Community vote on banning X/Twitter links aka "Twitter in the shitter?"

Note that while votes from stakeholders have more weight. However each stakeholder (i.e. anyone supporting us and MVPs ) can vouch for 2 others which will also give them a proper vote. Vouching can be done with a special PM to the bot .

So If you cannot support the instance financially, but feel you've been a valuable member of this instance nonetheless, please leave a comment and hopefully people will vouch for you. If this happens, your votes will be automatically counted on the next bot run.

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Acknowledged governance topic opened by https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/u/flatworm7591

This is a simple majority vote. The current tally is as follows:

• For: (2), (7), (5), (3), (2), (1)
• Against:
• Local Community: +2.6
• Outsider sentiment: Very Positive
• Total: +22.6
• Percentage: 100.00%

This vote will complete in 2 days

Reminder that this is a pilot process and results of voting are not set in stone.

I do think, that screenshots have a place especially since they may also be older. I also think it would be a pain to police and maybe a bit too much censorship.

I'm for the ban of the links but not the screenshots. Screenshots without links will provide the content without giving an easy way to move the traffic there so it would be a positive change without hurting the activity on lemmy. Banning screenshots would add a lot to the modding workload as well which isn't great either regardless of if it's the mods taking care of it or the admins.

Ban the links, allow the screenshots.

Banning screenshots seems like it would both be more difficult, and less relevant to the core issue - ie not giving the chief Nazi any traffic for his propaganda money sink. Especially since there's over a decade's worth of twitter screenshots used in memes - would there be a cutoff date Twitter screenshots would be checked for, or would even ancient screenshots be banned? The former seems like a lot of effort for very little payoff, while the latter seems a bit silly.

Another reason for banning Twitter links: If you aren't logged in, you can't actually see the discussion, so the link is useless and basically spam advertising to get a Twitter account. I've always been really annoyed seeing Twitter links for this reason and the fact that the platform is garbage in general. Duplicating the content in a screenshot or some other way is a way better option.

I'll add to the mix: agree on banning the links but not screenshots

and allowing nitter links (!). since that platform pretty much denies most of the profit and respects privacy

mb a bot that provides nitter links automatically would be a good thing? (a general redirector would be cool as well. mb akin to the browser extension libredirect?)

I'm on team ban the site, allow screenshots. The latter is against my better judgement, but there are some primary sources only attainable through those hellsites, and there seems to be no end to people willing to go and fetch those screenshots anyway...

This straight-forward, consent-of-the-governed thing is really doing it for me, and if we're going to have a culture, spitting on nazis is the one for me!

Really, I think that direct links should've been at least heavily discouraged if not banned outright the moment that Vichy Twitter started requiring an active login to follow them.

Now that Musk has dropped the last vestiges of his mask and revealed himself as a nazi, links absolutely should be banned. Nobody here should ever provide that nazi cesspit with even one single click.

The only thing Musk cares about more than imposing his warped vision on the world is money. He needs to be denied both.

Ban links, but allow screenshots sounds good. That way we don't shut ourselves out of knowing whats up, but don't give any traffic to that shithole.

I'm all for banning Twitter and any Twitter front ends. Kinda like reddit, connections to Twitter will be counted by Twitter as views and helping them get more ad buys is not in our mutual interests.

Screenshots I think are okay since they aren't hosted on Twitter or link to Twitter. If people want to provide a source link, I think that'd be okay but only as part of the post body, not as a direct post link (if that makes sense).

I don't think I have a vote that counts but I voted for.

Not voting as it's not my instance, just popping in to commend you on community focused decision making

I'm in the "Ban links, Allow screenshots" camp but with some further thoughts.

@ShareMySims@lemmy.dbzer0.com compared xitter to turdth social and I think that's excellent precedent to draw further attention to. The reason to block xitter isn't (just) that Musk is a mask off nazi, but that any "information" sourced from that site must be treated as suspect. Little things such as the "like" count on posts we know are manipulated already, so the notion that a post is viral or popular on xitter (and thus worthy of drawing attention off-site to it) should be scrutinized. It's not social media, it's a propaganda engine.

That said, even with the EU (finally) fleeing the hell site and hopefully many users and (with their pressure, eventually, perhaps) some american companies and government departments.... even with that, there's some big names and funny people that post there and if someone wants to bring over a screenshot, I don't think that should be disallowed. Particularly since the POTUS and his cronies frequently air their vile thoughts there.

Likewise, I'm not totally against non-top-level links (so source links only in comments or post body) that are through some front-end, proxy, archive, or other means of preventing impressions from reaching the actual site. I think it's overly dogmatic to outright ban all connections to the xitter. Sometimes a plumber needs to know where to look when they're researching a problem.

Edit: On an unrelated note...

I'm very excited to see this kind of community discussion and vote occurring. Feels like a pretty solid consensus on this issue, but I'm looking forward to seeing this process play out for other decisions. I just moved to dbzer0 about a month ago and a big reason was to connect more with a like-minded community online. I've missed the golden age of the internet forum--and apparently I've also missed the golden age of the actual town forum as well!--so I find this whole "virtual anarchic democracy in action" quite thrilling!

Boycotts are one of two real effective ways of killing monopolies. It’s like their kryptonite.

Any boycott against a facist corporate hegemony is a go from me.

Aye for banning links, keeping screenshots. To provide another argument, I would in a way prefer to have a way to know what's going on in the cesspit while visiting as little as possible. There's an argument to be made about not even looking, but someone has set this pot on the heat and I'd really like to know if it's going to boil over.

Definitely think we should ban direct links

I won't vote as I'm not using this account as my main, but I just want to highlight the work to organize this vote. Impressive!

If this passes I think a good approach is to ban all links to twitter and to alternative frontends, and to ban screenshots etc. showcasing a characteristic look of twitter.
Screenshots of xcancel would be allowed (I think it is unrealistic telling the various themes appart from mastodon etc.), my main hope though is that it leads to people uploading files on lemmy and copying the text into the post/comment body, securing and dissociating the content, and also displacing twitter in search results.
All that with minor or no sourcing, at best a small "from twitter" somewhere.

Aye, in favor of banning links and stopping them from getting the traffic. I agree screenshots should be allowed.

Also providing support for 2/3 majority for changes.

I’m gonna state it now. I’m going to try to be more active in this community and make it home. I left the R site long ago, and I have to say I really like how this is going.

@div0@lemmy.dbzer0.com feel free to tap me if you think I can be useful for any of the work you have planned.

while I think it should be discouraged to use Twitter at all, I don't think a ban on the links is the right move. sometimes, something may only be there, and allowing people to investigate it themselves via a link is important for transparency.

I'm also on the "ban the links, not the screenshots" idea. Although if X users are still reposted outside of their own platform they'll never move from it. So I'm not very sure, who would have thought ?

Honestly, links to xitter were annoying even before since it always tried to force me to create an account any time I clicked one. I'm fine with removing all links to anything Musk or Zuckerberg related.

I am all for it. Ban away.

I'm for banning any direct connection to Twitter/X or any front end thereof. Fuck that Nazi bastard. I'm not thrilled with screenshot but at least it doesn't directly monetize him. I get that screenshot can lead to misinformation, but it seems to me that the worst of Xitter is hate and misinformation anyway. By actually going on Xitter not only do you monetize and empower him more but you're exposed to more of the same. I'd be more approving of screenshots from before Muskrat took over.

Appreciate you and fuck nazis

So I'm super new to this instance, like literally applied last night new.

Personally, I'm happy that people are trying to ban x/twitter. The links suck to use if you don't have an account, and the platform is becoming increasingly toxic.

I do like the compromise of allowing screenshots too; however, I also am recognizing that there's a higher risk of faked screenshots leading to misinformation. I suspect there would be very little in truth, but hopefully it is at least worth considering.

One more for banning direct links, allowing screenshots (preferably anonymized, but that should be more discouraged than deleted).

To echo other comments, don't support that shitty platform. "Transparency" can be done by the individual through whatever means they find appropriate.

Thanks for bringing this up for a vote!

Edit: I'm all for an eventual full ban, btw. That spigot will run too foul, eventually.

While I personally detest most screenshot style content that isn't explicitly meme specific (ie: the content itself, like stupid sms shots), I can ignore most of these. I just don't think banning them is worth it with the modding reqs.

I vote ban links since this already matches my personal ethos. I've blocked Xitter at my router for a year+ now.

That said, I think perhaps there should be a process potentially to allow for a mod to override the ban for certain front end links on an ad-hoc basis, in case there's a valid useful situation where alternatives are lacking. Examples being natural disaster etc...

If a mod can pin a flag to posts somehow to allow, I'd start that way. This could well prove useless, but I prefer to be prepared if it's not a huge burden to accomplish.

I saw one of those posts earlier and had a feeling it might come up here, glad it has.

Am for banning links, and also for allowing screenshots.

E: if something of value can only and exclusively be found on there, then I guess using a different front end to link it wouldn't be terrible, but in the same way people don't really link to truth social because there's nothing of value to link to there, I honestly can't see there being anything worth linking to that would be exclusively on xitter.

I think banning those links makes sense, at this point that site just doesn't get along with the general spirit of this community. No strong opinion on whether to allow proxy links or images but maybe that's okay for people that just desperately need to reference that site for whatever reason.

In the grand scheme never really understood why people share those links to begin with, many of us don't have nor want an account on that site so it's not like we can follow those links anyway. No loss on my end.

I'm all in on banning links, even if they go through an alternate front end. Engagement is engagement.

Let's keep the screenshots but encourage more Mastodon and Fediverse. BlueSky is good, imo, for now but how long until Jack wants those sweet Nazi dollars?

Im voting yes just because I dont want my feed clogged by twitter reposts

Allow screenshots. "Important" people post crazy shit there, and it's nice to keep an eye on them from time to time.

I say allow links because I haven't noticed them as being too common, so it's not really a problem? I do avoid clicking on Xitter links though; IIRC they show an annoying login modal, then when you click that off, they only show the post with no context, so they're not very useful.

Fuck any site that requires an account/subscription to view content.

But fuck Elons shitty site the most. Full support for banning links.

I'm all for attention attrition!

I have always voted with my feet as I feel that when it becomes pointless to participate then it becomes clear you just have to leave.

For me, the less attention is given to the platform, the sooner it dies, so let that shit go tits up!

I'm quite new here (hello everyone!), but I think banning twitter links is in line with the community's principles, and it shows a level of solidarity with other communities and instances doing the same.

On a more practical note, I feel like there is a good chance if this movement becomes widespread enough, it will get some news coverage, which could increase awareness and help bring like minded individuals (and trolls probably, but I suspect that's nothing new) to the instance.

This seems like a largely symbolic gesture though, so I don't have an issue with screenshots.

I've never had a Twitter account so I vote get rid of it.

I agree on the ban, screenshots are fine if there isn't another source for the content. i also want to make people aware about this change.org petition for an EU-wide ban: https://www.change.org/p/ban-x-in-europe-elon-musk-must-be-stopped-in-eu

I'm not going to vote because I don't have a strong feeling about the Xitter links, but I do have strong feelings about the logic (or IMO lack thereof) that's driving this. It's a slippery slope I think, and I invite others to consider the implications:

• If this is about Leon, as stated in the OP, what makes Xitter deserving of a block, but not SpaceX or Tesla?
• What amount of engagement will X be denied in reality (i.e. does this block achieve the intended effect)? Especially now that every tweet screenshot we see will have to be independently verified by ourselves...
• If the slope slips (like here, and here, and here, for example) where is the line drawn? Will we proceed to ban Alphabet and Amazon properties too?

I think nitter/image links should be allowed, but direct links to twitter should be banned.

tbh I upvoted before reading the whole thing, than took it back. I just want to see the final result without interacting

I would suggest that you set a fixed voting period in the future. This makes the process more transparent. Maybe a week or two in general for each decision. With a proper announcement prior, make a week or three day before coting may start.

No on links, yes on screenshots.

I don't think we are doing much if any to amplify their message, but I think it's safest to watch their the fourth reich play out from a distance. As best we can.

Until when the vote is held? I want to support but I can't right now.

$ man ascii | awk '/X$/ {print $7}'
88

1/100 from a random sample of up to 1000 of their votes.

Whaa?

So votes are 0.01 of a vote?

100 users collectively have 1 vote? Like that?

I think direct links should be banned. Screenshots aren't great but we already don't have that much content across Lemmy as a whole so I think we should allow them for the foreseeable future.

I'm new here, but still going to comment on the screenshots.

A: ban the links. B: I would say screenshots should be allowed since the point is to curb the traffic and anything in a distasteful screenshot could fall under other rules in general anyway.

Would this also ban xcancel links?