Claire Lee's review of X
Date last edited: 05-30-2024 at 10:41PM
Rating: Mature 17+
Review:
Claire Lee
Title: X
Developer: X Corp.
Genre: social media
My rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Primary Audience: adults (rated 17+)
Version: 10.43.1
Platform: all platforms
Cost: Free
In October of 2022, the social media app Twitter was purchased by Elon Musk and rebranded as X. Since then, Musk has expressed his love for the First Amendment and his commitment to allowing free speech on the app. With millions of users worldwide, there are certainly some bad accounts, and this is not entirely the app’s fault. Still, there is more that X can do to create a better platform for users and promote the common good.
The First Media Key: Balance:
Since first taking over Twitter (now X), Musk has explicitly made it his goal to allow multiple viewpoints to be expressed. In theory, this is a good idea, but problems arise when more controversial viewpoints get seen more due to the algorithm, which displays posts that have the most responses. Many times, controversial posts have high levels of engagement because people choose to argue in the comments. While it is beneficial for people to be able to see things from multiple perspectives, many times people approach discussions to express their anger instead of having a good-faith conversation.
Furthermore, pushing more controversial posts to the top can result in greater division among different people. Often the app does not promote a balanced worldview because because it can cause people to end up with a distorted idea of how the average person from a particular demographic thinks. The new monetization feature often encourages people to say outlandish things they don’t actually believe because they want to make more money. Essentially, some people make it part of their career to have terrible opinions or to ridicule others. All this is detrimental to creating a balanced platform where people have honest discussions and attempt to sort out their differences.
The Second Media Key: Attitude Awareness
While Musk has emphasized the importance of free speech on X, which he has referred to as a digital town square, his actions suggest his ultimate agenda and attitude is something different. I am not denying that free speech is genuinely important to him, but I believe is secondary to the true goal of the app: making a profit. By allowing pornography on the platform, X turns into something other than a simple marketplace of ideas. It is not truly a digital town square, because even in today’s society, if you try to do the things portrayed in pornography in your local town square, you will get arrested. Nevertheless on X, in a large number of innocent posts that are popular, there will be porn creators advertising their content. This contributes nothing valuable to the conversation.
People do not view or create pornography because they simply want to share their perspective, so no one coming onto X to broaden their horizons by seeing others’ worldviews would be missing out on anything if it were not there. However, many people use X for the sole purpose of viewing or distributing pornography. If it were banned from the platform, a sizeable proportion of X users would either not be on the app at all or be less engaged, which would mean the app would produce less revenue. This does not mean that it is wrong to use X for innocent purposes. Rather, one must be aware of the attitude of the owner of X, whose actions make it seem as though his attitude is profit above all else, and make use of the safe search feature that blocks explicit content from appearing on your feed.
The Third Media Key: Dignity of the Human Person
The third media key is where X falls short the most. Musk does not have the power to stop people from viewing and distributing pornography on other platforms, but if he wanted to he could take a stand for human dignity and put an end to it on his own. As stated earlier, pornography is not the same as simply sharing one’s opinion and it contributes nothing important to any conversation. People can have productive discussions about various political issues, but no one seeks out pornography for this reason. Therefore, it is not necessary for and is even detrimental to a free speech platform.
The church teaches that pornography is an affront to human dignity because it presents human beings as objects to be used for sexual gratification. When it comes to an intrinsic evil such as this, there can be no neutral stance, especially since it is never fruitful to view it. The safe search option is certainly better than nothing, but it is not enough. By allowing pornography on the platform, X is sending the message that profit is more important than human dignity and treating other humans as objects is the same as simply expressing a differing or controversial opinion.
The Fourth Media Key: Truth-Filled
Over the past few years, Musk has been attempting to balance a commitment to free speech while also preventing the spread of misinformation. Other than allowing pornography, which does not tell the truth about the human body and what it was made for, X has been solving this problem fairly well through the creation of the community notes feature. In theory, the community notes will pop up under a post spreading false information and tell the truth about what happened. The community notes are contributed to by other X users, so they are fallible, but they often introduce important points that were left out of the original post so users can have a more well-rounded view.
Part of whether or not X fulfills the fourth media key is dependent on the user. The content we see on X is often tailored to our specific interests. For example, if you are interested in conspiracy theories, the posts showing up on your feed will likely contain a lot of falsehoods. However, anyone can respond to these posts, so you will be introduced to other viewpoints as well. Thus, while not completely perfect, X tries to remain a truth-filled platform where people can come to receive accurate information.
The Fifth Media Key: Inspiring
Like the last media key, whether or not X is inspiring depends both on the user and the platform. If you create an account to spread nihilistic ideas and follow other like-minded people with similar defeatest attitudes, your feed is going to be pretty depressing. However, there are plenty of people who come onto X with a positive attitude, and some even use it to spread the Gospel. There is a lot of content on X that educates people on the faith and helps point people to heaven. My main criticism goes back to what I discussed in the first media key. Users do indeed have some control over what topics they want to view, but controversial statements from people looking to make money or get attention will often be pushed to the top no matter what.
I will use my own experience when I had an account as an example. I joined X mainly to view Catholic content, and I ended up seeing a lot of popular posts that spread disunity. For example, some people would say that going to the Novus Ordo was a sin and the advisable course of action would be to skip mass on Sunday if there was no mass in the Extraordinary Form in one’s area. This is not inspiring as instead of encouraging people to do good, it is encouraging the mortal sin of not meeting the Church’s Sunday obligation. I saw this not because I wanted to or I expressed that opinion myself, but because posts like those were what was getting the most interaction among Catholic circles.
The Sixth Media Key: Skillfully Developed
Since Musk’s takeover, the quality of X has both increased and decreased in different ways. On the one hand, the community notes feature despite its fallibility can be very helpful in identifying misinformation. There were also cases of people being banned from what was then Twitter unfairly under its former leadership. It is true that as a private platform, X is not beholden to the First Amendment in the same way the government is, but its clear bias towards leftwing politics diminished its usability. As such, Musk’s commitment to free speech has in many ways been a force for good.
On the other hand, the rebranding of Twitter as X was a questionable decision that had a negative impact on the overall visual aesthetic of the app. What used to be a happy little bird against a sky blue background is now a simple letter of the alphabet often associated with adult content with a black background. The bird theme was a very ingenious idea, as the name Twitter and the idea of making tweets fit in nicely with the function of the app. It brings to mind a large group of birds all “twittering” and “tweeting” at the same time. This serves as a metaphor for people all speaking and sharing ideas at the same time, which is what happens on the app. Renaming the app X has nothing to do with its intended use, and makes it seem like it’s a different sort of app. As one user quipped, “What am I supposed to tell my wife when she sees this?” Furthermore, changing the name of tweets to posts is simply boring and does less to set the app apart from other social media platforms that use similar technology.
The Seventh Media Key: Motivated by and Relevant to Experience
This last media key is where X succeeds the most. X has taken great pains to attract as many users as possible (even to a fault as discussed under the fourth media key), and it has succeeded in this endeavor. As of April 2024, X has about 256 million users who are active daily, with many more who are active less often. This popularity is due to the app’s accessibility and the fact that it contains a vast array of content for people of all different interests.
X is undeniably a very easy app to access as it is free to download and is extremely user-friendly. The setup of the app is such that it can be easily figured out and it does not take much time to create an account. There are so many people on the app that no matter what your interest is if you look for it you will find your community. Thus, it has proven itself to be a valuable tool in reaching people.
X is an extremely successful app that has its pros and cons. A free speech platform is something that can be very useful for society, but unfortunately, the app takes this principle too far in order to make a profit. The app is of fair quality, although it has been lacking in some ways since Musk’s takeover. Overall, X has many flaws but can still be a force for good when used responsibly.
Seven Keys:
Balanced:
Attitude:
Personal:
Truth-filled:
Inspired:
Skillfully Made:
Experienced:
Overall Rating: 20/35
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