Why do people post a Tweet when the tweet has a link

[PatSeg]

to the original article? Wouldn't it be easier for everyone, if they just posted the link to the article?

Personally, I avoid going to Twitter whenever I can.

[underpants]

1. It's a quick hit. Fast short ad really.

I love Twitter because there are a lot of really funny people out there.

[Grasswire2]

4. that, too!

Some of my favorites. Walt Schaub, Charlie Pierce...

Their running commentary on news events isn't anywhere other than twitter.

[PatSeg]

5. I don't care much for it

It feels so much more anonymous than a forum like this and there are very few real discussions, just a whole lot of "hit and runs".

[skypilot]

38. And too many GIFs and memes used for responses.

There have been some threads where I would have to scroll and scroll and scroll to see an actual written response.

[PatSeg]

40. Oh, especially the GIFs

I remember when an occasional GIF was clever and entertaining, but now they are everywhere and it is very distracting. It is very hard to read with stuff moving and flashing on the screen. And memes can be funny, but carrying on a conversation primarily with emoji's, memes, and GIFs is a terrible waste of time. Hey, if you have nothing to say, it's okay, just say nothing.

[moonscape]

41. I remember hating the introduction

of icons. “I don’t need pictures, I can read!” So I’m an empathetic soul

[PatSeg]

42. Yes, I am still very fond of words

and value communication. I like an emoji or smiley now and then, especially if someone could misread what you wrote. It is hard when they can't see your facial expression or your tone of voice. A very sincere comment could come across as sarcastic or snarky.

[moonscape]

45. And my sardonic or wry sarcasm that works in person was

too often taken as literal insult online so I learned to curb it years ago. Clearly it’s a writing deficiency, but I never took to emoji aids

[PatSeg]

46. Oh yes, same here

I am prone to be sarcastic, it runs in the family, but it doesn't translate well in writing.

[Grasswire2]

2. shouldn't this question be in a different forum?

And I would say you are in a minority. Maybe not. But Twitter is the primary aggregate of news these days.

[lagomorph777]

7. OMG. No. There are still real news organizations.

Twit is just a Fascist propaganda funnel.

[Grasswire2]

13. is your comment a joke?

wow

[lagomorph777]

14. No; I thought yours was.

Twit empowered the fascist takeover of this country for four years. I am not inclined to help them continue that.

[PatSeg]

9. I know a whole lot of people

who do not have Twitter accounts and others who do have them (like myself), but rarely use them. Even my son and his wife who are computer nerds don't have Twitter accounts.

It is posted here because THIS is where I keep seeing posts with Twitter links that have links to the actual articles. I'm not talking about regular tweets. That doesn't bother me. I'm just for eliminating the "middle man" and in this case Twitter.

[marble falls]

18. That should scare the poop out of you.

[bigtree]

3. different reasons for me

...some folks want to see the discussion.

I sometimes look at the discussion to see if anyone has something contrary which might be valid to say about the subject.

Other times, it's a desire to connect readers to the twitter poster who may be a reporter, a pol, or an activist who may lead them to other interests or expand on the subject of the tweet.

Sometimes there's an interesting or relevant pic attached, or a pic of a report or statement.

In short, the twitter link sometimes provides context, a view of the authorship of the info or article, or reaction and reply.

[PatSeg]

12. That makes sense

I did just see a post where they included both the tweet AND the link to the article, with a few paragraphs. I appreciated that as I really was interested in the article.

[intrepidity]

29. Totally agree that this is the correct way nt

[lagomorph777]

6. Thank you! I never click on Twit posts if I can help it.

I'm always annoyed when I open a post and find out it's just click-bait to get me to go to Twit. I'm not giving that fascist platform my eyeballs or any other support.

[PatSeg]

19. I know some people absolutely love Twitter

but I avoid it as much as I can. I don't see how you can have any meaningful discussions in a format like that. I've also seen some people get sucked into a whole lot of drama over there, not realizing at the time that a lot of the people they were fighting with were probably trolls.

[hlthe2b]

11. All those who post a link (or video link) with not even a comment as to what it is about and this

is what bugs you? At least the embedded tweets provide some description of what the article or video is about with the link to the actual piece if you choose to read further or watch.

My pet peeve is and always will be those who can't be bothered to even write a single sentence as to what they are posting a link to and even worse it seems now, those who post the damned link in the subject line!!!
Now, THAT's something to be about.

[PatSeg]

17. Oh no!

That bugs the hell out of me. A subject line and a link is hardly adequate and is often a waste of time. If you are going to link to an article, at least include a few paragraphs or a summary of what it is about.

That said, I'm not actually angry. I just don't understand posting a tweet that is about an article, instead of posting the link to the original article or do both if you want to include a picture or a discussion as someone mentioned above.

[hlthe2b]

23. I do both... (and include at least paragraph from the actual article).

I agree we need to send clicks the way of the actual source.

[PatSeg]

27. Yes, it is the considerate thing to do

In these really troubling times, a little bit of courtesy goes a very long way.

[soothsayer]

15. Plus some people like to retweet

Makes it easy

[marble falls]

16. I don't think a twitter link is a legitimate post. I avoid the biggest most of them.

[FakeNoose]

20. Some of the pub articles are behind a paywall

I share your annoyance with the proliferation of tweets on DU. I prefer links to the actual article (rather than tweets), except for the fact that I'm not a subscriber to Wapo, NYT and others. Luckily many of these stories are also available on other pubs that aren't paywalled, so it's worth it to me to try and search it out.

At least there's no paywall for Twitter, that's the only good thing I can say.

[PatSeg]

24. Yes and that is the reason I like DU

People who do have subscriptions to these newspapers can post up to four paragraphs, so you can get the gist of the article, something I cannot get from a tweet.

I do now have a subscription to the NYT because they offered such a great deal awhile back. So if I post an article, I copy and paste the allowed amount of text into my post.

[demmiblue]

21. Because more people respond to a tweet rather than an article is my guess.

It is kind of like posting articles from RawStory over the original article.

Personally, if I post a tweet that has a link, I provide an excerpt from the linked article. As one should, imo.

I tend to post more substantial pieces in the Editorials & Other Articles forum.

[PatSeg]

25. And that is appreciated

Whenever an excerpt can be included, it is really helpful.

[NurseJackie]

22. I don't know why.

Personally, I avoid going to Twitter whenever I can.

What's wrong with Twitter? I think it's interesting.

[PatSeg]

26. Its just a matter of preference

I don't care for it very much and I've seen how addicted some people became especially in 2016. I prefer the discussions at DU, where I often know the people I'm talking with and my replies are limited to a certain number of characters.

Okay, why does your Nurse Jackie profile pic change when I click reply? It is still her but a different pose and I've never seen that happen before.

[NurseJackie]

28. Yeah... some people are addicted to it. For me it's interesting...

... but less addicting that DU.

Okay, why does your Nurse Jackie profile pic change when I click reply? It is still her but a different pose and I've never seen that happen before.

I just recently changed it... it may be that clicking "reply" forced your browser to update to the new one.

[PatSeg]

32. Interesting

What do you see on your end? I see Jackie with a green background, but when I go to reply, I see her looking in a different direction with a primarily white background.

Years ago I remember being very addicted to DU. Now it is more of a regular pastime, a place I go for the latest news and commentary. Of all the options that I have, DU is probably the most agreeable and comfortable. Well, except for during primary season that is. That is pretty much brutal everywhere. My first primary here was in 2004 and I couldn't understand why some people were SO MEAN. I didn't know about trolls back then and I took a lot of things much too personally. Older and wiser these days.

[NurseJackie]

35. You can make the "old" one disappear by clicking your browser's "refresh" button/icon...

You can make the "old" one disappear by clicking your browser's "refresh" button/icon (often it looks like a circular arrow).

Or you can press the [Control] key and the [F-5] key at the same time instead of the "refresh" icon.

The same thing happened to me (sort of). When I first uploaded the new avatar image, I continued to see the old one for a few times, then my browser realized there was a new one and started using that instead.

[PatSeg]

36. That's weird, it is still there

and now she's giving me a dirty look. Not sure she wanted to be replaced!

[NurseJackie]

37. LOL!

You cracked me up!

[PatSeg]

39. Then my work here is done!

[stillcool]

30. I stay away from twitter...

not a member...and one-liners aren't my thing. I also prefer to stay away from unfamiliar links.

[PatSeg]

34. I'm not good at limiting

Last edited Thu Mar 4, 2021, 06:12 PM - Edit history (1)

what I have to say to a certain number of characters. It reminds of online complaint forms where you watch the characters count down and you haven't finished explaining your problem. Very frustrating. And after four years of presidenting by tweet, I've had my fill. I only opened an account because there were tweets I couldn't see if I wasn't a member.

[stillcool]

43. yeah...every now and then I'm tempted...

but I get lost enough just prowling sites of interest to me. There was one tweet about the jan.6th white supremacists that led me to another tweet, that led to another tweet, and another, and I ended up reading some god-awful, gobbledygook...lost like an hour, and felt like I'd been in the twilight zone. Like reading a pinball machine.

[PatSeg]

44. I know the feeling

And then you're not sure where you even began or what you've accomplished. Time is so different when you're online.

[taxi]

31. Not all links contained in a tweet are articles

A good example is a link to a pdf file. A few days ago mention was made of election integrity, a document nearly 300 pages long. The op containing the tweet with the link was enough to attract the attention of those very few interested - no excerpts, paragraphs, or explanations were needed.

[PatSeg]

33. That makes sense