Dear friends, readers, newcomers,
I hope this message finds you well.
This year hasn’t been good for much problems, not for the climate, not for peace, not for us, journalists, and not for freedom of expression in general.
One of the issue worsening is the way we're owned by our social media.
You may have seen what happened on Twitter (I won't use the CEO's dark rebranding...).
I certainly have… I mean, for instance, how the CEO criticised the German government for participating in sea rescue operations, posted photos of himself at the Mexican border, and... supported infamous antisemitic French author Alain Soral...
If not, all you need is here on AP, on Bloomberg, and here on Forbes... and on Musk's own unbearable feed!
More recently, Meta started censuring post, and the European Union announced "formal infringement proceedings" against X after identifying suspect posts related to the war between Israel and Hamas:
It is the first such move against a major online platform under a new EU law designed to combat disinformation and hate speech.
I cannot stand the idea of serving as a tiny pawn in his empire, can you?
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As a journalist, reporter and writer, I spent an enormous amount of time on Twitter in the past decades, before it was changed, just doing my job: sharing relevant information for free, completed by art, music, films, beauty... created by people I admire and respect for their values.
I can no longer do that without feeling used and reduced to silence, as the algorithm favours the richest man of the world's opinion, while pushing us out. All that by claiming he defends "free speech".
I feel really powerless posting on it, and on social media in general...Serious media have been robbed of all effects. Disinformation, opinions, and hatred have taken all space, thus power. This is the era we live in.
This week now, disinformation and lies about Palestine have inundated all these networks…
All over the world, press freedom is attacked, reduced or threatened. Online networks help to find sources, information, contacts, etc.
But not if we have to sell our souls to the devil for it...
Facebook, Instagram and Thread - as Meta - are not much better, to be honest, I won't start listing all the reasons why, but basically they just encourage self-promotion and competition. While stealing our data! Remember Cambridge Analytica?
Here is an excellent piece on Meta's policy towards politics:
https://theintercept.com/2023/08/30/meta-censorship-policy-dangerous-organizations/
I also tried Mastodon and Post but not much happened there...
If I'm writing to you, it is because I've interacted with you on Twitter at some point or for some of you daily. I now suffer there...
There are alternatives!
Here are a few.
Hope to see you there.
>> BlueSky, and other similar networks
It looks and feels like Twitter at the beginning…
https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-twitter-alternative/
Twitter, or as it's now known, X, isn't the same as it used to be. Here are the best Twitter alternatives if you're looking to leave the social media site.
My account on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/melissaontheroad.bsky.social
The one on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@melissaontheroad
>> Substack
Substack is an American online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers.
But it's also much more than that, and allows space for communication and networking.
Here's my newsletter:
https://substack.com/@melissaontheroad?utm_source=profile-page
Melissa Chemam
SUBSTACK.COM/@MELISSAONTHEROAD
Reporter/Writer on African affairs, migrations, culture, Europe/UK/France, interested in rewriting cultural narratives.
I'm also the author of the book 'Out of the Comfort Zone', about Britain's music, art, multiculturalism & activism, digging into the ghosts of its colonial past.
There are plenty of other newsletters there, of course! And spaces to chat, exchange, discuss, correspond...
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