The last couple of weeks, I've seen too many posts by (arguably) well-meaning people claiming that some social media platforms must be defended given the parts those platforms played in social uprisings over the past decade or two. As if these were fundamentally precious territory.
I don't want to write an essay, but bottom line: activists and protesters will flock to platforms and leverage them as needed. Sites and protocols can be contextually vital but never inherently so. There are many reasons to mourn the loss of digital spaces--such as birdsite's surprisingly decent accessibility features, or the friends one once had on insert_site_here. I get it. That being said, there's no reason to deify their political power. Blogs, forums, messaging apps, or file sharing programs have proven just as potent. Platforms are tools; we design them as much as they design us. But they aren't movements in themselves.
Here are two solid articles: