This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
- X is telling users that blocking will soon be useless and trolls and stalkers will soon be able to see their posts again.
- Instead of blocking, X advises that users take their account private, the antithesis to what X and its progenitor Twitter was about.
- This removal of blocking may violate Apple and Google’s policies regarding platforms that host user generated content.
Unpopular opinion but I don't see what is wrong with this? With the current policy, if your account is public people who you block will still be able to see your tweets by simply logout (e.g. by opening twitter in a private window, using a different browser where they are not logged in, etc. doesn't take any effort).
I think this is setting the wrong expectations.
So even after this update, the block feature on Twitter is still more effective than it is on Lemmy, yet nobody seems to be complaining about that.
How so?
Blocking on Lemmy does nothing else but hide that user's posts and messages from you
Is...that not what's supposed to happen?
I don't have any other socials so I'm not too up on what the standards are.
Technically, it’s 'mute,' not 'block.' In most cases, blocking not only prevents you from seeing their content but also them from seeing yours.
What Twitter is being criticized for here is changing blocking to work similarly to how it does on Lemmy, with the exception that you still couldn’t engage with content from users who have blocked you, whereas on Lemmy, you can.
It’s being argued that 'weakening' the block feature in this way makes stalking and harassment easier.
Ah, so it's a mutual block but initiated from one side.
Thanks.
What else do you want it to do?
Me? Nothing. That's all I need it for.
I’m confused, what should it do instead?
Hide the other user from seeing your posts as well is what they’re going for I think
Maybe... Leave that cesspool?
People still using this platform get what they get. I could not care less.
Step 1 delete your X account.
Step 2 create a mastodon account
Mastodon also doesn't let you prevent people from reading your posts.
The block feature works on Mastodon as it does most places. Lemmy seems to be the only weird place where blocking isn't a fully-featured option.
I can no longer see posts made on a Mastodon instance ran by an ableist piece of shit after I called her an ableist piece of shit, so even Mastodon has this feature.
Correct workflow
This is the first time I'm exploring this, but I think you're wrong.
On Mastodon you can:
So post visibility is not something you set per profile, but per post. But you have an effective tool to decide who you let in AND remove on the way.
That's a better way, I agree.
This was my first thought too, hah.
I do miss my traffic closer alerts, but that's all.
Right, but you’re smart enough to know it’s the right thing to do. Many aren’t , sadly.
Every time someone makes a blanket demand like 'everyone just get off Twitter,' and I ask why I should, the answer is more or less: 'I don’t like Elon, so I don’t want anyone using his platform.'
I’ve yet to figure out why I should care how somebody else feels about what I do online. I don't like TikTok either yet I don't go around telling people to get off the platform.
getting a lot of new followers on bsky all of a sudden 🤷♂️
Having an X account is in no way, shape, or form a necessity. Imagine thinking you need to participate in the toxic, mainstream socialsphere.
The only way to protect yourself from fomo and narcissism in life
I protected myself by deleting Twitter the day douche nozzle took over because I'm not a fucking moron.
Instead of blocking, X advises that users take their account private, the antithesis to what X and its progenitor Twitter was about.
so basically remove your voice from the public sphere, giving the platform fully to the trolls and bullies.
This will also majorly affect professionals who must use twitter publicly for their job. Reporters, artists, PR people, etc. - they have all had to block abusive users over the years, so I think this may finally push them away to other platforms.
Not to mention the change that makes it no longer possible to opt out of being used for AI training. A lot of artists are now jumping ship to blue sky.
That's the same way it works on the fediverse. You post something publicly and anyone can see it regardless of whether you block them or not.
Yeah but this is musk and we hate him so this is obviously a very bad terrible idea and omg how can anyone still be on Twitter after this...but don't mind that I'm posting this on a site where the block does even less.
Is that a problem? You could already just view their posts without an account, or create a burner account. Might be a hot take, but I think someone with a public account shouldn't expect to be able to hide it from specific people.
I don't think Twitter lets you view posts without being logged in anymore. Or at least, it'll show you old posts, only.
You may be right, seems like it only shows you posts by number of likes. But a burner account is nearly effortless to create anyways.
I mean, yes. But:
it’s more evidence that X caters more to the blockees than the blockers.
I'm not sure I agree. However, even if it's true, I'm not sure it's such a bad thing. If you're saying something in public and I'm not even allowed to hear it, let alone respond to it, because you blocked me, you have an effective tool to shut down any dissent. This is what I saw on reddit all the time, there were posters who would block anyone who disagreed with them and so the comments sections on their posts would become very skewed.
And just the other day, I said that David Duke endorsing Jill Stein doesn't mean Jill Stein approves of David Duke or anything he stands for. Someone accused me of defending David Duke, and when I pointed out that his was fantasy, they blocked me. So I see people blocking for bullshit reasons all the time.
Lemmy is much the same, even less restrictive because you don't even have to log in to see anything. It's better this way.
How about you stay on X and we both win?
Not interested in the format even when it was still Twitter.
But "go away" is a good counter and you've got me convinced. You're truly adding to the high level discourse here.
🤷♀️
He kinda looks like Lars Ulrich in that picture
TL;DR: Set your account to "private"
No alternatives to ex-Twitter are mentioned. Lame.
There is nothing behind those eyes. Looks like an empty vessel with an over soaked ketamine brain.
