I really don't think this is going to have the effect that X thinks it will have. I've always said that if XCancel and Nitter get taken down, I'm not going to suddenly decide to make an X account--I'm just going to stop reading their content.
Same for old.reddit.com. If they kill it, I'm not going to give in and create an account--I'm just going to stop visiting.
They have killed old.reddit now. It forces you (or at least me) to login. Same with regular Reddit. Most threads I get an authwall after the top comment.
I use proxy software like redlib and teddit. The browser extension LibRedirect[1] makes these easy to use without conscious thought. They're read-only, but if you were going to post something, you'd have to sign in anyway.
I agree. I think of these alternatives as off-ramps, not replacements. In 2023 I ditched my Reddit and Twitter accounts thinking it would be very difficult. Today, the idea of losing the off-ramps no longer bothers me.
I started using Reddit after the Digg 4 fiasco. I mostly lurk. I like things like the localllama subreddit. If I log in to contribute it’s a high effort post with good information.
Reddit can go ahead and extract as much value as possible by turning their site into a slop factory. I won’t be around to see it. I haven’t visited for a week after near daily use for 15 years.
They make money selling data with your info in it. That is why they care.
They will eventually limit you to app only usage where they can grab more information.
Read-only mode is a great way to entice new users to your platform. If you want to share or comment, you need an account. Blocking ALL access will not have that effect. I went from an active Twitter user to simply having a dozen X accounts bookmarked via xcancel. I can live without them.
Just so you know – if you are reading this – X is no longer an effective form of publishing as I will not, now or ever, create an account just in order to read something that you have written on there.
On Monday 24th August at 8PM EST, we received at letter from X Corp. asking to cease and desist the service XCancel.
The service XCancel is stopped until further notice.
We are seeking legal advice and won't share more details for now.
Thank you for the trust you have put in these two years of XCancel.
Have you considered reaching out to users who actually create and own the material published on Twitter to work out a deal whereby xcancel.com would be permitted to publish their posts (regardless of what the cease and desist says)?
Moves like this are nearly always a precursor to a user hostile change of some kind. I suppose anybody who didn't leave already are likely so rusted on they still won't budge, but people should definitely look for open alternatives at this point.
Odd move on Twitter’s part. This will only hasten their demise. It’s like a restaurant that isn’t getting enough customers raising their prices to make more money.
I think the signal on X has been deteriorating for years. Many valuable communities that existed purely on Twitter have scattered across the internet after Elon's transformation, often to many disconnected small communities across X, Mastodon instances, BlueSky, and reddit.
Gabe Newell said it eloquently about gaming piracy that it is a service problem not a money issue.
Twitter has a UI/UX issue, and instead of fixing the clusterfuck, they decide to nuke sane alternatives. Maybe they live off of people's pain, and without that they can't function.
I agree with Gabe Newell's take, however it absolutely is _also_ a money issue (which Steam went a long way to alleviating with regional pricing). Median PPP ratios for other continents are: Asia ~2.76x, Africa ~2.76x, Europe ~1.58x, etc.
Currently new AAA titles debut for 60 to 80 USD. I'm wondering what the piracy situation would look like in the USA, if this was, say 160 to 220 USD; because that is what paying US prices feels like to the median person.
Same for old.reddit.com. If they kill it, I'm not going to give in and create an account--I'm just going to stop visiting.
(Im now entirely on HN and Lemmy)
1. https://libredirect.manerakai.com
If I was an advertiser on twitter I would be out of there too unless they proactively lowered ad fees real quick.
Reddit can go ahead and extract as much value as possible by turning their site into a slop factory. I won’t be around to see it. I haven’t visited for a week after near daily use for 15 years.
Reddit 4 isn’t for me.
Grok searching across x/twitter is too valuable to ignore or silo.
X is effectively a high signal comment layer for the entire internet + quasi internet (arxiv) + real world.
Same applies to any data silo I suppose, X just seems more straightforward to beachhead.
Why would they, specifically? There's nothing particularly open about them.
No thanks.
For the past year or so I've only ever read them (rarely, and only when tipped off about something worth reading from an external source) via xcancel.
Would rather just not read anything on twitter ever again than be forced to the actual site.
Twitter has a UI/UX issue, and instead of fixing the clusterfuck, they decide to nuke sane alternatives. Maybe they live off of people's pain, and without that they can't function.
Interesting times we live in.
Currently new AAA titles debut for 60 to 80 USD. I'm wondering what the piracy situation would look like in the USA, if this was, say 160 to 220 USD; because that is what paying US prices feels like to the median person.