rant · moment 14 of 15
Platform Censorship and Why Videos Are Leaving Instagram
from #175 - Corporate Steakhouse | The Tim Dillon Show · #175
9 min
Tim explains why he's pulling back on posting videos to Instagram due to shadowbanning and strikes, praises Twitter as more lenient, and jokes darkly about self-censoring a Hitler joke knowing transcripts will be read back out of context.
- Tim explains he's waiting to see how technology platforms unfold rather than being hysterical about the direction they're taking.
- He's stopped posting videos on Instagram because the platform isn't promoting them and he risks losing his account for content that performs better on Twitter anyway.
- Twitter appears to be the most lenient platform for comedy videos, hosting porn while Instagram and YouTube are stricter.
- Instagram video views have plummeted while his podcast listenership quadrupled and followers increased across all platforms, suggesting algorithmic suppression or reduced discoverability.
- He's being cautious with Instagram because they already have strikes against them, so only completely safe videos go there while edgier content goes to Twitter and YouTube.
- Any creative person has to be careful right now because careers are built on these platforms and losing access means losing fans and ticket sales.
- The YouTube channel is growing with videos getting tens of thousands of views, building momentum in its infancy.
- These companies treat creators like militia leaders, which is strange given how much content they host and how poorly trained some of their complaint reviewers are.
- He never cared about how decisions get made at Twitter until now, when those decisions started affecting him directly.
- He's self-censoring now—even a joke setup he considered using is too risky because transcripts will be read back without inflection or context, turning humor into apparent statements.
- A dry bureaucrat reading a podcast transcript out loud without humor will sound sinister, like a scene from Terry Gilliam's Brazil with its bloated government and countless regulations.