with someone who is simply incapable of seeing the other side's view.

I know I am not a racist. And I am certainly not a bot. So what value is there in trying to defend myself from these kinds of accusations? No matter what I say to point to the contrary, it is going to fall on deaf ears anyway.

So again, why bother.

Part of my policy of not blocking opposing viewpoints was that I thought it was borderline childish. In my mind, every time someone on the left blocked me I would envision a 5-year old clamping his palms to his ears shouting, "I can't hear you, I can't hear you." So my aim was not to become that childish figure on the right.

The problem is that when I offer my viewpoint, I try to support it with facts and reason, and a dose of common sense. Of course I am not always right. I would be naive to think that I could never be wrong. Which is also part of the reason I enjoy a reasonable exchange of ideas, because I am adult enough to acknowledge that I may not always have the right answer or viewpoint, and sometimes the left does.

It's the crazy that closes the door for me. And the crazy is simply getting to be quite thick these days. Even more as Trump derangement syndrome is in full force and the left is all but losing their minds as Trump is clearly winning on a number of fronts. And that's not just my conservative bias saying that. It's obvious.

Speaking of bias momentarily, that is also the one thing that still surprises me just a little bit these days, that the right can have a bias, but can also offer praise to the other side when the other side gets it right and will lambaste even our own when we get it wrong.

I can count on my fingers how many times I have seen a liberal hold one of their own accountable for anything.

My Two Cents On Daily Two Cents

For whatever reason, I simply cannot use the site. I know there are plenty of folks out there having no trouble at all. I can tell by the fact that they have posts up to read. However, for me, I simply cannot stay logged in, cannot upload pictures, and cannot upload posts.

Not sure exactly what the problem is.

So for now, unless I can come to a major revelation as to what I am doing wrong, I am going to give Daily Two Cents a solid thumbs down, and am going to quit before I even get started over there. On to something else.

Oh well.