Below are posts associated with the โTwitterโ tag.
quitting scrolling, not just Twitter
Although it’s been a real delight to see so many people joining Mastodon over the past few weeks, I’ve found that there’s also a disadvantage that I hadn’t expected: I’m spending a lot more time scrolling through Mastodon these days than I ever have since setting up my Mastodon accounts.
When I began setting up Mastodon accounts and shifting away from Twitter back in April, I felt like I had made a big leap forward in terms of my online consumption. One thing that I’d always struggled with on Twitter was the feeling that I needed to see every single post from every single account. I’d eventually helped with that by consuming Twitter via RSS and narrowing my followed accounts down to the ones that I really, really wanted to follow. By virtue of converting Twitter to RSS, I was still consuming all the posts from those accounts, but it also forced me to only pick those accounts that wouldn’t overwhelm my RSS reader with posts I didn’t really care about.
๐ linkblog: Musk asks in poll if he should step down as Twitter CEO, users vote yes : NPR'
What a weird week it has been in Twitterland.
๐ linkblog: Twitter abruptly bans all links to Instagram, Mastodon, and other competitors - The Verge'
Just when you thought this couldn’t get any worse. Will be really interested to see if Dorsey gets banned.
๐ linkblog: Mastodon users embrace columnist's funny error about a fictitious John Mastodon | Boing Boing'
This has been one of the most delightful moments I’ve experienced in my relatively short time on Mastodon. This week has been a good one for Mastodon: Musk’s continued missteps have brought more people, and a meme like this one helps give the fediverse more of a shared culture.
๐ linkblog: Elon Tries (Badly) To Defend The Banning Of Journalists As Twitter Starts Blocking Links & Mentions Of Mastodon | Techdirt'
I’ve posted a bunch of articles about this already, but Masnick’s take is super helpful.
๐ linkblog: Elon Musk Is Taking Aim at Journalists. Iโm One of Them.'
Free speech is genuinely important, but it’s hard to take the ideal seriously when its advocates twist it to mean something specific and self-serving.
๐ linkblog: Twitter is blocking links to Mastodon - The Verge'
I’ve been trying to avoid dire predictions for Twitter since Musk took over, but this seems more and more like a turning point in the identity and reputation of the platform.
๐ linkblog: Elon Musk starts banning critical journalists from Twitter - The Verge'
I mean, I’m willing to wait a bit and see what Twitter and Musk have to say about this, but this sure doesn’t seem like the approach that a free speech absolutist would take.
๐ linkblog: Elonโs Commitment To Free Speech Rapidly Replaced By His Commitment To Blatant Hypocrisy: Bans The JoinMastodon Account | Techdirt'
Musk is getting pettier and more self-centered.
๐ linkblog: Elonโs Promise Not To Ban Account Tracking His Jet Didnโt Last Very Long At All; Also Bans Guyโs Personal Account | Techdirt'
How does such an already bad story get so much worse over the course of a single day?
๐ linkblog: Twitter Bans Elon Musk Flight Tracking Account After He Said It Wouldnโt, for Free Speech'
Twitter left up other flight tracking accounts but took down Musk’s?
๐ linkblog: Twitter suspends @ElonJet after Musk promises not to ban it - The Verge'
This is petty and concerning.
๐ linkblog: Twitter ditches Trust and Safety Council as Musk tweets fuel harassment | Ars Technica'
I think this headline captures one of the worst parts of all of this: Musk isn’t just dismissing concerns about behavior, he’s fueling that behavior.
๐ linkblog: Goodbye, Twitter - by Ken White - The Popehat Report'
I haven’t been following Ken White as much as I used to, but this reminds me why I appreciate his perspective. This is someone who knows what free speech is and advocates for it, not someone who uses it as a buzzword justification for reprehensible behavior, ร la Musk.
๐ linkblog: Before Musk Riled Everyone Up With Misleading Twitter Files About โShadowbanning,โ Musk Used The Tool To Hide Account Tracking His Plane | Techdirt'
If I could pick one story to demonstrate that Musk’s Twitter tenure has been blundering and inconsistent…
๐ linkblog: The Transparency Theater of the Twitter Files | WIRED'
I have deliberately not been following the Twitter Files stuff, but I did read this and found it helpful.
unexpected research ethics implications of Twitter's 'general amnesty' for suspended accounts
For over three years now, I’ve been getting increasingly involved with research projects that involve the online far right in one way or another. One of the most interesting ways that I’ve developed as a researcher during this time is having to think through in greater detail my commitments to research ethics. Because my research typically focuses on public social media data, I am rarely required to obtain informed consent from those whom I study. Of course, I agree with many internet researchers that this does not absolve me of my ethical responsibilities (I find Fiesler and Proferes’s 2018 paper on this subject particularly helpful). This becomes even trickier, though, when the unwitting “participants” in my research espouse views that I find objectionable. To what extent do I, as a researcher, owe a Twitter (or Gab) user privacy and dignity if they are engaged in homophobic, misogynist, or white nationalist behavior? I’m still figuring this out, but my approach right nowโinformed heavily by this paperโis to try to err on the side of respect for the user whenever possible.
๐ linkblog: They Wanted a Baby, Then Twitter Fired Them | WIRED'
Infertility sucks, and stories like this make me even more upset about Musk’s callous and chaotic Twitter takeover.
๐ linkblog: Elon Admits His Content Moderation Council Was Always A Sham To Keep Advertisers On The Site | Techdirt'
I’m glad I began reading Techdirt before this whole mess started… Masnick’s persective has been a helpful guide.
๐ linkblog: Elon Musk proposes letting nearly everyone Twitter banned back on the site - The Verge'
Is he serious? Does he really think this is a good idea? Also, I love the increasing sass that The Verge and other outlets are putting into their comments about Twitter no longer having a communications team to respond to requests for comment.
๐ linkblog: Elon Musk tries to blame โactivistsโ for his Twitter moderation council lie - The Verge'
This seems petty, immature, and misguided.
๐ linkblog: Elon Muskโs Twitter Teeters on the Edge After Another 1,200 Leave - The New York Times'
I didn’t expect 1,200 resignations!
๐ linkblog: Elon Musk begins reinstating banned Twitter accounts, starting with Jordan Peterson and the Babylon Bee - The Verge'
Oh good, so on top of the unexpected chaos, the expected chaos is also still happening.