@exception Leaving the problematic framing of the “free world” to one side, I can tell you from my experience that engagement on the fediverse is far higher than it ever was for me on Twitter. Is it the best platform if you want to broadcast to millions of people? No. Is that necessary for a healthy democracy? No. I’d argue we need quite the opposite: smaller, more meaningful, and, essentially, factual communication.
@aral It is very much necessary to reach people who won't engage and even people who don't want to be reached with political messages. This is because disinterested and badly informed people are a majority of voters, and thereby determine the course of any democratic country. In the physical world it's the freedom to distribute leaflets, put up posters in public and make oneself heard with protests. Such low-cost political messaging is needed in the digital world, too.
@exception exactly.
We might get a TON of engagement within our echo chambers. The amount of head-nodding might give a perception that we’re doing a lot of good.
But just engaging with people whose minds are already on the same page does nothing to progress anything.