Twitter and The Musk & Facebook and The Zuck

[bronconick]

He already disabled it, so he probably sobered up

[RainMaker]

Seems like a lot of the MAGA accounts were Indians guys posting for payouts and that is why they removed it.

[sovereignstar v2]

I deleted my BlueSky account and went back to Twitter *sigh*. Not enough people I follow made the switch or they created a BlueSky account but never use it or use it 2% as much as they use Twitter.

[Ksyrup]

I haven't been on Twitter to actually scroll through posts in well over a year (maybe over 2 years? I've lost track of time). I still get notifications from certain accounts and see those posts, and from time to time I've sent in a pic or two to a local weather guy, but that's about it. I've fully transitioned to Reddit, which is a much better and more effective way to socially interact with strangers than Twitter-type apps. It's kind of a cross between Twitter and message boards, which suits me much better.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

I deleted my BlueSky account and went back to Twitter *sigh*. Not enough people I follow made the switch or they created a BlueSky account but never use it or use it 2% as much as they use Twitter.

I'm still on but it is a lot less active than it once was. I made a twitter alt just to read sports post on occasion, but I have zero interest in ever returning fully.

[Fidatelo]

What could possibly be on Twitter that makes it worth tacitly supporting Musk? Just leave and forget it even exists, life will go on and in a month you won't even think about it again.

[RainMaker]

Twitter is good for sports videos. Like if some crazy injury happens or a really cool play, you can usually find a video of it up on Twitter in minutes. That's mostly the usefulness to me outside of following a few news accounts (mostly local sports writers giving updates on injuries and such).

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

What could possibly be on Twitter that makes it worth tacitly supporting Musk? Just leave and forget it even exists, life will go on and in a month you won't even think about it again.

An aggregator account of my favorite soccer team. It’s why I signed up in the first place like ten years ago. It is not easy finding reliable news for a European soccer team like it is for an NFL team.

[Fidatelo]

"I sold my soul for sports videos and soccer news". America in a nutshell.

[RainMaker]

There aren't any options if you plan to communicate on the internet with people or find news. Every media outlet is essentially owned by giant pieces of shit. Kind of a feature of our system.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

There aren't any options if you plan to communicate on the internet with people or find news. Every media outlet is essentially owned by giant pieces of shit. Kind of a feature of our system.

Every media outlet didn't hold lotteries for votes, do a nazi salute (twice), and then run around stealing American's PII while destroying countless arms of your government. But sure, tell yourself what you want so you can watch some dude get hurt on a football field a little easier.

[sovereignstar v2]

oh man I was already having trouble sleeping at night

[RainMaker]

Meta allowed child sex traffickers to operate because they thought the ad revenue was good. TikTok and CBS are now owned by one of Trump's biggest supporters and a donor to the modern day Nazis. Google is providing technology for a genocide among their other despicable acts.

Which sites do you find acceptable?

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Meta allowed child sex traffickers to operate because they thought the ad revenue was good. TikTok and CBS are now owned by one of Trump's biggest supporters and a donor to the modern day Nazis. Google is providing technology for a genocide among their other despicable acts.

Which sites do you find acceptable?

So, I don't use TikTok or watch CBS. CBS is easy being Canadian, tbf.
I have a Facebook account but haven't actively used it almost ever. I should probably delete it.
I would absolutely love to De-Google. I've started slowly moving to a new email account but I have 20 years of things tied to it that I need to move over. I've been trying to get my Photos down to a size that I can transfer to another service, at which point I'll exit Drive also. But I do pay for YouTube Premium because my kids are going to watch it regardless and I'd rather they not be inundated with ads. And frankly some companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft are so ingrained in peoples lives that it is next to impossible to sever ties completely (though I have moved to Linux now on all my computers).


Most ashamedly, though: I still have Starlink for my cottage because there is no other option if I want to work out there in the summer, which I do.

Ultimately everyone is going to have different lines. But Twitter in particular blows my mind. It is directly used as a right-wing propaganda piece, sowing division world-wide. It is owned by one of the most troublesome people on earth, who fuels his own ego just by the existence of so many users on his platform. And it provides no necessary real-world utility. You said yourself it's basically just a rubbernecking vehicle for you. You couldn't hold your nose and vote for Harris in order to prevent Trump's rampage over your own country but you won't give up some fun internet videos to stick your thumb out at Musk? I don't get it.

[Passacaglia]

But you come here -- have you not seen the picture of Ben in his patriotic undies?

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Passacaglia

But you come here -- have you not seen the picture of Ben in his patriotic undies?

Only every night and some (ok most) mornings.

[Kodos]

Aside from YouTube, I have successfully de-Googled my life.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Aside from YouTube, I have successfully de-Googled my life.

No joke, that's impressive.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

An aggregator account of my favorite soccer team. It’s why I signed up in the first place like ten years ago. It is not easy finding reliable news for a European soccer team like it is for an NFL team.

I don't know about City, but I find the various Man Utd subreddits fit the bill for me. Also, there's the Guardian newspaper (available online), which covers football very well.

Originally Posted by Kodos

Aside from YouTube, I have successfully de-Googled my life.

What do you use for search?

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Meta allowed child sex traffickers to operate because they thought the ad revenue was good. TikTok and CBS are now owned by one of Trump's biggest supporters and a donor to the modern day Nazis. Google is providing technology for a genocide among their other despicable acts.

Which sites do you find acceptable?

Social media companies are a special kind of bad (sort of like oil companies), but I have come to the conclusion that if you poke deep enough something like 90% of public companies have something pretty horrific about them. It's a flaw inherent in an economic system built on (requiring) greed.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

What do you use for search?

I'm interested to hear Kodos' response but for me I've moved to DuckDuckGo. The only time I find it lacking is if I'm actively looking to buy something, it seems to have a weaker 'shopping' algo. In cases where I can't find the desired product or I feel like I'm maybe missing potential retailers of it I move back to Google because I specifically want to be targeted and driven to products.

[Kodos]

I also use DuckDuckGo for search.

For email, I have accounts with FastMail and Proton, plus an old Outlook account that I use for stuff that might get spam sent my way.

For online storage I use Proton Drive.


I use Apple Maps for navigation.

[RainMaker]

DuckDuckGo is probably the best of really bad options but also makes their money through an ad partnership with Microsoft. They also allow Microsoft to track you in this agreement.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

DuckDuckGo is probably the best of really bad options but also makes their money through an ad partnership with Microsoft. They also allow Microsoft to track you in this agreement.

Yeah, as with most things in life you can't let perfect be the enemy of good. Just make the best choices out of the options available whenever you can.


I have a co-worker trying out Kagi, I should check back in with him and see how he's been finding it (I think he started using it about 2-3 weeks ago). I wouldn't be opposed to paying for a search engine if it's good quality and truly not tracking etc.

[Atocep]

I only know DuckDuckGo is where MAGA flocked to over his first term and Biden's term because of Google "silencing" conservative viewpoints. Then a couple of years ago DuckDuckGo started filtering out Russian disinformation and pissed MAGA off. I think they've been pushing people to use Brave now.

[NobodyHere]

Bad day for Australian online predators

Millions of Australian children just lost access to social media. What’s happening and will it work? | CNN

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Bad day for Australian online predators

Millions of Australian children just lost access to social media. What’s happening and will it work? | CNN

The Australian Chris Hanson hit the unemployment line.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Trump TikTok: President says he has a buyer for popular app

Wasn't it a national emergency that TikTok either cease to exist in the U.S. or be sold to an American company?

Does this mean ByteDance has been handing over US user data to the Chinese government all this time?


Is(Was?) this ever a thing?

reuters.com

Oracle gets 15% of the new Tik Tok US.
Silver Lake gets 15%
MGX(owned by the UAE government) gets 15%
Michael Dell, Rupert Murdoch and others get 5%
Affiliates of existing ByteDance investors (whatever that means) 30.1%
Bytedance gets 19.9%

No financial details reported other than the new company is now valued at $14B instead of the $50B. As far as protecting U.S. national security....uh maybe?

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told employees the joint venture would "operate as an independent entity with authority over U.S. data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance," according to the memo seen by Reuters.

Chew added that U.S. entities of ByteDance-controlled TikTok "will manage global product interoperability and certain commercial activities, including e-commerce, advertising, and marketing" separately from the joint venture.
Rush Doshi, who served at the National Security Council under President Joe Biden, said it was unclear whether the algorithm had been transferred, licensed or was still owned and controlled by Beijing, with Oracle merely providing "monitoring".

In September, Reuters reported, citing sources, that ByteDance would maintain ownership of TikTok's U.S. business operations but would cede control of the app's data, content and algorithm to the joint venture.
The joint venture would serve as the backend operations to the U.S. company and handle U.S. user data and the algorithm, sources said at the time, adding a separate division that will continue to be wholly owned by ByteDance would control the revenue-generating business operations such as e-commerce and advertising.

Meanwhile, ByteDance announced $23B in AI infrastructure investments.

Ah well, I guess it is off to the next "national security" boogeyman.

[Ghost Econ]

So I guess posting AI child porn is OK on Twitter now.

[Ksyrup]

What's ridiculous is the reporting on this issue - most headlines state something to the effect of: "Grok AI chatbot apologizes for generating sexualized images of children" as if the chatbot or computer program behind it is an actual human being, and not the company or people who created it.

As someone pointed out on social media, imagine reporters posting a statement from an exploded Ford Pinto or carton of Marlboro cigarettes apologizing for the damage they've done, and not the companies or their executives. This world is madness right now.

[flere-imsaho]

I'm in the camp where social media companies should have some responsibility for what they allow to be published via their technology.

But let's say you're not in that camp because it's too much for them to police what everyone's doing (Oooo, poor rich social media companies, waaaah).

It's definitely not OK for them not to have responsibility for content that they themselves publish.

And that is why completely not trying to police what's in the first sentence gives bad actors complete free reign.

[RainMaker]

It's technically illegal but now that the country is run by pedophiles, other pedophiles can do what they want.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

So I guess posting AI child porn is OK on Twitter now.

Well now making those images is a paid feature on Grok.

Elon Musk’s Grok limits image generation to paid subscribers | CNN Business

[Ghost Econ]

So my father-in-law said he saw an article through Facebook that the NFL had canceled the Bad Bunny halftime and is replacing it with the TPUSA show. I said I hadn't heard it. He said he wasn't familiar with the source but wanted to see what I had heard.

I guess I should be glad he at least checked with me, but he hadn't been on the Internet for probably the last 4 hours. Which means it was somewhere in his mind that it could hopefully be true. And he could have just googled it after seeing the story, but chose not to because it reinforces his beliefs.

The previous generation is completely lost. They said they're watching the racist halftime show. Normally we watch the game at their house but thankfully my wife and daughter are coming back from a swim meet so we can't make it. I had already told her I was going to be sick that night so I wouldn't be going.

[Ksyrup]

My wife shows me all sorts of ads/posts on FB that are completely fictional. You know that based on the New Flavors thread, I keep up with all sorts of different flavors or pop or food or whatever. At least once a week, she shows me a FB post about a completely made up drink or food flavor. I do a quick search and the only link that comes up is the FB post she is showing me. Fake crap..

It's insane. It also reinforces my belief that anything we say is being listened to, because I'm not even on FB but my interests somehow show up in her feed.

[cuervo72]

Oh, I'm sure our phones are listening. I saw this post just today:

"Ok, spooky algorithm moment.

Using a circular saw was not getting the straight rips I needed. I was thinking of different ways of getting it precise including using a long board with a known straight edge to serve as a guide. Did not speak it aloud nor did I search for tricks.

This morning my video feed is full of different tools and tricks to solve this problem.

Definitely weird."

My gut reaction was "sure, the phone heard your saw."

[cuervo72]

Oh, another creepy example. That period when I was playing Township, I said something out loud about having to upgrade my barn (it's how you store/keep inventory in the game, need to constantly expand). Within a week I got a glossy flyer in the mail from a company which does real life barn upgrades.

[Ghost Econ]

Well, I intentionally held my phone to my mouth and said some pretty inflammatory things last night to my wife and very specifically said I hope they're listening... so I guess we'll see.

[RainMaker]

Yes, they do listen. They don't even need a microphone as a speaker (such as on any TV) can be used as a microphone as well when not in use.

[Lathum]

We were on my deck listening to Amazon Music last summer. A buddy of mine and me were talking about this obscure punk band from back in the day called Blood for Blood. Next song played was by them. Devices absolutely listen.

[JPhillips]

A couple of weeks ago a story came out that Facebook makes billions off of scam ads. They know they are scams, but don't limit access to users.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

A couple of weeks ago a story came out that Facebook makes billions off of scam ads. They know they are scams, but don't limit access to users.

They increased the price on the scammers so they could milk them even more! Any sane world these people would be in prison.

[flere-imsaho]

Honestly, what Facebook does makes what Enron did look pretty quaint by comparison.

[JPhillips]

Well, Elon has created a non-consensual porn machine, so they're both pretty awful.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Well, Elon has created a non-consensual porn machine, so they're both pretty awful.

Its ok; its Trump administration approved. They openly support pedophilia at this point.

[RainMaker]

TikTok’s CEO: “We are proud Zio•nists but you’re not allowed to call us that and we purchased this social media platform to censor you from saying it but if you say that we own ‘The Media’ that’s antisemitic too and we’ll also ban you for that. But yeah, we bought this shit”. pic.twitter.com/4XOr46c0wJ

— ParaPower Mapping (@KlonnyPin_Gosch) January 26, 2026

[Lathum]

Just a moment...

Jury selection starts today. This case should be fascinating and will likely shape the way social media and teens interact. Supposedly Zuck may testify. Imagine putting that weirdo up in front of the jury that is going to decided if you're responsible for addicting kids.

I full on expect the social media companies to win, but I also think they a culpable for sure.

[flere-imsaho]

There are apparently internal company emails that will be part of the trial that include things like:

Other allegedly damning documents showed Meta seemingly bragging that “teens can’t switch off from Instagram even if they want to” and an employee declaring, “oh my gosh yall IG is a drug,” likening all social media platforms to “pushers.”

Similarly, a 2020 Google document detailed the company’s plan to keep kids engaged “for life,” despite internal research showing young YouTube users were more likely to “disproportionately” suffer from “habitual heavy use, late night use, and unintentional use” deteriorating their “digital well-being.”

Those of us who are old enough to remember the downfall of tobacco marketing (which is all of us, because we're old) will recall the unearthing of many similar kinds of messages amongst tobacco employees & executives.

[Lathum]

Facebook has turned to such garbage. Maybe 1/15 posts I see are from people I’m actually friends with. The rest are ads, suggestions, posts from random groups I’m in, reels, etc.

[Ksyrup]

Every ad or video my wife shows me from FB looks fake and if I care enough, I can prove they are fake with just a quick search. When I do a search, the same FB links come up and they are the only links I can find. It's pretty bad because you know the vast majority of people just accept everything that they scroll through.

[albionmoonlight]

I stay on Facebook b/c it is the only way I can keep in touch with my older relatives.

But the other day, I found myself scrolling it, and it is *all* AI slop. Not even political propaganda stuff. Just fake videos of animals being cute and the like. Or a picture of "unbreakable MLB records" where the names and faces of the players are all wrong. I'm not even sure what the business model is supposed to be anymore.