This article clearly addresses the issues that big social media platforms are currently facing. It also delves into a protocol named 'ActivityPub' and why it has caught the attention and investment (again) of some of the big names -and new players- who want to use it. There are pros and cons ... https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/20/23689570/activitypub-protocol-standard-social-network
Bluesky is worth a look... Bluesky resembles Twitter in may ways, but it uses one of the new protocols - specifically, authenticated transport (AT) protocol. An open technology that is a framework for decentralized social media. Bluesky is the brainchild of Jack Dorsey when he was at Twitter, however in February 2022, it became a completely independent organization and no longer associated with Twitter. In February 2023, the Bluesky app was released as beta in the Apple App Store (no Android app yet) and as of April 2023, is still in beta - users are invited to test it, by invitation only. If the beta users (hopefully not just fanboys, but genuine critics/advisors) help it to successfully meet its goals, it may vacuum a lot of Twitter users in its direction. Elon Musk has shown no interest in AT protocol for Twitter. FYI: Dorsey is on the Board of Bluesky and that has already caused some angst - he is not trusted.
Mozilla is getting into social media. On May 4, 2023 they announced that they are now in beta. "... Things are primed for experimentation and a new direction, and we believe the Fediverse is central to that. Why? Because it moves power away from big tech companies and into the hands of diverse voices to build a social platform that meets people’s needs, not shareholders’ needs". https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/mozilla-social-mastodon-private-beta-announcement/
Twitter leaving EU... Exiting from the Code of Practice on Disinformation (June 5, 2023) might be the first formal step in Twitter’s departure from Europe. Twitter cannot keep up with the new EU requirements that will kick in on 25 August, 2023. The EU has always been a secondary market for the platform, and it is becoming increasingly likely that Twitter may opt not to comply with the DSA (Digital Services Act), withdrawing from Europe altogether. https://www.euractiv.com/section/di...de-of-practice-on-disinformation-sources-say/
OK, thanks for this important info. The article did say that Twitter is still in the "seriously considering" phase. But if it does happen eventually, it won't come as a major shock. But it will lose so much user base, it's not even funny.
Another Twitter alternative: this one is from Meta. Looks as though it will be publicly announced this month. https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/19/everything-we-know-about-instagrams-twitter-clone-due-this-summer/ Bluesky got the jump in luring Twitter users away from Twitter and it started out well, but Jack Dorsey has caused ripples lately that have enraged its users and advertisers. Bluesky lacks moderation but is better than Twitter in this matter. Dorsey is acting very much like Musk, so Twitter migrants are once more looking for something that is Twitter-like, but not Musk-like. Meta's barcelona may be that alternative It is worth noting that there are several new SM offerings in the works that are not Twitter-like and have no advertising, but it appears Twitter migrants prefer the Twitter interface and its use of algorithms to promote their posts (e.g. celebs, politicians, athletes, journalists, activists).
Looks as though half of Reddit will be shutting down starting tomorrow ... and finalizing June 30. Reddit management is in no mood to negotiate any further with the API developers. Users who have been on this social media platform for decades are looking for an alternative (much like Twitter users who want the same experience but without a toxic overlord). Fediverse servers are preparing to be overwhelmed, especially Lemmy and to a lesser extent, Kbin. https://mashable.com/article/reddit-steve-huffman-ceo-ama-third-api-backlash
Reddit update (June 16): Moderators are still holding strong. The most popular subreddits which contain the majority of the users are still dark even though the CEO is demanding the moderators return - or else! The Reddit alternatives (Lemmy and Kbin) are still scrambling to get their instances up to snuff - they really need some top notch APIs. https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/16/23763538/reddit-blackout-api-protest-mod-replacement-threat
Canadians will no longer have access to news content on Facebook and Instagram due to federal legislation just passed in Canada today. Canada is following Australia's lead - they have already forced digital companies, through legislation, to pay for the use of news content. Google, which has said it is considering the same approach as Meta, is still hoping for a compromise. Other corporate run social media companies have not chimed in at this time. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/online-news-act-meta-facebook-1.6885634 Update July 29,2023: OTTAWA—Google has followed Meta in announcing it will block Canadian news content from its search engine in Canada after days of negotiations with the Liberal government hit an impasse over its recently passed online news bill. The EU and UK are currently looking into similar legislation (the Australian legislation appears to be the one they both prefer at this time).
Cyber-criminals are shifting their base from Tor to Telegram. Threat actors, ransomware gangs, malware authors, and others are quickly leaving the "traditional" dark web (Tor sites) and relocating to shady Telegram channels that are dedicated to crimes. The majority of cyber-crime activity today takes place on contemporary social media platforms and outside of the conventional dark web. This article explains it in-depth ... https://www.cysecurity.news/2023/06/heres-why-cybercriminals-are-shifting.html
Elon Musk's Twitter celebrates World Social Media Day (June 30) by requiring users to have an account to view tweets. Many users share links to tweets - now they can no longer see them without signing in (kind of like paywalls work). It means that platforms such as Discord no longer work. This strange decision makes no business sense as it will no doubt limit Twitter's reach and give advertisers yet another reason to look elsewhere. Why did the CEO go along with this - she is touted 'the ad guru'? July 1 Update 1: When a user who is not logged-in tries to access a tweet, Twitter is sending itself ten replies a second for a few seconds. That tallies up with Musk saying that Twitter is seeing too many requests. So if the problem really is about Twitter DDOS-ing itself, why let it continue all day? Rate limits are exasperating the problem not alleviating it. Update 2: Musk's data scraping explanation does not hold water: "You do not prevent scraping by cutting off your own app's access to its OWN database". Update 3: Twitter is on AWS & Musk has admitted he is not paying his bill - under those circumstances, AWS will meter usage, then throttle your usage. July 2 Update 1: If you manage to sign-in, your feed may load on TweetDeck but not your notifications or lists. If you try to start a new tweet, you may see this message 'tweet failed: this action was flagged as suspicious'. Public announcements, e.g. weather alerts, traffic conditions (air, road), public health announcements etc., are not being updated or disseminated. Update 2: Twitter is still having major issues this evening. Tech writers are looking for why Twitter has not reverted its rate levies but Twitter keeps sending out the poop emoji to all who inquire.
Speculation that Google may have been throttling back on Twitter during a data migration this weekend is incorrect. "Twitter has reportedly resumed paying its contract with Google Cloud, several weeks after seemingly ditching the cloud hosting giant to go its own way. A report from Bloomberg claims the Elon Musk-backed social media firm has restarted payments ahead of a June 30 cut-off deadline that could have left Twitter in serious technical difficulties. Twitter had apparently been looking at going its own way on hosting, potentially even creating its own in-house system, but the company now appears to have seen sense and patched things up with Google Cloud. " https://www.techradar.com/pro/twitter-has-apparently-started-paying-for-google-cloud-again
Instead of wasting endless hours on the computer scrolling social media crap how about doing something outside or spending time with real people?
Apparently Threads is now live with apps for iOS and Android. You can log in with your Instagram account. https://www.neowin.net/news/threads-passes-two-million-users-in-two-hours-says-mark-zuckerberg/
Takes a couple of seconds to load (you don't have to be a member) https://www.threads.net/t/CuVxMmvLNsG/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
