January 11th, 2021. It’s been two days since the Parler ban was announced but it is the first day of its effective ban. During the last hours where the site was up, I saw one of the accounts I followed there signal that she was moving to Minds. That name rang a bell, I recall hearing about it during an episode of the Joe Rogan experience a few years back. I think Jordan Peterson mentioned it was a free-speech centric platform but I didn’t think much about it since. Who can blame me? I hadn’t seen where our world was going just yet. I didn’t think that some companies would decide together who as a right to expression and who doesn’t. And yet here we are.
Retrospectively, I can blame myself for not paying attention to these words and the mention of Big Tech censorship. I thought they exagerated. As far as I could remember, I couldn’t care less to see an Alex Jones or a Milo Yiannopoulos getting the boot off platforms. These are private companies after all. Well, only when it suits them. No further than last week, I believe that Twitter claimed that a government preventing users from accessing their platform was a humans right violation. Meanwhile, these same people cheered at the idea of barring people they didn’t like from accessing the platform. Where was the humans right violation outcry then?
Nobody can deny that the big social platforms of today took a big part in our lives. People can plan, organise and share their weddings on Facebook. They can keep up with family and friends or even create businesses thereby showcasing their craft or becoming influencers. While these companies provide a wealth of opportunities, we give them a tremendous amount of power over our lives. This all works well while we don’t become guilty of using a “wrong” term or sharing the “wrong” idea.
However, in a world where lines keep shifting, maybe today we’re a perfect citizen only to become Hitler tomorrow while remaining the same person. With companies believing that the activists who historically are extremists represent the global population only because of how loud they sound, it can be hard to blame them for moving the lines along with these voices. Feeling a level of compassion there doesn’t stop me from worrying about how far this will go. If some random activists can whip one of the most powerful corporations in the world, what can we do about it?
We can bring balance. We can shift the scales in favour of a balanced conversation. Where we can freely debate, discuss and laugh without the fear of losing access to a platform or a job. We need to stand firm so that these voices representing a tiny minority stop ruling the majority that just wants to live and let live. This brought me to Parler at first, then to Minds. Platforms where I won’t need to worry about losing touch with family and friends or even news. My first post actually was about that whole censorship vibe I got from Big Tech since 2021 began.
Since joining Minds only a couple of real-life friends followed me there and a couple of Twitter followers as well. I knew this would be hard but it’s a start. It’s better than zero and I keep connecting with more and more people every day. Regular people that also want to live and let live with the freedom of speaking their minds. A place where minds like Daryl Davis who notoriously got over two hundred KKK members to hang their robes and leave the hatred behind them, just by hanging out with them. He didn’t try to convince them, I just wanted to understand and treat them like human beings, like we are one people. I’m looking forward to seeing whether we will see narratives that Minds create hatred with such figureheads. This might be the drop that will break the camel’s back and bring more “normies” over to Minds.
My timeline there is full of memes and laughter with bits of opinion here and there. I’m overall having an amazing time there. Since moving to Minds, I got some feels close to 2011 Facebook before it went to shit. Before algorithms hid what your friends were posting until they would reach 30-100 likes. I’m posting, commenting, reposting others’ content without it cannibalizing my time. The platform isn’t built to hack your brain to make you stay as long as possible. I remember my last few months using Facebook felt quite miserable. Nothing fun would happen, only friends fighting over nonsense on promoted posts highlighted to further division rather than unity. Getting off Facebook and Instagram almost seven months ago as a good decision. Moving to Minds was an even better one.
I am hoping that one day my friends and family over there see this and join over to Minds. Until then, I would be more than happy to see you guys joining the conversation. I want you to see what I see, I want you to have as much of a good time as I have. Register now and join the fun, you will not regret moving to Minds.
