The Twitter Front

You might say that referring to the political fights that go on as “war” would be insulting to those fighting in actual wars.  However, how I see it is that we here at home have a responsibility to domestically protect the same rights our countries’ militaries are fighting for (or fought for) over seas (even if they aren’t currently fighting).  The left universally wants to deny people the natural rights they are inherently entitled to (an example would be limits on free speech in the name of “hate speech” laws or something else (including laws against sedition, which I realize are older than hate speech laws)), which is why they are just as much enemies as are the Islamic terrorists and other foreign enemies (even if they are “friendlier”).

Twitter and other social media sites are common places for “battles” in this war to occur.  And not only in this war; a while back the Israel Defense Forces had “battle” on Twitter with Palestinian insurgents. Anyway, a benefit of Twitter and other neutral social media sites is that they are inhabited by both members of the right and members of the left (among other people), which allows for increased interaction (and belligerence) between the two sides.  It also allows for increased interaction (and cooperation) among one side.

Over the weekend, I joined a “movement” on Twitter known as the “Twitter Gulag Defense Network” (TGDN) (h/t Todd Kincannon).  It was founded (this weekend) by @ToddKincannon, who is well-known and influential on Twitter.  The stated (by him) purpose of the TGDN is to prevent people (whether conservative, liberal, libertarian, or whatever) from being sent to the “Twitter Gulag.”  This is where you are said to go if you are suspended because you have been marked as “spam” too many times, which is a tactic that has been frequently used by the left to silence conservatives (a lot of people who have not violated Twitter’s terms have been suspended in this manner.  It happens very frequently.  Not to me, however, which I take as meaning that I am doing something wrong).  How the TGDN works is by taking advantage of the algorithms Twitter uses to determine whose account is suspended.  If you have a large amount of followers, you are less likely to be suspended.  So, everyone in the TGDN is to follow everyone else, to get everyone who has signed up as many followers as possible. That is easier said than done, as many people have found out, because Twitter also has algorithms to prevent a large ratio of the amount of people you follow and the amount of people following you (because that is often an indication of spam accounts).  People often get stuck at a certain point (which I am currently stuck at as well).

Anyway, what the TGDN is is a series of lists (lists are another feature of Twitter, and this can also be used to create a timeline of only a select number of accounts, which you might want to do to prevent your timeline from being cluttered by thousands of people you are following. For those unfamiliar with Twitter, the timeline is a stream of tweets by everyone you are following (or by everyone on a list)) created by Mr. Kincannon that currently contain about 4,230 members.  Mr. Kincannon will put you on one of the lists at certain times (the next one is Friday) if you follow his directions.  If you are on Twitter, or are joining Twitter, and would like to join the TGDN, follow his instructions on Friday.

Normally, I am not interested in this sort of “fad” thing.  When I first heard of this, I thought nothing of it (and I certainly didn’t want to take part, because my timeline would get far too cluttered for me to be able to read the tweets of the people I was already following (which I did on the basis of interestingness (that is a real word, apparently)), until I thought of making a list).  But the draw of an explosion in followers was too appealing (I’m not going to lie about why I joined).  And, sure enough, I more than quintupled my amount of followers (as it currently stands; I am still getting new followers frequently).  I am hoping that this will give me more of a voice.

While my reasons for joining is less than noble, this is more than a “fad,” and I have a feeling that it is going to be useful tool in the war on the left.  While this may not have been the TGDN’s primary purpose, it has enhanced the connections between conservative activists from around the world (most members are American, but there are a lot of Canadian members as well, and I have to assume many from other countries) that Twitter and the internet in general have made possible already.  And it is just in its infant stage.

Some people (who, in my opinion, are only threatened by the TGDN) have described it as a “cult.”  Well, something else it does is unites many people of diverse viewpoints (members of cults don’t usually have diverse viewpoints).  Conservatives are naturally independent people, and aren’t as willing as the left to form a “collective.”  That is one thing I like about the right.  However, the left has a huge advantage.  They seem to be able to unite people as diverse as socially conservative blacks and Mexicans, socially liberal (and sometimes fiscally and economically conservative) gay activists and abortion activists, socially conservative blue-collar workers, environmentalists, and others, without much apparent infighting.  If the right ever wants to be successful, it has to be able to do that.  I’m an ideological person, and I am much more comfortable being an individual than being this aligned with a group, but I’m also pragmatic, and that is just the reality.  The TGDN is a useful means by which to unify the right (which is far more diverse, both ideologically and in terms of the “characteristics” that the left uses to establish “diversity,” than most people apparently realize) on the grass-roots level.

I loathe the left, and I want it to be destroyed.  So I’m going to do what I can to get that accomplished (even if my overall contributions are miniscule).