What would Twitter look like if everyone had private accounts?
The only entities broadcasting and engaging in the open would be public services and institutions, companies and corporations, politicians and “celebrities,” news and arts. You can add your own notions to that list.
I mean, obviously it’s absurd and impossible and even as a fleeting amusement of an idea it has fifty things wrong with it.
But it does amuse me. I mean, if you want to call it social media, not every social occasion is a street party that all-comers can shamble into. You invite people to parties. (I presume.) You invite people inside your house. There is no contract that demands your participation in a free service to include allowing every bastard to crawl in through the windows.
What if everyone went private, curated their own read of the public feeds for and with their friends and, to summon a phrase, the people, corporates, collectives, and bots they currently favour. It’s a fun thought for me.
This stupid brainworm brought to you by a writer whose Twitter phone app only opens to the list of his local services that he curated.
(If you’re new here, the category “jotter” is really just for half-formed thoughts I want to type up so I can see how dumb they are. Sorry.)