Proposal to ban X.com links

Cheimoon said:
But there is a wider movement. Right now, a substantial number of people and sites are leaving X - just look at the examples mentioned in this thread alone. It's not huge, but it can only get bigger if more people do it, to keep the momentum going and hopefully grow it.
Click to expand...
I’m not sure how substantial it is tbh. Last year there’s was a move from left wingers(A bigger base than redcafe users) to get over to Bluesky but all it has seemingly resulted in is people just having an extra social media account while continuing to use twitter.

A quick google shows Bluesky has around 27 million users and daily users of 3.5 million. A increase but overall its a tiny user base.

Cheimoon said:
I mean, if this doesn't count for you, what does? Or even, what possibly could? Musk can't become much more abhorrent than this, and waiting for X to somehow become unstable or outdated is a cop-out. So what better moment could you imagine? Also, this wave of attention for Musk's salute will drop soon, and then the momentum will definitely be very hard to sustain.
Click to expand...
I gave him a 100 years in a gulag!

It’s not about what doesn’t count. Musk has been working with the US military for years and Tesla is a hellhole for worker rights. The guy has been a massive arsehole from the start.

A social app which millions of people can post information on but at the same is controlled by the worlds biggest cnut is a basic contradiction of capitalism. Twitter is a tool which at times can be useful.

Cheimoon said:
So this is excellent timing, I would say. And even if it still won't amount to enough in total, at least it's something. What else can we do about US politics? While whatever Musk and Trump get up to does affect the wider world. So at least doing this, and 'attacking' the root of Musk's status (which comes from his wealth, which comes from his companies) seems like a good idea under the circumstances..
Click to expand...
Tbh I tend to be against this if the end result is nothing changing. It’s like recycling plastic bottles to fight against global warming or buying free trade products to end exploitation because it’s better than doing nothing. The function is more ideological than anything else and tends to give the person taking part a false view of their actual power.

Consumer activism mostly doesn’t work and if there’s any group who know about the ineffectiveness of it it’s Manchester United supporters.

Musk status and wealth mostly comes from things like government contracts and telsa. Trump comes from the presidency and having all branches of the American government. Using or not using social media has no influence on this. There is nothing we can do to influence American politics which is a bleak reality but it’s the world we live in.

Ultimately Redcafe is a private forum and if people want to banned Twitter for any reason then fair enough but anyone thinking it will make a meaningful difference is mistaken imo.
 
didz said:
Didn't a load of sites try and move off it a couple of years ago? I think the alternative at the time was called Threads and it was pretty rubbish. Bluesky doesn't look much better at the moment, with a lot of journos having not posted anything in months. There are a few who seem to have only just signed up to it though.
Click to expand...
Threads belongs to David Lynch now. And it's great.
 
Why don't you just log off?

At some point they did some "log in to validate account" horseshit and since then I can't clickthrough (well, I can, but they show me nothing, demand I log in and I don't remember the password) but I can read posts and play goal videos without leaving the caf. Effective, no time wasted.
 
Sweet Square said:
I’m not sure how substantial it is tbh. Last year there’s was a move from left wingers(A bigger base than redcafe users) to get over to Bluesky but all it has seemingly resulted in is people just having an extra social media account while continuing to use twitter.

A quick google shows Bluesky has around 27 million users and daily users of 3.5 million. A increase but overall its a tiny user base.


I gave him a 100 years in a gulag!

It’s not about what doesn’t count. Musk has been working with the US military for years and Tesla is a hellhole for worker rights. The guy has been a massive arsehole from the start.

A social app which millions of people can post information on but at the same is controlled by the worlds biggest cnut is a basic contradiction of capitalism. Twitter is a tool which at times can be useful.


Tbh I tend to be against this if the end result is nothing changing. It’s like recycling plastic bottles to fight against global warming or buying free trade products to end exploitation because it’s better than doing nothing. The function is more ideological than anything else and tends to give the person taking part a false view of their actual power.

Consumer activism mostly doesn’t work and if there’s any group who know about the ineffectiveness of it it’s Manchester United supporters.

Musk status and wealth mostly comes from things like government contracts and telsa. Trump comes from the presidency and having all branches of the American government. Using or not using social media has no influence on this. There is nothing we can do to influence American politics which is a bleak reality but it’s the world we live in.

Ultimately Redcafe is a private forum and if people want to banned Twitter for any reason then fair enough but anyone thinking it will make a meaningful difference is mistaken imo.
Click to expand...
Communist logic vs liberal feelings. I agree with your take, and find the posturing tiresome. Though to be fair, methods of effectively influencing American politics is extremely difficult and not appropriate discussion on the open net. But still no skin off my back if it’s banned on here ultimately, as I never had an account nor does it ever render the embed preview on my browser.
 
Sweet Square said:
Ultimately Redcafe is a private forum and if people want to banned Twitter for any reason then fair enough but anyone thinking it will make a meaningful difference is mistaken imo.
Click to expand...

Who cares if it makes a meaningful difference? We can deal without tweets FFS, the internet existed before Twitter. If not having tweets posted here ruins the experience then wtf are we doing anyways?
 
Sweet Square said:
I’m not sure how substantial it is tbh. Last year there’s was a move from left wingers(A bigger base than redcafe users) to get over to Bluesky but all it has seemingly resulted in is people just having an extra social media account while continuing to use twitter.

A quick google shows Bluesky has around 27 million users and daily users of 3.5 million. A increase but overall its a tiny user base.


I gave him a 100 years in a gulag!

It’s not about what doesn’t count. Musk has been working with the US military for years and Tesla is a hellhole for worker rights. The guy has been a massive arsehole from the start.

A social app which millions of people can post information on but at the same is controlled by the worlds biggest cnut is a basic contradiction of capitalism. Twitter is a tool which at times can be useful.


Tbh I tend to be against this if the end result is nothing changing. It’s like recycling plastic bottles to fight against global warming or buying free trade products to end exploitation because it’s better than doing nothing. The function is more ideological than anything else and tends to give the person taking part a false view of their actual power.

Consumer activism mostly doesn’t work and if there’s any group who know about the ineffectiveness of it it’s Manchester United supporters.

Musk status and wealth mostly comes from things like government contracts and telsa. Trump comes from the presidency and having all branches of the American government. Using or not using social media has no influence on this. There is nothing we can do to influence American politics which is a bleak reality but it’s the world we live in.

Ultimately Redcafe is a private forum and if people want to banned Twitter for any reason then fair enough but anyone thinking it will make a meaningful difference is mistaken imo.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry, but that just sounds lazy to me. You have to play some part as an individual. Even if many times it won't count, sometimes it will. Waiting everything out until others make it big or somehow (how, then?) public opinion turns and makes governments turn is, to me, just a cop-out.
 
If people want their messages to be seen and those sites ban twitter for bluesky more, you'll see a shift towards more journos and ITKs using bluesky. It has to start somewhere and every little bit counts, not saying it will take shape like that though.
 
redshaw said:
If people want their messages to be seen and those sites ban twitter for bluesky more, you'll see a shift towards more journos and ITKs using bluesky. It has to start somewhere and every little bit counts, not saying it will take shape like that though.
Click to expand...
But you gotta try. X isn't worth not trying.
 
In the rare event that a tweet has to be shared, is it really that much of a hassle to post a screenshot of it? Hell, I'd actually prefer that as a reader!
 
SalfordRed18 said:
Out of interest, who has deleted their x profile?
Click to expand...

I deleted mine just after Elon bought it. Deleted facebook and instagram last week as well. Didn't really use them all that much, especially facebook, so it's not something I'm going to miss.

Edit: +1 for the ban. Feck that cancer of a platform/owner.
 
Florida Man said:
Communist logic vs liberal feelings. I agree with your take, and find the posturing tiresome. Though to be fair, methods of effectively influencing American politics is extremely difficult and not appropriate discussion on the open net.
Click to expand...
Yep it’s wider debate between two different ways of viewing the world. Still as you say it’s understandably given the difficulty of changing anything in American politics.

RedOrange said:
Who cares if it makes a meaningful difference? We can deal without tweets FFS, the internet existed before Twitter. If not having tweets posted here ruins the experience then wtf are we doing anyways?
Click to expand...
Tbf that’s the argument I was responding to. I’ve also not said getting rid of tweets would ruin the experience of the forum.
Cheimoon said:
I'm sorry, but that just sounds lazy to me. You have to play some part as an individual. Even if many times it won't count, sometimes it will. Waiting everything out until others make it big or somehow (how, then?) public opinion turns and makes governments turn is, to me, just a cop-out.
Click to expand...
I see it as less of a cop-out and more trying to realise the lack of power/influence the average individual acting online has on the system. I could easily be wrong though.
 
Scandi Red said:
In the rare event that a tweet has to be shared, is it really that much of a hassle to post a screenshot of it? Hell, I'd actually prefer that as a reader!
Click to expand...
It can be better too if people post or screenshot more of the info in the tweet.

Tweets are cut off to a certain size and I tend to not bother clicking to read the last few lines

Often I see a tweet posted on here and wonder what the relevance is as the first part that is embeded doesn't pertain to anything so you are forced to click read some multiple point tweet. Kind of annoying when people just drop those in without much or any context, like they're click farming. I just don't click at all.
 
redshaw said:
Tweets are cut off to a certain size and I tend to not bother clicking to read the last few lines
Click to expand...

Exactly. I hate clicking on those Twitter links. I also think you need to log in these days? I have a profile for that purpose but I've never tweeted.

Screenshots are simply superior. The only downside is that stuff gets taken down, which means that old forum threads can become a mess. Although the same can be said for many tweets.
 
The argument that one single site/person/business doesn't make a difference is one that can be made against any boycott ever.
 
Scandi Red said:
Exactly. I hate clicking on those Twitter links. I also think you need to log in these days? I have a profile for that purpose but I've never tweeted.

Screenshots are simply superior. The only downside is that stuff gets taken down, which means that old forum threads can become a mess. Although the same can be said for many tweets.
Click to expand...
They're generally not and you're taking clicks from the site, but not reducing its relevance by still using it as a much read news source.
 
Most of the front page of Reddit is either subreddits announcing they've banned X links or asking whether they should ban them. I think it's naive to suggest that Redcafe deciding to not use X links wouldn't make much of a difference when there's a much larger movement going on across the internet.
 
Can we come up with some practical steps to avoid X?

1. If it's a news story post a link to the website not a tweet
2. If it's a picture, copy the picture url and embed it on the caf (not sure if this counts as avoidance as X is hosting the image)
3. If it's a text tweet - screenshot it.
4. Transfer tweets under tier 2 don't need to be posted

The only problem is video, it would be a pain to download and reupload it elsewhere.
 
I'd happily go back to watching the scores come through on ceefax in rumblelows shop window if it helped contribute to the downfall of this prick.
 
Jippy said:
and you're taking clicks from the site
Click to expand...

That is not just a minor inconvenience though. One poster sharing a screenshot that otherwise could have generated 100,000 clicks makes a huge difference. This form of mass exodus could for sure force Musk to change his policies (or better yet: run the platform to the ground).

Jippy said:
but not reducing its relevance by still using it as a much read news source.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Twitter will lose relevance with a huge drop in clicks. Also, people generally don't care where the screenshot is from. It's not like the majority will start getting a positive association when they hear "Twitter" or "X" just because they see screenshots from there.
 
horsechoker said:
Can we come up with some practical steps to avoid X?

1. If it's a news story post a link to the website not a tweet
2. If it's a picture, copy the picture url and embed it on the caf (not sure if this counts as avoidance as X is hosting the image)
3. If it's a text tweet - screenshot it.
4. Transfer tweets under tier 2 don't need to be posted

The only problem is video, it would be a pain to download and reupload it elsewhere.
Click to expand...
This site survived the perma ban of giflord - it will survive that as well.

Very much in favor of a ban.
 
weetee said:
This site survived the perma ban of giflord - it will survive that as well.

Very much in favor of a ban.
Click to expand...
No doubt we'd survive, the only things that could kill the caf are XenForo going under or Niall accidentally spilling a glass of water.
 
What if Musk indirectly owns this site? Considered how wealthy he is it's not that far-fetched.
 
Scandi Red said:
That is not just a minor inconvenience though. One poster sharing a screenshot that otherwise could have generated 100,000 clicks makes a huge difference.
Click to expand...
You'd obviously need widescale adoption to cost it that many clicks, but it has to start somewhere.
Loads of tweets you see on here you don't click on anyway, certainly the short text breaking news ones.
Scandi Red said:
This form of mass exodus could for sure force Musk to change his policies (or better yet: run the platform to the ground).
Click to expand...
Can't see the former happening, but the latter sounds good.
Scandi Red said:
I disagree. Twitter will lose relevance with a huge drop in clicks. Also, people generally don't care where the screenshot is from. It's not like the majority will start getting a positive association when they hear "Twitter" or "X" just because they see screenshots from there.
Click to expand...
You still have people on there taking screenshots and I disagree on maintaining its relevance cos it remains a go to source, no matter how you access the content. Loads on here don't have twitter accounts but still read loads of embedded tweets in threads.

@horsechoker's ideas sound good.
 
Crackers said:
This place is basically marxcafe, no way he'd want to own it
Click to expand...

He probably owns it by accident. He doesn't know it, but if one of us told him.... Well, it would go from MarxCafe to MuskCafe in an instant!

RedCafe being owned by a fascist and Liverpool supporter is peak 2025 stuff.
 
What does any transfer related thread on the caf look like without X links? What does half of the football forum look like? 2/3 threads on here are full of embedded X posts. So what changes, someone more than likely finds it there then has to look for some non-Zuckerberg/Musk owned site where its also posted and then link from there? Just seems stupid really.
 
Scandi Red said:
He probably owns it by accident. He doesn't know it, but if one of us told him.... Well, it would go from MarxCafe to MuskCafe in an instant!

RedCafe being owned by a fascist and Liverpool supporter is peak 2025 stuff.
Click to expand...
His dad said he was a United fan growing up, which makes his love of Liverpool even worse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.