Reddit, YouTube, and Twitter have all been the target of passionate groups of users claiming that the sites have embraced censorship. There's a complicated balance being tested, with limited success, as social networks try and retain their atmosphere of openness while creating an advertiser-safe environment.
In the case of Reddit - the massive influx of Donald Trump Redditors after the Orlando shooting at the Pulse Nightclub drove a change in the Reddit algorithm, with Reddit CEO Steve Huffman saying that the changes were being introduced to prevent "any one community" from dominating the Reddit listings. But there's no doubt a powerful tug and pull going on. Reddit has not addressed the claim that 2,200 anti-Trump users were banned before Trump did an AMA on the service last month. But volunteer moderators bragged that they had removed liberal commenters.
YouTube has found itself the target of critics as it narrowed its monetization policy. YouTube has begun notifying creators that their videos are being "de-monetized" if they aren't considered "advertiser-friendly." Given the growth of YouTube was in large measure -based on makers who pushed the envelope with language and often controversial content, this change is likely to have an impact on many of their most popular content creators.
Facebook has surprisingly been able to walk the line - so far - by providing its entire user base access to Facebook Live, and then responding to complaints and police requests to take down content only after the requests have been reviewed. Of course, as more and more people use FB Live in confrontations with the police, local complaints, and various behavior that is combative, Facebook will be forced to sort out the best way to balance user and advertiser sensitivities with claims of censorship.
Twitter. While others are wrestling with ways to moderate, curate, or censor content - depending on your point of view - Twitter seems comfortable leaving things as a wide open frat party. However you feel about Donald Trump, there's no doubt that he's been able to use the fast moving, trend-driven, Twittersphere to generate a good deal of organic free media and press coverage. Twitter is on one hand habit-forming and addictive and but in the end totally toxic. As more extreme voices have taken to Twitter to troll people and espouse hateful rhetoric, Twitter has done little to add protections or filters - looking wistfully in the rear view mirror when the site was all about free expression - and before it was a global broadcast platform. Today user growth has stagnated as a new generation shifts to semi-public networks like SnapChat.
Reddit, YouTube, and Twitter have all been the target of passionate groups of users claiming that the sites have embraced censorship. There's a complicated balance being tested, with limited success, as social networks try and retain their atmosphere of openness while creating an advertiser-safe environment.
In the case of Reddit - the massive influx of Donald Trump Redditors after the Orlando shooting at the Pulse Nightclub drove a change in the Reddit algorithm, with Reddit CEO Steve Huffman saying that the changes were being introduced to prevent "any one community" from dominating the Reddit listings. But there's no doubt a powerful tug and pull going on. Reddit has not addressed the claim that 2,200 anti-Trump users were banned before Trump did an AMA on the service last month. But volunteer moderators bragged that they had removed liberal commenters.
YouTube has found itself the target of critics as it narrowed its monetization policy. YouTube has begun notifying creators that their videos are being "de-monetized" if they aren't considered "advertiser-friendly." Given the growth of YouTube was in large measure -based on makers who pushed the envelope with language and often controversial content, this change is likely to have a dramatic economic impact on many of their most popular content creators.
Facebook has surprisingly been able to walk the line - so far - by providing its entire user base access to Facebook Live, and then responding to complaints and police requests to take down content only after the requests have been reviewed. Of course, as more and more people use FB Live in confrontations with the police, local complaints, and various behavior that is combative, Facebook will be forced to sort out the best way to balance user and advertiser sensitivities with claims of censorship.
Twitter. While others are wrestling with ways to moderate, curate, or censor content - depending on your point of view - Twitter seems comfortable leaving things as a wide open frat party. However you feel about Donald Trump, there's no doubt that he's been able to use the fast moving, trend-driven, Twittersphere to generate a good deal of organic free media and press coverage. Twitter is on one hand habit-forming and addictive and but in the end totally toxic. As more extreme voices have taken to Twitter to troll people and espouse hateful rhetoric, Twitter has done little to add protections or filters - looking wistfully in the rear view mirror when the site was all about free expression - and before it was a global broadcast platform. Today user growth has stagnated as a new generation shifts to semi-public networks like SnapChat.
In summary - the open, freewheeling days of the internet seem to be coming to an end, as a number of trends align. Mobile users have less screen space, and more of a temptation to browse rather than dive deep. At the same time, the emergence of video, and the significant dollars that are at stake for sites who can make video "advertiser-safe" is likely to drive publishers toward semi-public publishing strategies where identity is traded for anonymity - and users and creators are held responsible for what they publish. It's not clear that this is going to be easy, but the train is already moving down the tracks.