All You Who Post Twitter Links...

[2naSalit]

Especially those of you who post the links and not much else, guess what?

They only lead to the sign-in page and nothing else is available unless you are signed in. I have never nor will I ever sign up for that troll factory...

So perhaps you could rethink your posts now that not many of us will see what you wanted us to see.

Twitter needs to die asap.

[TheBlackAdder]

48. This is great news then. Twitter pretty much stops most of their crap from getting disseminated.

.

This is just like placing their site behind a paywall.

.

[Pluvious]

67. Let's hope this is the last straw... (nt)

[RandySF]

2. That's your call.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. No, it's not "my call". Someone thought it was important that I...

see what's on that page, but only if I do the work and sign in, leading me to some pithy quote, cat video or more evidence Trump is an asshole.

Copy and paste what's important or leave me alone.

[marble falls]

73. Not an unreasonable request.

[womanofthehills]

81. Twitter has instant news & instant photos

Even the NYT’s has breaking news on its Twitter feed BEFORE it ever hits its online news.

We are DU are supposed to ignore one of the biggest sources of info in the world? If there is a disaster, hundreds of people will post images and info in a few seconds.

If I’m curious about what’s happening in Brazil - I can go read Lula’s and Bolsonaro tweets. I can find out what Obama is up to today etc. I can actually chit chat with my favorite authors.

[marble falls]

83. It's a very superficial source. That's my biggest complain. It doesn't encourage a deeper look.

[2naSalit]

8. And when you are so...

Interested in a post on that platform which you think is important enough to share what you are doing is dangling a "something" for us to look at only we can't see it unless we join ego's club.

If you want us to see something and you choose to allegedly share it, that isn't sharing, it's goading.

(I stopped clicking on most of your posts because they are just a link to that platform, no indication of what it might be that you wanted to share but not really share... unless one decides to open the link to a platform that has so many issues that is has become a plague on the internet.)

[claudette]

4. A long time ago

I learned the lesson the hard way NOT to open ANY link that is posted. There is no way to know it’s safe

[femmedem]

5. Posts I've read complaints about:

Twitter links
Videos
Newspaper articles with paywalls
Posts that aren't sourced
Posts about cats

Is it any wonder that there are fewer new threads on DU than there used to be?
I read what I want, don't read what I'm not interested in, and am grateful for the folks who keep posting and keeping this community active.

[demmiblue]

11. +1

[Goddessartist]

14. +1

[2naSalit]

20. I appreciate...

That we come here to share info, some of it dead serious, some of it comedy and a lot of varied interests. I come here for news, mostly, but also for some levity so I enjoy a lot of the videos and general interest stories too... I would just like to see them without sacrificing my ethical values and computer safety to view the content.

I open a lot of links when I have some idea about the destination, I do read the URL to gain that info, and when it's a site I object to, I bail on the op unless there is some indication of the content then I might rec the op anyway.

There are a lot of videos that are worth my time and I enjoy most of them whether they be news or a silly pet thing. Somebody shared it, could interesting or fun. With all the lack of comedy these days, that's all there is besides reruns of our favorite comedians. Thank heavens there's TOONS!

The bird is an issue because of many factors, the greatest being the owner and his demands of users and visitors. With this new mandatory sign-in thing that seems to have begun in the past few hours, that ends my willingness to open any link to that platform since it is truly futile now, I have been avoiding it since egor took over. Since so many posters here depend on it, they might want to know that the number of people who will see what they intended has sharply decreased.

[femmedem]

63. And I appreciate your thoughtful and courteous reply!

You and I can have a disagreement about the ethics of continuing to use Twitter, but you're still one of my favorite posters.

[2naSalit]

65. The same...

I appreciate the contributions, I just am not willing to go to the bird for that anymore now that there is a mandatory sign in. I don't subscribe to anything other than DU and my email elsewhere.

[Beachnutt]

24. +1 Not a tweeter and would never subscribe

However, I can see the twitter post with no problem unless something has changed over night.
I agree with you and appreciate everyones post and if I like it I rec it if not I move on.

[Ligyron]

33. Yeah, me too, never had a problem, displayed Tweet every time.

Wonder why that is?

[marble falls]

30. You had me till cats.

[Pathwalker]

71. + a brazillian.

[jmbar2]

31. +1

[True Dough]

32. +2 or +3

or however many plusses you have accumulated by now for making a valid point!

[FSogol]

42. +10. n/t

[Doc Sportello]

35. Good reasons for complaints about those posts

To lump the together is lazy, which to me is the thread that links most of the complaints. Videos or twitter links with no summaries for example. Posters have explained on here why, yet you just lump them as one with cat videos. Maybe it's a good thing when froth posts aren't on here because they in fact do not make this place more active.

[Woodwizard]

43. It is not hard to summerize what the post is about.

There are a lot of post titles that just are like. THIS!!! or some other clickbait that goes to not much of any substance besides a personal rant. Reading on here over the last 20 or so years I see it a lot more often and scroll on by.

[Emile]

53. Amen +1

[demmiblue]

60. P.S. Currently, every thread under "Greatest Threads" on the front page of DU is a based on a tweet!

Sooooo, apparently, a heck of a lot of DUers don't mind tweets.

[femmedem]

62. Good catch!

If you use it wisely, Twitter's still a good source of information despite Musk's best efforts.

I absolutely understand why someone would want to boycott Twitter, but when such good people are still using it, I fall in the camp of use what you can, support the people who are using it for good, and ignore the rest.

[Polybius]

79. And my complaint: Posters who still put "dial-up warning" in the thread title

It's 2023, that should have ended in 2010.

[MiHale]

6. It's a total waste of time clicking on them...

Partial pictures, things you can’t read, unless you sign up. Same with some of the videos, put a description or partial transcript before click on a video that’s 10 minutes long that I just don’t have time for. I can read 10x faster than listening to some pundits blather on.

[progree]

7. ⇧ 👍 ✅ on the videos

Same with some of the videos, put a description or partial transcript before click on a video that’s 10 minutes long that I just don’t have time for. I can read 10x faster than listening to some pundits blather on.

And usually well under 1 minute of that is the story, and the other 9 1/2 minutes is some commentator trying to sound smart.

It would also help if the video poster gave us some idea of where to start and stop watching rather than just assuming we've got a lot of time to waste.

[MiHale]

9. 👍

[japple]

16. Ditto that. I get so frustrated with those windbags who produce a

VERY IMPORTANT STORY and its a 30 sec clip of something we've already seen and 9:30 min of commentary.

[Effete Snob]

21. I put something like four posters on ignore...

…and DU improved tremendously.

[thesquanderer]

55. Unfortunately, ignore doesn't stop you from seeing their posts on the home page. n/t

[Effete Snob]

56. Aha!

Well, I never noticed that. I generally just hit "latest posts", and have been YouTube clickbait and hourly cat update free for a while now.

[The Magistrate]

15. Hear Hear, Sir

"...put a description or partial transcript before click on a video that’s 10 minutes long that I just don’t have time for. I can read 10x faster than listening to some pundits blather on."

[sl8]

10. My timing is impeccable!

I just found out last night why I never saw embedded tweets, now it requires a login.

(easy fix, I just had never bothered looking into it until last night)

[demmiblue]

12. Hmm, I can see them when I am logged out.

[sl8]

17. I could last night, but not this morning.

Looking at the the Twitter subReddit, it seems that many people are experiencing the same thing.

I don't have an account, and therefore have never logged in, perhaps that has something to do with with why it works for some and not others.

[demmiblue]

18. I just tried before I posted to you, so maybe it was some kind of bug.

I did have issues signing in earlier, though.

Some extensions/ad blockers will prevent you from seeing tweets (from personal experience, Ghostery is one of them).

[mahatmakanejeeves]

19. The effect just started for me too, this morning. I was able to view tweets yesterday.

I do not have a Twitter account. I'm not signing up for one. People know enough about me already.

[2naSalit]

22. Cookies?

[sl8]

29. Maybe.

Last edited Fri Jun 30, 2023, 09:09 AM - Edit history (1)

I cleared mine and it still requires a login, but if they're looking for some that only previously logged in users would have, that's what I'd expect.

It's mostly of academic interest to me - for practical purposes, I just don't care very much.

==============

I just checked again before hitting "Post my reply!" and it worked.

???

On edit:
I'm now seeing at least some embedded tweets, but if I try to manually open the link, it takes me to the login page.

[ecstatic]

13. Interesting. Another dumb, shortsighted decision by Elon.

I used to send Twitter links to family and friends here and there but I guess that's not possible anymore.

[GoCubsGo]

23. This shit just happened overnight.

I am not on Twitter, but I often go to the pages of sports teams, sportswriters, etc. for news updates. Now, if I go to their Twitter page, I get the damn login page. I have a couple of browser extensions that used to bypass the login wall, but they no longer work. I'm like the OP. I refuse to sign up for that shithole site, especially since all I want to do is read. Fortunately, a lot of the people I look at are on other platforms like Facebook and Instagram, but it's a pain in the ass either way. Hopefully, those extensions will be updated soon.

It boggles my mind that some people believe Eloon to be some sort of genius...

[sl8]

59. I was only joking about my "impeccable" timing, but it looks like it actually was good timing.

Before yesterday, I couldn't see the embedded tweets, but I could open them on Twitters site.

Now I can't open them on the Twitter site, but can see them embedded on DU. If I hadn't changed a browser setting yesterday, I wouldn't be able to see the tweets at all today.

[In It to Win It]

70. I can see embedded tweets when I'm not logged in

What is new (and what I just noticed after reading your post) is that I can't click the tweet (be redirected to Twitter) and still see the content while being logged out.

Before I had twitter (I've only been a Twitter user about about 1.5 years), I used to be able to click tweet and still see the content within it, whether it be a written post or a video clip.

[kentuck]

25. I have never signed up for Twitter either...

..and I waste time clicking on posts where I see nothing.

[Karma13612]

26. I noticed this the other day.

Seems like we “non-tweeters” are being shut out now. 🤷‍♀️

Too bad because I liked reading the responses to maga politician’s stupid tweets. But, we’ll probably still find out anything of real import somehow, somewhere else. I refuse to sign up for this “demented bird app”.

[True Blue American]

27. Agree!

Nothing but ill founded opinions.

[Roy Rolling]

28. No!

I don’t give up in the face of right-wing fuckery. That’s exactly what Elon wants.

I’m not gonna knee-jerk a reaction to acknowledge Elon’s victory.

Sad, we should be uniting liberal Twitter users, not encouraging them to scatter into the winds of a 24/7 commercial propaganda online environment.

Since Elon “broke my liberal connections” worldwide, I’m aggressively making new connections of like-minded people. Also, I never share links—I screenshot idiocy so defeat their sharing algorithms.

We gotta be smart, not fearful. I know the OP is smart, so I hope this helps increase our shared intelligence.

ON EDIT: If you are not participating in the media wars on Twitter and elsewhere, please refrain from disparaging those who are fighting against the bad things Elon does. Join the fight, or at least don’t heckle those who do.

[True Dough]

34. Keep up the good fight,

Roy!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

77. This 👆

[jmbar2]

36. I use Twitter all day, every day for breaking market news

I appreciate those who post breaking Twitter news that I haven't seen yet.

Despite Elon's f*ckery, it is the BEST source of breaking news out there. I am not a paid subscriber. I get a steady stream of the latest updates on the Ukraine war, activities of the christofascists, Supreme court rulings, political news, and commentary from the best liberal writers. I also get some funny animal vids, and a lot of educational content on daytrading.

Once you have trained your feed by blocking everything you don't like it is still a great resource - until it isn't.

Without curated Twitter sharing by knowledgeable members, I fear that DU will become the "Get off my lawn!" hub.

[femmedem]

38. +1 I follow a few people and twitter lists and don't randomly scroll.

For example, I use Josh Marshall's Ukraine Crisis list and a few sources specifically for climate news, covid info and the occasional cute animal video. Used like that, I find Twitter informative and entertaining.

That said, I can also respect people's choice not to support the platform anymore.

[CaptainTruth]

51. +1 & I have about 20 Twitter Lists by topic.

Each List includes only the accounts I want to see who tweet about that topic.

It's extremely helpful when I want to stay informed & up to date.

[demmiblue]

61. +1

[Mysterian]

37. Totally agree

Fuck twitter

[Wonder Why]

39. I agree and I agree about not wanting to use twitter (even before Musk) so

every time I open a tweet, I do so in a Firefox private tab then, after reading, remove the tab to remove all cookies. If I get a login request, I just exit and move on to the next thread.

[Joinfortmill]

40. Yes!

[CottonBear]

41. I follow Democratic Underground on Twitter, Instagram and FB.

Many Twitter accounts link to DU.

I appreciate that I can get a wide range of information, breaking news, and editorial content on my Twitter feeds and that I can find more information on the topics that I’m interested in on DU. DU is invaluable. I’ve been a member here since 2004 and I read DU before that for several years.

I use FB just for keeping up with friends. I don’t discuss politics there nor am I FB friends with any of my family members there.

My Instagram feed is mostly lifestyle, travel, pets, & fashion, but very little politics.

I am happy that DU continues to evolve as technology, society and social media evolve. DU is the very best progressive, Democratic online community, but we cannot exist in isolation. Linking to other social media is part of the ongoing evolution of this site.

[mitch96]

44. +1. click bait?

[Gore1FL]

45. I just click sign-in and close the sign-in screen.

Then I read the tweets.

[muriel_volestrangler]

47. Sounds good in theory, but does it still work for you today?

The pop-up screen for signing in does not have a button marked just "sign-in" (I'm testing via a private window, so no existing cookies; it has buttons for signing in via Google or Apple, or a box for a user name or email address; if you don't fill that in, it puts the window up again; if you dismiss the window, it goes to the Twitter home page, not the tweet you wanted).

[Gore1FL]

66. I stand corrected. It's been a while since I tried; they did change it.

Thanks for the heads-up.

[Pototan]

46. I couldn't agree more

[MineralMan]

49. Sounds like Twitter is committing slow suicide to me.

I stopped going there the day the elongated muskox took over.

[womanofthehills]

82. Actually- it has more viewers than ever and

Supposedly is finally breaking even.

[EarlG]

50. PSA: If the embedded tweet contains a link to a source article...

you can click that link within the embedded tweet and it will take you directly to the source article without having to log in to Twitter. See this post:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=18052897

[AntivaxHunters]

52. Nah hard pass

I rather enjoy seeing Biden own Republicans.

[2naSalit]

57. You know...

If they actually showed up like this, I would be fine with it but most (99% of them) OPs with twitter content show up as a link. Maybe it's my browser protections but if the protections I have don't allow it, I probably am better off avoiding it, whatever it is. Could be something I really want to see but I'll bypass if it's just the link.

[LAS14]

54. I don't ever remember signing into Twitter. I don't use it except...

.. to look at links on DU. How am I seeing all the link stuff?

[muriel_volestrangler]

58. From what I see today, and some other comments above, Twitter has changed

I was, for a few weeks, not signed in to Twitter, but I was still able to follow links from DU and other sites to Twitter, and able to see tweets (and the threads they were in, which is typically why I go there). But a few weeks ago I did sign back into Twitter (to reply to something, I guess) and have been signed in since, so I see all tweets. But if I use a new 'private' window now, where I'm not signed in, it demands signing in, and if I don't do that, will only show me Twitter's home page, not a particular tweet I want. The comments above seem to imply that may have started as recently as this morning.

I still see the tweets that people put in DU itself on my laptop (it seems to me that it's phones that often get just a link inside DU posts, rather than the tweet, including a picture in the tweet if there is one), even if not signed in.

[LAS14]

64. Maybe the laptop is the thing. I never use the phone. nt

[LostOne4Ever]

68. I started a Mastodon account

Just so that I would NOT in anyway support Elon MuskRAT.

[LiberalFighter]

69. In most cases those Twitter links are not the actual source.

They usually link to an actual news source.

[canetoad]

72. Thank you

I'd like to see that too.

[Norbert]

74. I haven't been on Twitter since Tuesday evening.

I din't know how far this will go but we will see.

[Earthrise]

75. It would be extremely helpful if people would put "Tweet" in the subject line of their posts

so I don't waste time opening the post only to see a link - "tweet." I don't have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, etcetera. Sometimes tweets open for me, but more often than not, they don't. I've stopped clicking on tweet links - if the tweet is embedded in a DU page I see it, if not I don't.

[muriel_volestrangler]

76. Elon Musk claims Twitter login requirement just 'temporary'

That's what Twitter owner Elon Musk said on Friday after the platform's users noticed that tweets and profiles were inaccessible via web browsers on both desktop and mobile devices unless they were logged in to an account. The change basically blocked all Twitter content from unregistered visitors and was not well-received by even its registered users.

"Temporary emergency measure," tweeted(opens in a new tab) Musk in a reply to a user posting about the login requirement. "We were getting data pillaged so much that it was degrading service for normal users!"

It's unclear exactly what Musk is referring to, but he's likely talking about web scrapers that pull data from websites without requiring any official API to do so. (After all, Twitter's API is now severely limited and costs a minimum of $42,000 per month for most use cases.)
...
Whether the decision to force visitors to login to a Twitter account is actually temporary remains to be seen. Neither Musk or Miqdad shared any timeline for once again enabling Twitter access for visitors without the login requirement.

https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-login-requirement-temporary

[malaise]

78. I've never signed up for Facebook or Twitter

but I'd be lying if I said I don't read threads with their links. Indeed I get a lot of up to date stuff from Twitter links.

[Tickle]

80. I just love it!

Whenever I go on Twitter, I enjoy reading how the Chinese own The Biden Crime Family. Did you miss that anyone? Even the Biden babies are in on it.
The best one was Trans are coming to rape your children, but I'm not sure if that is before or after China takes over. It's so nice and relaxing being on Twitter and reading these lovely posts with my morning coffee. Honestly, does life get any better?