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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We just have 10 minutes left in the show, but here's what I want to do. We're going to open up the phones on the question, what social media do you use other than Twitter? This is not something you have to think about for too long. We're going to get it in in these last 10 minutes, and I'll tell you why I'm asking, but the question is very simple and straightforward. What social media platforms do you use other than Twitter? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Just call us up and tell us what social media platforms you use most other than Twitter. I'm asking because we here at the Brian Lehrer Show are thinking about where we spend our time and energy on social media. We've historically leaned on Twitter as our comments page. We say call 212-433-WNYC or tweet @BrianLehrer, but you know about what happened with Twitter and NPR recently when Elon Musk mislabeled NPR as state-affiliated media, the same way that he was labeling the propaganda sites from Russia and China, then pulled it back a little bit in some other wording, and finally he pulled off of it entirely. Now he's not labeling any media organizations in any way, even those ones that are propaganda outlets from Russia and China and elsewhere. People are getting disgusted with Twitter. Some of our listeners have asked us to please find an alternative to Twitter for ways via social media that you can comment during our live show.
As we consider how to offer an alternative, we want to know what social media platforms do you use other than Twitter. 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. There's even more cringeworthy Elon Musk news that got reported over the weekend. According to the New York Times, Musk is reducing parental leave to two weeks for Twitter employees. Now, in some states like New York, which offers 12 weeks of paid parental leave, under the law, California I think has 10 weeks, you'd still get that. If you're in another state and you work for Twitter, and most states do not have minimum paid parental leave laws, you'd only get two weeks because Elon Musk is setting that as policy according to the New York Times. Obviously, there are a lot of people angry with Elon Musk for a lot of reasons having to do with Twitter, and so we're getting ready to offer you at least an additional platform of some kind to use as a comments page during our live show. We're just casting our net here, seeing what you use.
Where are we going to find you, Brian Lehrer Show listeners? Where can you find us if we go there more aggressively than we do now? What social media platforms do you use other than Twitter? 2212-433-WNYC. We'll take your calls after this.
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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. Again, our plan for the moment is to remain on Twitter and keep that available to you as a way to comment during the live show, but we're going to add an alternative for those of you who don't want to be on Twitter or don't want to be on Twitter anymore. We're seeing what other social media platforms you tend to use out there in the Brian Lehrer Show audience. Angie in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Angie.
Angie: Hi, Brian. Thanks so much. I just wanted to give a shout-out for Reddit. I moved to Reddit after Musk bought Twitter, and it's fantastic. I follow mostly New York communities. The people who are involved in those communities are great, and I think that maybe you could do your connection with listeners on Reddit because I follow the Yankee games, and people are commenting live during the Yankee games.
Brian Lehrer: They have that kind of thing.
Angie: I just love it.
Brian Lehrer: Good. One for Reddit. Thank you very much. With apologies, folks, we really only have about five minutes for your calls because we went pretty long with Jay Manning and Jumaane Williams, but that's enough time for you to shout out your favorite social media sites for a few of you. Jesse in Manhattan, you have a different one, right?
Jesse: Yes, I use Discord a lot.
Brian Lehrer: What do you use Discord for? A lot of people haven't heard of Discord.
Jesse: Well, you set up a server. Well, it's been in the news because of the National Guardsman leaker. He posted his documents on Discord, but it's basically self-contained servers, I guess, and what one does doesn't really affect the other. I've just been using it to chat with friends a lot.
Brian Lehrer: Jesse, thank you very much. Yes, that's what got Discord into the news recently. The 21-year-old Air National Guardsman leaker of classified information, he leaked it on Discord. Rodwan in Manhattan, you're on WNYC. Hi, Rodwan.
Rodwan: Hello. Hi. Good morning, Brian. Thank you for taking the call. Personally, I don't use social media in general, except Instagram because I'm in the restaurant business and I like to stay up to date with what's on the scene, et cetera. The reason why I don't engage because if I take a minute and I go and read comments about any post, somehow you will always find people trying to find the negative about that post. Most of the comments will go into that direction of negativity, and it feels like people are just sitting and venting. That's something I decided not to engage in [inaudible 00:06:53] [crosstalk].
Brian Lehrer: When you do, you go on Instagram. Rodwan, it's the same thing on talk radio. People don't usually feel compelled to call in to say everything's fine. They usually feel compelled to call in to say there's a problem or to criticize something. Similar probably to what you're describing as the negativity or prevalence of criticism that you see on social, but you use Instagram. Got you. How about Mary Ann in Brooklyn? You're on WNYC. Hi, Mary Ann.
Mary Ann: Hi there. This is Mary Ann Russo. Yes, I use only Facebook, [crosstalk] and that's the only connection I have. Sometimes my grandkids put things on Instagram and I'll do something with that, but for the most part, I'd love to be able to comment if you had posting anything on Facebook.
Brian Lehrer: Thank you, Mary Ann. Marley in Queens, you're on WNYC. Hi, Marley.
Marley: Yes. How are you doing today?
Brian Lehrer: Pretty good. How about you?
Marley: Good, goood. I was just calling in to let you know TikTok is really good because I see a lot of news channels on there live and people comment live, and most people know it, so it's easier to find information that you need using TikTok because that is really good.
Brian Lehrer: Marley, thank you very much. We're going to leave it there because, frankly, all the other ones will be repeats of the social media platforms that we just heard shouted out. Thank you for all of those, and stay tuned for an announcement, I don't know exactly when, but as soon as we figure it out as to what we're going to add in addition to Twitter as another place where you can post live comments during the show in addition to call-in. Callers, thanks a lot for that. That's the Brian Lehrer Show for today. Produced by MaryEileen Croke, Lisa Allison, Amina Srna, Carl Boisrond, and Esperanza Rosenbaum. Zach Gottehrer-Cohen produces our daily politics podcast. Our interns this term are Trinity Lopez and Briana Brady. Juliana Fonda and Matt Marando at the audio controls. Stay tuned for Allison.
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