We are observing what is going on at many of the outlets we utilize. (Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, etc.) Many have had rolling layoffs for over a year. This, in turn, creates:
- A breakdown of the structure they once had
- Users experiencing new glitches
- Outlet downtime
- Increased difficulty resolving issues with support
- Increased difficulty connecting sites to social platforms
- Frequently changing interfaces for business/advertising management
We see that shadow banning is a real issue with many faith-based organizations. We do not know that this is taking place with our partners, but we feel it is essential to familiarize ourselves with these terms.
- Shadow banning: This is a method where a user’s posts are made invisible to everyone but themselves. They can continue to post normally, but other users do not see their content. This is done without notifying the user, making it seem as if everything is functioning normally.
- Stealth Banning: This is another term for shadow banning. It refers to the same practice of secretly making a user’s content invisible or less visible to the rest of the community.
- Comment Ghosting: This is a specific type of shadow banning where a user’s comments on posts or threads are hidden from other users. The user is not aware that their comments are being hidden.
- Throttling: In the context of social media, this refers to the practice of limiting the reach or visibility of a user’s posts, effectively slowing down the rate at which their content is shared or seen.
- Deboosting: This term describes the act of suppressing the reach of a user’s content without their knowledge. It’s a way of reducing the visibility of a user’s content in other users’ feeds.
- Demoting: This involves reducing the visibility of a user’s content, making a post less likely to appear in search results or feeds.
- Downranking: Similar to demoting, downranking involves adjusting the algorithms that determine the visibility of content to make certain posts less likely to be seen.
- Soft Blocking: This is a practice where a user is blocked and then immediately unblocked as a way to remove them from one’s followers list on Twitter. The person who was soft blocked can still follow again, but they won’t be following until they manually choose to do so.
- Quality Filter Discrimination: This is a term used on Twitter to describe a setting where low-quality content is prevented from showing up in search results or feeds.
It seems things are harder now for those who speak (certain things) loudly. Therefore, we wanted you to know how we, your partners, are viewing the journey ahead.
Our Commitments:
- Encourage our partners to speak even louder
- Continue increasing our team’s agility
- Expect unexpected circumstances to arise
- Be in a state of readiness to jump on issues as soon as they are brought to our attention
- If roadblocks appear, be prepped for new ways forward
- Pray
We believe as we do this, we will settle into the Kingdom work Jesus describes in Matthew 11:29.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
In conclusion, we see very exciting days ahead! There are so many new tools, options, and resources that didn’t exist even one year ago. The world seems to be lacking structure these days. We may not know, for a season, what to expect with certain things, but we can be sure that as we forge forward with His plan, it will not return void.
We have never been more sure of our purpose than in this season, and we see the same resolve in you. It is an honor and deep joy to be serving our Father together with you on this journey.
