Proverbs 18:1-10 -- The perils of social media
1 An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels. 2 Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.
Social media is a mirror. Are you friendly, are you selfish, do you have sound judgement?
3 When wickedness comes, so does contempt, and with shame comes reproach.
Social media can discuss issues, can be a place for friends to gather, a place to get understanding and help from others. But it is also a place where the wicked will come. One person arrested at this January 6 riot had posted numerous videos online of him speaking at the ANTIFA rallies railing against the authorities. He posted educational videos of how to dress for a riot, how to hide your identity, what kind of weapons to bring. He used Twitter, Facebook and Discord to advertise the riot, tell people when and where to meet, etc. We wonder why the platforms don’t take these posts down. They censored the President because they felt his use of the term “Patriot” was hate speech. However there are thousands of tweets on Twitter with the term “Hang Pence” or “Assassinate the President” that they don’t see as hate speech. The Shah of Iran can tweet about genocide of Jews and that is not hate speech. They determine that “peaceful protest” was code for inciting violence whereas John Sullivan’s tweets and other ANTIFA tweets that clearly called for violence didn’t? These things are shameful for Twitter and along with that shame will come reproach. Investors and advertisers and subscribers will all reproach them. Now if you advertise or invest in Twitter you will be taking part in their sins. Ultimately Elon Musk released files from Twitter showing they colluded with the federal government to shut down free speech concerning the election and concerning the Covid pandemic and vaccine.
4 The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.
It is not all bad. There are some great channels that are deep waters and rushing streams. I want to listen to them every day because if you don’t they will just pass you by. They have too much to say to always be repeating, it is your job to keep up.
5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice.
Parler was attacked by a coordinated attack to destroy their business. In a 24 hour period Google, Amazon.com and Apple all told them they would cancel all their contracts and shut them down. They were given 24 hours to move a billion dollar company. Meanwhile as Parler tried to find other servers that would host them these three companies went after those companies as well to make sure they would not host them. The stated reason for this was the claim that Parler was used to organize the riot on the Capitol. However, subsequent investigations have shown that the attack on the Capitol was organized via Twitter, Facebook and Discord. Of all the ones associated with the planning and initial breach of the capitol that have been arrested not one used Parler. They all used Twitter, Facebook and Discord. There was not a single post on Parler that organized or planned the riot prior to the event. So then why the rush to judgement? Well it turns out there was a very different reason for their panic and action. A year ago Parler had 1 million users, at the time of the attack they had 15 million. Rapid growth but still tiny compared to Twitter with 180 million active users. However, Twitter banned Trump and 7,000 other channels which might account for as many as 100 million active users and these companies learned that Trump had moved to Parler. If Twitter loses 100 million active users and Parler gains 100 million they will no longer be “tiny” but a clear rival to Twitter with spectacular growth.
6 The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.
The CEOs of these five tech giants are fools. No other way to say it. The entire world has seen what happened and have begun to take steps to protect themselves. Germany, France and Mexico all expressed outrage at the actions of these five. Uganda blocked Twitter during their election. Australia is introducing laws concerning liability for them and Google responded that if those laws are passed they might not be able to operate in Australia. The response from Australia was quite clear, anyone who is willing to abide by the laws of Australia are welcome to do business here, if you aren’t willing then you aren’t welcome. You can be sure that this is the tip of the iceberg. The governments of every country around the world are aware of what they have done and are taking action to protect themselves. They may not be vocal about it because they don’t wish to invite an attack, but they are all considering similar action. The actions of these companies has invited a beating in the stock market, a beating from their shareholders who will be demanding resignations and filing lawsuits, and a beating on public platforms. Since then Twitter has been bought out and 75% of the employees let go. Amazon.com just announced 20,000 layoffs after about a 50% drop in their share price. META has dropped by more than 50%. Trump has set up TruthSocial as a rival and GETTR is a rival. Musk is talking about releasing his own phone as a rival to Apple. There are rumors that his phone is more advanced, has a better network and would be given out free. If this were to take place Apple would collapse.
7 The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives.
I have warned T Rowe Price, a major investor in Twitter to sell the stock. There is a worldwide exodus from this company. The term “undoing” is so appropriate here. A stock price is similar to wager at a casino, you are betting what the stock will be worth in five years. If a company is growing rapidly as these companies have been and if you see them having a worldwide market to grow into as these companies did, then you can bet on huge growth and so the stock price is also very high. A month ago it would have been reasonable to bet that $100 worth of their stock could be worth $1,000 in five years. Therefore paying $500 for it would make sense. However, all the news that is coming out suggests that there will not be any growth at all, rather they may lose business over the next five years. Now, with all this news it is reasonable to bet that $100 worth of stock will be worth $80 in five years. A better price would therefore be $40. Unfortunately as the stock price drops from $500 to $40 you will see the “undoing” or “unwinding” of many positions. Also the companies will be forced to sell assets to cover debts. When stock prices fall it is like pulling pillars of support out of a structure, the entire building collapses.
8 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.
This is why companies hate to be the topic of the day. The talk of the tech giants demise will be like choice morsels at a cocktail party. Social media is the cocktail party.
9 One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.
Neither my wife or I are on Twitter. So what is the point of it, who cares? In the past if a company wanted to make a press announcement they would invite the press to a meeting and make a statement. Now they can simply tweet. The press all subscribe to their account and they’ll see the announcement and then retweet it on their platform, say a newspaper. The President did this, concerts were announced this way, new products, etc. But that does not explain 180 million active users. It turns out that a great many of the tweets are by people who are “slack in his work”, the stereotypical twenty something living in his parents basement. With nothing better to do they became the “brother to one who destroys”. As a result the “Cancel culture” was created by self important college kids acting as judge and jury. The problem is their threats were empty, people soon realized that their threat of cancelling Chick Fil A only caused the company to prosper, the same thing with Goya, etc. So then, you either slink off with your tail between your legs or you up the ante and ANTIFA was born. You won’t listen to us, we smash your windows.
10 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
I am watching people right, left and center get cancelled, get doxed, get threatened, shamed and bullied. For what? For saying something that someone took offense to. But they haven’t cancelled me, haven’t focused their ire on me. Why not? By the time you get to where I say “election fraud” or corruption or the “Biden crime family” it is so deep within the fortified tower of the Lord that I am safe.
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