Making Tracks
November 13, 2023PMUG has been a Twitter member since April 2010, but now we are ending our posts there because of both practical and philosophical reasons. Here is what PMUG is doing, our thoughts on this situation, and what our next steps will be.A controlled exit for practical reasons
When Elon Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022 and renamed it “X,” the following days saw many changes — one less publicly mentioned was possibly putting the service behind a paywall (1). He presented a clarified suggestion during a livestream in September (2) of requiring members pay a small fee in order to post — all with the stated intention of reducing Bot traffic (although one could counter larger Bot operators would easily absorb the fee and consider it “the price of doing business.”) But at that point, this was just talk.
A step beyond talking happened in mid-October (3) with the start of a small-scale trial in New Zealand and the Philippines of its “Not A Bot” program. This was done in a minimal and easily avoidable manner — it is only for new users through the Web interface, and not its APP. One might question the effectiveness of this move, but it did at least show Twitter was (somewhat) ready to act. The troubling thing was that the announcement happened suddenly and without warning. Under the limited conditions mentioned, users were then required to pay-to-post.
Right now, It looks more certain a payment requirement will happen for everyone. At some point. The question remains if Twitter’s next step will again be gradual (like doing a more widespread test in larger/less remote countries,) or happen suddenly — and be required for all users everywhere. We won’t know until that actually happens.
PMUG’s Executive Board discussed the issue, and made the decision not to pay should a fee happen. This was made on philosophical grounds as a result of Musk’s inaction on curbing hate speech, spreading of disinformation, and more.
For PMUG, it is better to make a controlled exit right now, than to discover the test has ended and the fee is extended to everyone. At that point it would be too late, and members would need to pay even to post a “goodbye” message.
Philosophical grounds
Elon has undeniably innovated and pushed several industries forwards with his Tesla (4) and SpaceX (5) companies. His acquisition of Twitter is another story, and has revealed his darker side. Twitter started as a quick source for sharing news, but the service has devolved. More could be said about this, but others have already provided more detailed observations (6).
Twitter was supposed to be a forum for communicating news and ideas. It existed because of its members, and low barriers to communicate and receive those ideas. At the very least you needed a smartphone or computer, and an account on the service. Then news and ideas could flow between members easily.
Musk proclaims himself a “free speech absolutist,” but his actions towards journalists (7) and those who link to their Mastodon account — among other social media Websites — have proven otherwise. (8) These should not be the actions of a “free speed absolutionist.”
Since Twitter’s new owner took over, many members have left the service for varied reasons ranging from Musk’s showing his own social views into parts of the service, to the promotion of hate speech (9).
PMUG will not be the last to leave Twitter, and more members will go when a pay-to-post requirement comes into effect for everyone. Only those who pay will then have speech.
As long as free Twitter account members may log in and reply to messages, PMUG will do so. We will not be posting though. That leaves the question of what is next for our micro-blogging activities.
PMUG is making Mastodon tracks
PMUG has for years enjoyed all that Twitter offered, and shared information about itself and interesting industry developments there. Unless the turn of events reverses itself — and it doesn’t look like it will — then Twitter’s competition offers most of what Twitter had with some advantages.
BlueSky has potential, but it hasn’t been made public yet. It will likely have technical issues to work out when it becomes open to everyone and the load becomes felt on the service of an increased magnitude of users. The just-launched Threads social network from Meta (a Facebook-created parent company) has given some pause as it has the same privacy and dependency issues found in Instagram (also owned by Meta.)
The most viable and ready-now service at this point seems to be the Mastodon social media service. Some have said it is more technical to use than Twitter, and to an extent that’s true — but that has been changing. Guides to using Mastodon have become more available on the Web (including better explanations of its distributed nature.) Admittedly, it still has a number of “rough edges” still to smooth out, but the service in general has been revising itself to be more user-friendly.
The Mastodon service also has several advantages over Twitter:
- Mastodon is not located on centralized Website or server, but is available from many servers — just like e-mail is available from different service operators, and messages are passed between servers. This also frees it from being controlled by the service’s owner.
- Mastodon is non-commercial. Its goal is not to make money from its advertisers or members. The service is instead funded by donations.
- There no algorithms promoting posts according to an agenda or trying to lure members to keep using the service.
- Mastodon’s server code is free and open-source. Anyone can help contribute to add future features — although you will need coding skills to do so.
- Mastodon has built-in RSS feeds. Members can be alerted to your new posts when they are published through a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed. Just copy the Web address of a user’s account page, then add “.rss” to its end. To use the RSS feed, you will need an RSS reader plug for your Web browser, an e-mail program which accepts RSS feeds (like Thunderbird,) or a stand-alone RSS program (or smartphone App.) Please see the example below with PMUG’s Mastodon page address.
We hope you will join us on Mastodon for PMUG’s latest news and information. Unlike (for most of) Twitter, you will not need an account just to read posts — so non-service members may see our posts (unlike Twitter.)PMUG’s Mastodon address: https://mastodon.social/explore
PMUG’s Mastodon RSS Feed Address: https://mastodon.social/explore.rss
Footnotes
Click a line’s starting number to return above.
(1) "Musk discusses putting all of Twitter behind a paywall"
https://www.platformer.news/p/musk-discusses-putting-all-of-twitter(2) "Elon Musk might charge everyone for Twitter/X next"
https://mashable.com/article/twitter-x-elon-musk-paid-fee(3) "X, formerly Twitter, rolls out US$1 annual fee for new users in New Zealand and the Philippines"
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/oct/18/x-twitter-1-dollar-annual-subscription-fee-new-users-elon-musk-new-zealand-nz-philippines(4) "10 Ways Tesla Has Reshaped The Automotive Industry"
https://www.topspeed.com/how-tesla-reshaped-automotive-industry/(5) "SpaceX’s Impact on Space Technology and Innovation"
https://ts2.space/en/spacexs-impact-on-space-technology-and-innovation/and
"SpaceX Is Leading the Rise of an Entirely New Industry"
https://futurism.com/spacex-monopoly-competition(6) "Opinion: Twitter Gave Us an Indispensable Real-Time News Platform. X Took It Away"
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/11/08/twitter-news-global-conflicts-00123806(7) "Twitter suspends journalist accounts without explanation, angering lawmakers and those affected"
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/15/twitter-suspends-journalists-musk-00074261and
"Elon Musk Is Absolutely an Enemy of Free Speech"
https://www.freepress.net/blog/elon-musk-absolutely-enemy-free-speech(8) "Twitter abruptly bans all links to Instagram, Mastodon, and other competitors"
https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/18/23515221/twitter-bans-links-instagram-mastodon-competitors(9) "For the Birds – Eight Twitter users on why they finally quit Elon Musk’s social network"
https://slate.com/technology/2023/10/twitter-quit-elon-musk-one-year-x.html
Stagefright malware for iOS and OS X: Just be sure to apply updates
August 3, 2016Featured articles from around the web. Glenn Fleishman, writing for Macworld: Talos found that maliciously constructed data saved as BMP, Digital Asset Exchange, OpenEXR, and TIFF image files could outwit the operating and allow code to be written and executed, including opening up a system to remote exploits. The ancient lossless image format TIFF using, however, is the worst culprit as Apple’s OSes will access a ...</p> <div class="lcp_morelink">Read more</div> <p>Apple regains status as world’s favorite company
August 3, 2016Featured articles from around the web. CNET: Each year, FutureBrand looks at the 100 biggest companies by market capitalization, asks 3,000 consumers and industry professionals in 17 countries about them and produces a ranking of what it calls perception strength, rather than financial strength. This year shows Apple regaining the top spot, after last year’s painfully abject slide into second place behind Google. And: Those of drier countenance and ...</p> <div class="lcp_morelink">Read more</div> <p>New Security Threat Targets OS X, iOS through Graphics
August 3, 2016Featured articles from around the web. There’s a new security threat for OS X and iOS that could let attackers remotely control your device or install malware by sending you an image file. The threat is fairly serious, although so far it’s still just a proof of concept, and Apple patched the flaw in OS X 10.11.6 and iOS 9.3.3. The post New Security Threat Targets ...</p> <div class="lcp_morelink">Read more</div> <p>Thought on Apple and Formula One
August 3, 2016Featured articles from around the web. Interesting piece from Joe Saward, longtime Formula One blogger: The suggestion last week that Apple may be discussing the acquisition of the Formula One group has led to a lot of interest and a lot of opinion. Traditional technology people argue it would never happen because it’s not the way Apple works. The company buys small clever companies and use ...</p> <div class="lcp_morelink">Read more</div> <p>County Receives Approvals for Pedestrian Crosswalk on Washington Road in Princeton
August 3, 2016Featured articles from around the web. For more great original content go to the source at Planet Princeton. Mercer County has received approvals from the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission to install a crosswalk and pedestrian-activated beacons at the Washington Road crossing, a crossing heavily used by pedestrians and cyclists. The approvals were necessary due to the proposed crossing’s proximity to the Delaware and Raritan Canal ...</p> <div class="lcp_morelink">Read more</div> <p>iOS 9.3.3 Fixes Flaw That Allowed Attackers to FaceTime Eavesdrop
August 3, 2016Featured articles from around the web. Apple has just released fresh security updates for iPads and iPhones with its iOS 9.3.3 update, providing much needed security enhancements to boost user privacy. Apple’s iOS 9.3.3 security update is available for iPhone 4s and later, iPod touch (5th generation) and later, and iPad 2 and later. iOS 9.3.3 addresses a combined 43 iOS Read more at ...</p> <div class="lcp_morelink">Read more</div> <p>Adobe Lightroom now lets you edit RAW files on your phone
August 3, 2016Featured articles from around the web. This could be a big deal for Lightroom users who want to edit photos while away from a computer. ∞ Read this on The Loop Read more at The Loop</p> <div class="lcp_morelink">Read more</div> <p>A Deeper Look at Apple’s ‘Macintosh Problem’
August 3, 2016Featured articles from around the web. Apple’s overall Macintosh sales are in decline, for how long we don’t know. The MacBook Pro is long over due for a refresh. Apple’s Mac Pro has languished. The Mac mini, last updated in 2014, was less than intoxicating. What’s happening? John takes a look. The post A Deeper Look at Apple’s ‘Macintosh Problem’ appeared first on The Mac Observer. Read ...</p> <div class="lcp_morelink">Read more</div> <p>When a Hardware Product is Done
August 3, 2016Featured articles from around the web. We all know how software is really never done. There are always new updates to refine, fix and add another feature. But what about hardware? Are there some products you can say are mature and need no more changes? They are done, finished? That’s not something we frequently encounter when it comes to high-tech products. We’ve lived in an environment ...</p> <div class="lcp_morelink">Read more</div> <p>Adobe Patches 52 Vulnerabilities in Flash Player
August 3, 2016Featured articles from around the web. Adobe today pushed out an updated Flash Player today that patched 52 vulnerabilities, most of which led to remote code execution on compromised machines. Read more at Threatpost | The first stop for security news</p> <div class="lcp_morelink">Read more</div> <p>