Introduction
I have had a Twitter account since March 2012, but it's not my favorite literary style. I prefer to write essays, not short 140-character messages or even 280-character messages. I don't read my tweets every day, but there's a good chance that I'll see your messages. My e-mail address is available on my Blogger "about me" page.If you want to send me a tweet, send it to @BennyTheKite, named in honor of Benjamin Franklin.
About Mr. Franklin
He was:- A printer. Link to his page on the National Museum of American History.
- A writer. Link to his page on the Library of Congress.
- A diplomat Link to his page on the U.S. Department of State.
- An inventor. Link to his page on the National Constitution Center.
- A scientist. Link to his page on the website of Texas A&M University.
- A patriot Link to his page on the website of the U.S. Army's historian.
- An abolitionist. Hs page on the website of the National Archives. He sent a letter to Congress, asking them to abolish slavery.
My personal standards for retweeting other people's messages
This is a repeat of an announcement that I have already made on Twitter. As my personal policy on Twitter, I will not retweet certain messages. Any message that has strong swear words will not be retweeted. I have reluctantly retweeted messages from people who called someone else "an ass" or "a jackass", but stronger language is not acceptable to me. Twitter may allow other swear words, but I do not.Also, in accordance with my personal racial policy (I am color-blind), I will not retweet any message that includes a description of an individual or a group as being a member of a race. No descriptions of anyone or any group as a "white person" or a "black person" are allowed. No color-coded descriptions of a group of people are allowed, either. I recently had a conversation with someone who had been a political candidate of a congressional district that he said was "majority black". I did not retweet that message because it goes against the color-blindness that has been a part of my life for decades.
New retweeting policy as of December 2, 2015
Today, I found out that another person followed me whose Twitter account was strictly commercial. There were no messages about any of my favorite subjects: politics, political science, or economics. None of his messages interested me at all. It seems that the only reason he followed me was because he believed that I would eventually retweet some of his messages, and he would get some free publicityThat was my policy for well over a year, but as of today, December 2, 2015, I am changing this policy.
Anyone is welcome to follow me on Twitter. Anyone at all, including singers, writers, graphic artists, and anyone else who has a product to sell, but I will not retweet messages from Twitter accounts that are set up exclusively for a commercial purpose.
I will make exceptions at my own personal discretion.
The threats against the jury
I have only made one exception to this policy of not retweeting messages that include color descriptions of people or groups. During the 2013 trial of George Zimmerman, I found a person who was tweeting threats against the jury. As soon as I saw these messages, I looked for some way to report him to Twitter, but I didn't see any way to do it, so I began retweeting the messages verbatim, one after another, hoping that someone else knew how to notify Twitter and some law enforcement authority of the threat to this jury.Fortunately, someone else that was reading my retweets retweeted them again to the Twitter support staff and to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Less than a half-hour later, the Twitter account of the person who was making the threats was suspended. I can only hope that someone in the F.B.I. has arrested him, but I don't have a lot of confidence that this has happened, because the F.B.I. reports to the U.S. Department of Justice, which was headed by Eric Holder at that time. He is well-known for not prosecuting certain kinds of people.
The names of some of my followers
All of these people follow my account.Two U.S. Senators
Note: Senator Cruz followed me before Senator Schmitt did, so Senator Cruz is listed before Senator Schmitt.| Name | Other Information | Twitter Handle |
| U.S. Senator Ted Cruz | He represents Texas Senate office website. He has followed me with this account and the next one since April 2013. | SenTedCruz |
| Ted Cruz | This is his personal Twitter account, sometimes called "a campaign account". | tedcruz |
| Eric Schmitt |
He was sworn-in as a U.S. Senator in January 2023. He began following me when he was a Missouri State Senator. campaign website. | Eric_Schmitt |
Six U.S. Representatives
Note: They are listed in the order that they began following me.| Name | Other Information | Twitter Handle |
| Ann Wagner | She represents Missouri's 2nd District. This is her House office website. She has followed me since July 2013. | RepAnnWagner |
| Brian Mast | He has been a member of the U.S. House, representing Florida's 21st Congressional district, since 2017. This was the 18th District until the district map was redrawn in 2022. This is his House office website. | BrianMastFL |
| Nicole Malliotakis | She represents the 11th Congressional district in New York. She was the Republican candidate for the Mayor of New York City in 2017. Campaign website | NMalliotakis |
| Matt Rosedale | His state, Montana, has only one seat in the U.S. House. He represents the whole state. Campaign website. | MattForMontana |
| Claudia Tenney | She represents the 24th Congressional district in New York. She is an attorney and the owner of a small business. Campaign website. | claudiatenney |
| Marianette Miller-Meeks, M.D. | She represents Iowa's first Congressional District. This is her Congressional website. She is also a licensed physician. Campaign website. | millermeeks |
Four Candidates for the U.S. Senate
All of these Twitter accounts follow my Twitter account.| Name | State | Twitter Handle |
| Aaron L. Packard | Massachusetts | AaronLPackard1 |
| Bob Antonellis | Massachusetts | BobForSenateMA |
| Thomas Murphy | South Carolina | tommurphy8485 |
| Alexander Gaaserud | West Virginia | AlexGaaserud4WV |
Eight Candidates for the U.S. House
All of these Twitter accounts follow my Twitter account.| Name | Other Information | Twitter Handle |
| Yvette Herrell |
She was a member of the U.S. House from 2021 to 2023. She is running again fro New Mexico's 2nd District. Campaign website.
|
Yvette4congress |
| Tim Fazenbaker | Candidate for Congress in Maryland's 2nd Congressional district. Campaign website. | america1timfaze |
| Elbert Guillory | Candidate for the 6th Congressional district in Louisiana. He was a State Senator and an Executive Member of the Louisiana Republican Party. | ElbertGuillory |
| Chrris Bright | He is a graduate of West Point and a candidate for New Hampshire's 1st District. Campaign website | ChrisBrightNH |
| Riley Moore | He is the current West Virginia State Treasurer. He is a candidate for West Virginia's Campaign website |
RileyMooreWV |
| Lily Tang Williams | She escaped from Maoist China and started a business in New Hampshire. | Lily4Liberty |
| Mike Zimblaskas | The Republican candidate in NY-12. The incumbent is a Democrat named Jerry Nadler. | MikeZumblaskas |
| Alfe Goodwin | The Republican candidate in PA-05. The incumbent is Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon. | AlfeGood89159 |
Nine State Legislators
All of these Twitter accounts follow my Twitter account| Name | Other Information | Twitter Handle |
| Texas State Senator Brandon Creighton | TX Senate website. | SenCreighton |
| Missouri State Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman | She represents Missouri Senate District 22. She is a candidate for Secretary of State. MO Senate website. | meacoleman |
| Virginia Delegate Paul Milde | He represents Virginia House District 64. VA House website. | PaulvMilde |
| Virginia Delegate Emily Jordan | Member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 64th District. She was elected in 2017. She was reelected in 2019, 2021, and 2023. Campaign website. | EmilyJordan4VA |
| Virginia Delegate Terry Gilgore | Member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 45th District. Campaign website. | delterrykilgore |
| New York State Representative Joe Angelino | He represents Arkansas Senate District 27. New York House website. | JosephAngelino |
| Arkansas State Representative Jim Dotson | Member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, representing the 93rd District. His page on the website of the AR Legislature. | RepJimDotson |
| Missouri State Representative Melanie Stinnett | She represents Missouri House District 133. campaign website. | MStinnettSWMO |
| Missouri State Representative Louis Riggs | He represents Missouri House District 5. campaign website. | riggs4missouri |
Former legislators
All of these Twitter accounts follow my Twitter account.A former member of the U.S. Senate
| Roy Blunt | He represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate for two 6-yr terms, from January 2011 until January 2023. | RoyBluntMO |
Three former members of the U.S. House of Representatives
| Scott Rigel |
Former Congressman for VA-02 until 2017. | RepScottRigell |
| Steve Stockman | He represented two Congressional districts (at different times) in Texas from 1995-1997 and from 2013-2015. | SteveWorks4You |
| Diane Black | Represented Tennessee's 6th District in the U.S. House until January 2019. She was elected in 2010. She was also a candidate for the Governor of Tennessee. Campaign website. | DianeBlackTN |
Six former members of state legislatures
| Bob Ballinger | He represented an Arkansas Senate District from January 2019 to Januasry 2023. Before that, he was a member of their House of Representatives. | Bob_Ballinger |
| John MacDonald | He represented the 1st Middlesex district in the Massachusetts State Senate. Campaign website. | jmacforstatesen1 |
| Garrett Love | Former State Senator from Kansas. | Garrett_Love |
| Bob Thorpe | He represented a District in Arizona's House of Representatives from January 2013 until January 2021. | azrepbobthorpe |
| Richard Corcoran | He was a Florida State Representative in their 37th House District and he was their House Speaker. He was also the Commissioner of Edication in their state. He was unable to run for reelection in 2018 due to term limits. | richardcorcoran |
| Geoff Diehl | He represented the 7th Plymouth District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2018 and for Governor in 2022. | RepGeoffDiehl |
| Gates Lucas | He represented the 2nd Sullivan District in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. | GatesLucasNH |
Former Candidates for the U.S. House
All of these Twitter accounts follow my Twitter account.| Eric Essshaki | He was a candidate for Michigan's 10th Congressional district. | EsshakiCongress |
| Tre Pennie |
President, Fallen Officer's Foundation. Candidate for Congress in Texas. Campaign website. | RealOmarNavarro |
| DeAnna Lorraine | Candidate for the 12th Congressional district in California. She tried to replace Nancy Palosi in the U.S. House of Representatives. | DeAnna4Congress |
| Tiffany Shedd | Candidate for the 1st Congressional district in Arizona. Tiffany grew up in Pinal County, and worked her way through college and law school at the University of Arizona. | Tiffany_Shedd |
| Joe Profit | Candidate for the 6th Congressional district in Georgia. He is a former NFL player. Campaign website. | JoeProfitGA_06 |
| Nick Moutos | Candidate for the 35th Congressional district in Texas. He is a licensed attorney and a veteran. Campaign website. | votenickmoutos |
| Patrice Kimbler | Candidate for the 36th Congressional district in California. He is a licensed attorney and a veteran. Campaign website. | pkforca36 |
| Lerah Lee | Former Candidate for the 7th Congressional district in Georgia. Her campaign website | LerahLeeforGA7 |
| John Hugo | Former Republican candidate for the U.S. House, in the 5th Congressional District in the state of Massachusetts. Campaign website on Facebook. | HugoCongress |
| Willie Billups | Former Republican candidate for the U.S. House in Tennessee's 9th Congressional District. | VoteBillups |
| Lori Bartley | 2016 Candidate for the U.S. House in Texas's 18th Congressional district. Campaign website. She didn't win her race, and she deleted her old Twitter account. She used to use @LoriBartleyTX18 | AVFTVoiceless |
| Pina Prinzivalli | Former Republican candidate for the 19th Middlesex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Campaign website. | PinaForYou |
| Claire Malaguti | Former Republican candidate for the 30th Middlesex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. | claire_malaguti |
| John Cruz | Former Republican candidate for the 10th Plymouth district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. | JCruz4Rep |
| Rob Maness | Former candidate for the Louisiana House of Representatives, District 77, and a retired Air Force Colonel. Campaign website. Unfortunately, he lost his race. | RobManess |
| Former Texas State Senator Don Huffines | He represents Texas Senate District 16. TX Senate website. He lost his reelection race in November 2018. | DonHuffines |
Other very important people
| Name | Other Information | Twitter Handle |
| John Kasich | Former Governor of Ohio (until January 2019) and 2016 presidential candidate website | JohnKasich |
| Debbie Georgatos | Member, Reppblican National Committee. She is also the host of a radio talk show in Texas. | DebbieCanWeTalk |
| Ryan Fournier | Founder, Students for Trump | RyanAFournier |
| Jessie Jane Duff 275,000 |
Executive Director, Veterans for Trump. Retired Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. | @JessieJaneDuff |
| Michael Bars | Former White House Sr. Sommunications Advisor and Spokesman, Deputy Asst. Secretary, Homeland Security | MichaelBars_ |
| Governor Abbott's reelection campaign | Greg Abbott is the Governor of Texas. | AbbottCampaign |
| Keri Ingraham | Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute | KeriDIngraham |
| Ed Krassenstein | Lefty with 1m followers |
EdKrassen |
| Texas Tribune |
Online Newspaper |
TexasTrubune |
| Don Bulduc |
Retired Four-Star General and former candidate for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshiire | GenDonBolduc |
| Debbie Georgatos | Member, Republican National Committee, Texas. She is also a radio talk show host. | DebbieCanWeTalk |
| David E. Biddle | Chair, Gilchrist County (Florida) Republican Party | davidebiddle |
| Joey Bautista | Former professional baseball player with a million followers | JoeyBats19 |
| Scott Brown | The U.S. Senate confirmed him June 8, 2017 as the U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand. Before that, he was a U.S. Senator from January 2011 until his confirmation as a U.S. Ambassador. | SenScottBrown |
| Oil and Gas Worker's Association |
OGWA is working to secure and advance oil and gas jobs. |
ogwausa |
| Jeff Kuhner | WRKO Radio Talk Show Host | TheKiknerReport |
| Conservative Republican Alliance of New York |
A grassroots political club. They also have a GETTR account.
|
CRANewYorkState |
| Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Florida |
A grassroots political club. They also have a GETTR account.
|
CRANewYorkState |
| Michael Johns | Tea Party Leader & former White House Speechwriter | michaeljohns |
| Matt Batzel | National Executive Director of American Majority | MattBatzel |
Advocacy groups and journalists
All of these Twitter accounts follow my Twitter account. "AFP is the acronym of an advocacy group called Americans For Prosperity.| The Massachusetts Tea Party | my oldest follower (thanks) | MAteaparty |
| The Daily Caller Politics | Their main page is @DailyCaller | TheDCPolitics |
| The Mass GOP Muni PAC | The full name is The Massachusetts Republican Municipal Coalition PAC. Their last tweet was in July 2017. | MassGOPMuniPAC |
| AFP, North Carolina |
A strong voice in opposition to Obama's policies
|
AFPNC |
| AFP, Tennessee |
A strong voice in opposition to Obama's policies
|
AFPTN |
| AFP, Colorado |
A strong voice in opposition to Obama's policies
|
AFPColorado |
| AFP, Iowa |
A strong voice in opposition to Obama's policies
|
AFPIowa |
| AFP, New Hampshire |
A strong voice in opposition to Obama's policies
|
AFP_NH |
| AFP, Florida |
A strong voice in opposition to Obama's policies
|
AFPFFlorida |
| AFP, Maine |
A strong voice in opposition to Obama's policies
|
AFPFMaine |
| AFP, Pennsylvania |
A strong voice in opposition to Obama's policies
|
AFPFPennsylvania |
| AFP, Georgia |
A strong voice in opposition to Obama's policies
|
AFPFGeorgia |
| American Spectator |
Their Twitter profile says that they "provide witty political and cultural commentary from the nation's capital." Website.
|
AmSpectator |
| The National Center for Public Policy Research | Chairman @AmyRidenour also follows me | NationalCenter |
Other Individuals
All of these Twitter accounts follow my Twitter account.| Jesse Columbo | Forbes online columnist His bio. | thebubblebubble |
| MS Operator |
Protection Detail Operator at Mexico Executive Protection Group
|
MSOperator1 |
| Barbara Boland | CNS News Reporter | BBatdc |
| Melody Himel Clarke | Regional Coordinator, Heritage Action | TheRightMelody |
| Andrew Malcolm | Columnist at Investor's Business Daily | AHMalcolm |
| Sarah Steelman | Former Commissioner of the Office of Administration in Missouri's State Government. Link to her office website, which mentions her name. | Sarah_Steelman |
| Jesse Lee Peterson |
The host of a radio talk show. Video and audio podcasts are available.
|
JLPtalk |
Followers with a lot of followers
All of these people follow me, and they all have more than 100,000 followers. They are listed by the number of their followers, highest first. Most of these people appear in other categories.| Name & Twitter Handle | Other Information | Followers |
| Ted Cruz @tedcruz |
his personal Twitter account | 6.4 million |
| U.S. Senator Ted Cruz @SenTedCruz |
represents Texas Senate office website | 3.7 million |
| Ryan Fournier @RyanAFournier |
Chairman of Students for Trump and former political commentator on Fox News. Link to his Instagram account. | 1.1 million |
| Joey Bautista @JoeyBats19 |
Former professional baseball player | 1 million |
| Former Governor John Kasich @JohnKasich |
Former Governor of Ohio and 2016 presidential candidate website | 883,000 |
| Artem Klyushin @ARTEM_KLYUSHI |
No self-description | 763,000 |
| Taye Diggs @TayeDiggs |
Actor IMDb listing | 624,000 |
| Kevin Green @MySOdotCom |
Owner of My SO.  It offers digital content management. | 583,000 |
| Kevin Green @FixedOpsGenius |
Paid speaker | 495,000 |
| Eric Matheny @ericmatheny |
Co-host of "Bob and Eric Save America" Apple podcast | 394,000 |
| Life News @LifeNewsHQ |
They write news about Pro-Life topics. | 339,000 |
| Texas Tribune @TexasTribune |
Member-supported, non-profit, and non-partisan newsroom.. | 317,000 |
| Deanna Lorraine @DeAnnaCongress |
Former candidate for Congress in California. She is now a radio talk show host. | 296,000 |
| Daniel F. Baranowski @LifeNewsHQ |
Retired Harvard Professor of Public Health. | 299,000 |
| Jessie Jane Duff @JessieJaneDuff |
Executive Director, Veterans for Trump. Retired Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. | 275,000 |
| Spencer Rayner @spencerrayner |
Digital consultant in the U.K. SP Digital Consultants | 270,000 |
| Lennar @Lennar |
This is a national homebuilding company.. | 239,000 |
| Michael Johns @michaeljohns |
National Tea Party movement co-founder and leader. Former White House speechwriter and Heritage policy analyst. | 231,000 |
| Steve Fergusom @lsferguson |
This former Massachusetts legislator posts frequently about national political issues. | 205,000 |
| Dr. Lynn J. Anderson @andersonDrLJA |
Retired Colonel, U.S. Army, Christian. Descendant of a Revolutionary War soldier. | 200,000 |
| The Gay Republican @GayRepublicanSwag |
A member of @againstgrmrs | 162,000 |
| Susan Gaeta @GaetaSusan |
Executive Board Member, 1791 Society. | 153,000 |
| Nah Baby Nah @NahBabyNah |
A patriot whose heart bleeds red, white, and blue. | 152,000 |
| Nat Shupe @NatShupe |
Affiliated with the U.S. Freedom Army | 152,000 |
| LessGovMoreFun @LessGovMoreFun |
A common American. | 144,000 |
| Eric Schmitt @Eric_Schmitt |
United States Senator, representing Missouri | 142,000 |
| Jesse Lee Peterson @JLPTalk |
Host of the JLP Show | 137,000 |
| Chris Stamper @CStamper_ |
His self-description doesn't mention it, but I think he's a contributor to Wired Magazine. | 144,000 |
| Andres Malcolm @AHMalcolm |
Contributor to Red State and Co-Host of The Ed Morrisey Show on Hot Air. | 138,000 |
| Michael Moates @FreedomMoates |
Contributor to the Washington Examiner. Link to his most recent articles. | 111,000 |
| Robert Cahaly @RobertCahaly |
Chief Pollster for The Trafalgar Group. | 110,000 |
| Matt Batzel @MattBatzel |
National Executive Director of American Majority | 110,000 |
| Montgomery Granger @mjgranger1 |
Author, "Saving Grace at Guantanamo Bay" His books | 110,000 |
Inactive followers
These people follow me, but they haven't posted anything in more than a year.| The late Amy Ridenour | @AmyRidenour | |
| Scott Rigell | Former U.S. Representative from Virginia's 2nd District until January 2017. | @RepScottRigell |
| Jesse-Jane McParland |
2016 Junior World Champion, World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
|
@JJmcparland |
These people and organizations have followed me in the past.
| Montel Williams | The host of one of the longest-running talk shows on television. Emmy winner in 1996. | @Montel_Williams |
| MUma Pemmearaju | Fox News Reporter | @Montel_Williams |
| The Washington Examiner | Recent headline: Carson: No Syrian Refugees in the U.S., should help Jordan instead | @DCExaminer |
| Dave Brown | Senior Editor at the Washington Examiner | @dave_brown24 |
| Nick Short | Chief TEchnology Officer, Thomas Klingenstein | @PoliticalShort |
| Anthony Scaramucci | He is a founder of a hedge fund, and he was a member of Donald Trump's transition team in 2016. Link to his IMDb biography. | @Scaramucci |
| American Majority | They train people to become politically active. | @Am_National |
| Modern Masons | "Integrating Modern times with Freemasonry" Website of their oldest lodge | @ModernMasons |
| The Thomas More Society | A national not-for-profit law firm that provides pro-bono legal services. Website | @ThomasMoreSoc |
| Barnstable County (MA) Commissioner Ron Beaty | List of the County Commissioners. He ran for election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2018 but lost. | @ronbeatyjr |
| J. J. Koch | Dallas County Commissioner, District 2. Campaign website. He was elected in 2018. | @JJKoch |
| Beth Lindstrom | A former Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, representing the state of Massachusetts. Campaign website. | @BethLindstrom |
| Kevin Nicholson | Former Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, representing the state of Wisconsin. Campaign website. | @KevinMNicholson |
| Dan DeBono | The Republican candidate for the U.S. House in New York's 3rd Congressional District. Campaign website. | @DanDeBono |
| Phoenix, AZ City Councillor Sal DiCiccio | His reelection website. He was reelected in August 2017. | @Sal_DiCiccio |
| Team Santorum | Rick Santorum was a 2012 presidential candidate. The last tweet posted by this account was made January 2016. | @TeamSantorum |
| Derek Cressman | Former Democrat candidate for the 6th district in the California State Senate. Campaign website. | @DerekCressman |
| Gavi Shapiro | Former Republican candidate for State Representative in Georgia House District 52. Campaign website. | @GaviShapiro |
| U.S. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Service | part of the Interior Department | @USFWS |
| Jenny Beth Martin | Co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots | @jennybethm |
| Leslie Marshall | Nationally syndicated radio talk show host who streams her show on LeslieMarshall.com | @LeslieMarshall |
| Kris Gutierrez | Former national correspondent for Fox News, now working for KXAS-TV in Fort Worth, Texas. | @KrisGutierrez |
| John Grisham | Best-selling author. He followed me twice. | @JohnGrisham |
| The Daily Caller | Recent headline: Media rushes to blame Christians, Republicans for Planned Parenthood shooting | @DailyCaller |
| Team Ted Cruz 2016 |
This account was controlled by his campaign staff. The last post was July 20, 2016.
|
@TeamTedCruz2016 |
| Linda Wang | Professional actress. IMDB listing. | @LoveLindaWang |
| Aurelia Scheppers | Professional actress. IMDB listing. | @aureliasaid |
| Alfons Lôpez Tena | The current leader of the separatist movement in Spain. An Op-Ed he wrote about Catalonia. | @alfonslopeztena |
| Michele McPhee | Emmy-nominated Investigative Reporter, Author, ABC News Producer. | @MicheleMcPhee |
| Everette Taylor | Chief Marketing Officer for Skurt More information about him is here. | @Everette |
The number of my followers is accurate
In the middle of December 2013, I had about 235 followers. They were following me at the rate of about two or three a day. I was happy with this. I have been rewarding new followers by retweeting some of their messages, and if I get 2-3 new followers a day, I can keep up with that pace and thank each one individually.But then, I was away from Twitter for a few days.
When I came back and logged back on, I saw that I had over ten thousand new followers. I tried hard to think what I could have done on Twitter or this blog to earn ten thousand new followers in a few days.
In a desperate effort to learn more, I started looking at some of these followers, and I started seeing two patterns.
- Many of these new followers had not sent out an original tweet in years.
- Many of these people had names that sounded Spanish.
Few of these strange new followers have corresponded sent me any tweets, and none of them have replied to anything I've written, which gives me even more reason to believe that they're literally the account of a dead person.
Since December 2013, I still get about two or three new followers a day, on average, and I still reward them by retweeting some of their recent messages, but I would really like to have a private talk with whoever dumped those ten thousand dead accounts on me.
In early August 2018, Twitter removed many inactive followers from many people. The number of my own followers dropped overnight from about 11,500 to 4,500, but I'm gaining one or two new followers on most days.
July 2018 update
Twitter's administrators and support staff have been removing accounts that they believe were registered improperly. The number of accounts that followed me dropped overnight from about 11,400 to 4,500. That number is now climbing slowly, as I expect it would.However, some accounts that belong to people who are politically conservative have been targeted for abuse, some of which is hidden. Tweets made by conservatives are sometimes seen by the people who posted them and simultaneously unviewable by others. This practice is called shadow banning.
These are the first three paragraphs of a July 25, 2018 article in Vice News.
Twitter is limiting the visibility of prominent Republicans in search results — a technique known as “shadow banning” — in what it says is a side effect of its attempts to improve the quality of discourse on the platform.This article was updated the next day, and Vice News wrote a new article. The updated material says that the Twitter Corporation fixed the problem, but without making any announcement that they had done so. This is an inadequate solution because there is no statement of Twitter's policy to be fair to both sides of the political spectrum. In fact, this July 26, 2018 statement claims that they don't shadow-ban, but this statement was made the day after they appeared to halt this practice. Their lack of a clear long-term policy means that Twitter's politically leftist administrators could still try to hurt people unfairly just because they're on the right side of the spectrum.
The Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel, several conservative Republican congressmen, and Donald Trump Jr.’s spokesman no longer appear in the auto-populated drop-down search box on Twitter, VICE News has learned. It’s a shift that diminishes their reach on the platform — and it's the same one being deployed against prominent racists to limit their visibility. The profiles continue to appear when conducting a full search, but not in the more convenient and visible drop-down bar. (The accounts appear to also populate if you already follow the person.)
Democrats are not being “shadow banned” in the same way, according to a VICE News review. McDaniel’s counterpart, Democratic Party chair Tom Perez, and liberal members of Congress — including Reps. Maxine Waters, Joe Kennedy III, Keith Ellison, and Mark Pocan — all continue to appear in drop-down search results. Not a single member of the 78-person Progressive Caucus faces the same situation in Twitter’s search.
David
