Deactivating Our Automated Tweeting of YouTube Videos to @IndLeftNews

It's a Hard Habit to Break, But We're Giving it a Shot

Over the past 2+ years, one of the ways Indie Left News has helped independent content creators reach a broader audience was to use a bot that automatically tweeted every time specific channels posted a new YouTube video, completed a livestream or went live on Twitch - from the @indleftnews account. <more below>

Twitter censorship and algorithmic deboosting have long been a concern for content creators and social media users alike. These practices, which involve the suppression or suppression of certain types of content or accounts, can have significant consequences for those affected by them.

We’ve noticed over the past few months, looking at Twitter Analytics (free), that the reach from those posts are substantially lower than they used to be. Looking at the past 28 days, most of the tweets that generated the most impressions & engagement were not automated. Unless they were retweeted by the content creator themselves, the tweets had minimal reach, numbers-wise, for an account with almost 5,000 followers (4776 at publishing).

Our decision to turn off automated tweeting of YouTube and Twitch were motivated by a desire to avoid any potential negative impacts of these practices on the creators and on our account itself.

One of the main issues with Twitter censorship is that it can be arbitrary and subjective, with different content and accounts being treated differently depending on the whims of the platform and its algorithms. This lack of transparency and accountability can make it difficult for content creators to understand why their content may be suppressed or why their accounts may be deboosted, leading to frustration and a loss of trust in the platform.

In the case of our @indleftnews account, we were concerned that the volume & frequency of automated YouTube and Twitch daily could potentially trigger the algorithms and lead to censorship or deboosting - it may have already.

Ultimately, our decision to turn off the automated tweeting of YouTube and Twitch posts was driven by a desire to protect both the content creators and the @indleftnews account from the potentially negative consequences of Twitter censorship and algorithmic deboosting. While it was a difficult decision, we believe it was the right one in the circumstances, and we continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure that we are taking the necessary steps to avoid any issues in the future.

Overall, the issue of Twitter censorship and algorithmic de-boosting highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability from social media platforms. It is important that users and content creators have a clear understanding of how these practices work and why certain content or accounts may be affected. Only by addressing these issues can we hope to build a social media landscape that is truly open and free for all.

• What do you think?

• Will you miss the automation?

• Were you clicking/watching those posts?

• Sound off in the comments below!