One of the most common questions I get is, “can’t you do something about Meta/Facebook/Instagram?” The unfortunate answer is, “no.” The knife community is hardly the only one impacted by the social media giant’s oppressive and self-righteous censorship. Nobody hates these woke busybodies more than do I.
Along with many in the knife community and the Second Amendment advocacy community, we are shadow- banned to the point where I often wonder why I even bother posting on Facebook or Instagram. They hate us for the freedom and belief in personal responsibility we represent. Their goal is to strangle us to death. Don’t think for a moment that isn’t the goal.
You can argue until you are blue in the face that it is stupid, irrational and, even, unjust, but for now as a private company, Meta can pretty much censor us to their teeny, weenie woke heart’s content. As can YouTube (Google), who often goes after both influencers with their knife channels as well as makers and dealers.
Yet, social media is also such an important part of the knife community and industry that it is hard to ignore. The only social media option that isn’t censored like this is “X” (formerly Twitter), which seems to be an afterthought for many, if not most, of us. Elon Musk hasn’t rid X of all censorship, but for the likes of us, it is pretty much censor free.
I recognize that X is not the same as any of the other social media options, and each has their pros and cons, when usable, but the fact is, if more of us used it, X could be just as effective. The fact that it hasn’t developed in that manner shows just how much inertia influences what we do.
Folks will put up with an awful lot to avoid changing ingrained habits and ways of doing business. Technically, it is called “psychological inertia” which is the tendency to maintain the status-quo (or default option) unless compelled by a psychological motive to intervene or reject it. This inertia can prevent or delay action even when the result is potentially fatal.
In physics, Newton’s first law is immutable, but we can work around it using forces to act upon physical objects. Like that form of inertia, psychological inertia can be overcome. But, change is hard for most people, and it’s even harder when an entire community needs to shift its mindset for a change like this to be really effective and successful. Having said that, it can be done.
Knife Rights has been on X for many years, posting the same things as we post on Facebook and Instagram. More and more in our community at least have some presence there and follow us there. Consider opening an account and following those in the knife community that are already there.
If you post on Instagram and/or Facebook, consider also posting the same on X. Encourage folks to follow you on X. If enough do that, it will gain momentum. As it gains momentum, it will continue to grow. We can build a community where we can post without worry of being censored by the big woke social media companies.