UPDATE: Saturday, Jul 1, 2023 · 6:43:14 PM +00:00
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CharlesII
Update. Thanks to those who have provided suggestions for Twitter alternatives and places to find key authors on known alternatives.
Nom nom da plume mentions that one way to see tweets is through Instalker.org.The outer layer of Instalker does not set off any alarms from my machine and one can, apparently without danger, look at Twitter feeds by clicking on a username. However, if one tries to view a private account, alarms do go off. Apparently postegro is a phishing site.Definitely not a site to use without protection.
Joe Buck says: “There are some Ukraine experts, journalists, and aggregators who are active on Mastodon and not just reposting their twitter stuff. Here are a few: Kevin Rothrock, Tim Mak, Ukraine War Bulletins and News”
ctkosh says “@buitengebieden is on Post.news with same username if you want to follow there instead of on Twitter. I agree that this poster has amazing animal photos and videos. Another fun animal photo account on Post.news is @batsflywest which has great animal photos mixed in with other posts. “
killian44 recommends Tribel. Here’s a description from Variety, which also mentions Counter Social and Co-Host:
Tribel Social
Tribel proclaims itself to be “social media done right,” with an emphasis on safeguarding “morality, truth and We the People,” according to its App Store description. Developed by Likeopedia, Tribel prides itself on news feed customization, if you’re looking to avoid a doom-scrolling spiral. Users are also able to select a target audience for posts to maximize engagement, find topic experts quickly and get the opportunity to become a “star contributor” based on the quality of posts and number of likes. Plus, it claims to be “bigotry-free,” according to the app’s Instagram.
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Many Kossacks have expressed irritation with Daily Kos for continuing to link Tweets. They argue that Elon Musk is a Very Bad Person who is quite friendly with white supremacists and neo-Nazis and that linking to his site generates money for him and his Very Bad Causes.
It’s hard to argue that Musk other than a Very Bad Person who does Very Bad Things. However, I have pointed out Twitter’s business model, at least as recently as the end of last year, involves selling ads and user data. So, if one blocks ads and fingerprinters, one gives Musk no money. In fact, one is getting information for free at his expense.
Well, apparently he has figured this out. As of this morning, login to Twitter is required to read Tweets. Musk is apparently trying to block bots that scrape information. However, as TechCrunch notes, this could backfire:
it’s possible that this is a tactic to force silent lurkers into creating an account.
Like many of Twitter’s recent changes, this could easily backfire. If tweets aren’t publicly accessible, search engine algorithms could rank the site’s content lower, meaning that fewer people would be directed to the site from Google. Also, it’s just kind of annoying.
In other words, he could lose not just lurkers, but current members who post infrequently, and simply don’t want to take the time to sign in.
In the past, this has happened and workarounds have been discovered. Or maybe, as has happened so often, Musk will just change his mind. If people learn of any, feel free to post. Or, if you know of key people who have already made provisions against the day, provide their mastodon, post, or bluesky addresses and I will promote them.
In a world in which most media is owned by conservative or even pro-authoritarian sources, Twitter going dark is a serious blow to activism. Now, it may hurt the right even more than it hurts the rest of us, but our resources are very thin.