Counter Social has existed for a few years, but recently gained a lot of prominence as self declared union enemy, Elon Musk made a bid to buy Twitter. It was founded by a skilled programmer and social activist called The Jester, who all around basically seems to be a decent guy even though he is a "Lincoln Project" Republican. Counter Social is a safe, bot free, fascism free place run by, developed by and (as of now) controlled and moderated by The Jester. It's a one man band, and there are paid accounts and monthly donations to keep the place running. It has no algothythm of any kind which is good and bad. Its good because you can see your friends or general feed without the app telling you what you want to see; and bad because its frankly kind of just flat out boring with equal amounts of random music links, comments about cats and rants about politics. It sounds nice but after seeing content that filters for your engagement and relevance, Counter Social feels like eating Graham Crackers just after a meal of Filet Minion (and I hate hate HATE most social media companies.)
Facebook is a blight. Daily Kos is a hazard on progressives. Tiktok routinely harasses liberals, LGBT, and minority creators. So while I was originally thrilled (if not bored) on Counter Social I had a long term view and wanted to help promote and encourage people to join a fascism free spot for progressives to discuss things, especially constitutional reform. Then, the other day, several pro Amber Heard people on the app said that certain fans of a male actor had hurt the metoo movement. Given the involvement of fascists Elon Musk and Ruprect Murdoch, I told these people they were blocked. I believe one of them was a friend of the Jester, because when I posted facts about the effort to magnify Murdoch's obsession with this actor, I also mentioned the highly abusive Bot Sentinel. Then the Jester popped on and said that he thought Chris Bouzy was a great guy and that the people he called out were jerks. Remember, the Jester is a Lincoln Project Republican, so if he doesnt like you, he can throw you out because he just wants to.
I immediately left. If you like wonderbread, counter social is a great place for you if you are a centrist middle of the road not totally evil member of the GOP. But if you are a progressive, know that anyone who thinks Chris Bouzy is right will come after you. Build a community on COSO at your peril. You have been warned.
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