Thesis: a web of trust based social network wouldn't have a reliable "global" follower / like / etc count -- it would only be the ones you've seen -- and this would be a feature.
Some of the most toxic behavior on Twitter comes from people trying to become "the most popular person in the room", which also leads to a lot of social messaging which isn't about being constructive, but differentiating yourself in a way that makes you look better than others.
By having a public follower count, *everyone* (yes, even you, yes even me) is gamed into comparing whether your follower count is higher than others, whether others got more likes / shares / etc than you.
This isn't a good basis for thoughtful communication.
@cwebber +1. I wrote a whole thing about this: https://jasonlefkowitz.net/2013/02/i-kind-of-hate-twitter/
@jalefkowit @cwebber What a great post. I kinda feel like you foresaw a lot of this stuff before others did (or at least, before I did). I didn't really notice until 2016, when the US election/Brexit magnified everything.
I've been trying to read "Understanding Media," but it's *so dense*. 😭 Maybe Twitter has ruined my attention span too…
@nolan @cwebber It's true, McLuhan can be somewhat... opaque. Stick with him though, he's worth the effort