{"id":202114,"date":"2021-12-27T12:00:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T12:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=202114"},"modified":"2021-12-26T10:04:58","modified_gmt":"2021-12-26T10:04:58","slug":"twitter-singing-in-the-rain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/12\/twitter-singing-in-the-rain\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitter: Singing in the Rain"},"content":{"rendered":"

26 Dec 2021 – <\/em>Barely two years after becoming a major Twitter shareholder, US hedge fund billionaire Paul Elliott Singer has managed<\/a> to oust Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. For Twitter users, this will likely mean more aggressive advertising and more political censorship. How can advanced Twitter users respond to this development? Ten suggestions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

1. Use a Twitter alternative<\/h3>\n

To avoid political censorship, use a free speech friendly and privacy-focused social network<\/a>, messaging app<\/a>, and video sharing platform<\/a> alternative. This is especially important if you run a major Twitter account that challenges establishment narratives.<\/p>\n

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Twitter account suspended<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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2. Use an ad blocker<\/h3>\n

To avoid getting tracked and profiled, use an ad and tracking blocker<\/a> on all of your devices (including cellphones). By the end of 2020, there were about a quarter of a billion desktop adblock users and more than half a billion mobile adblock users. To support high-quality journalism and dedicated authors, disable the ad blocker or donate directly.<\/p>\n

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Global Adblock Penetration (PageFair<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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3. Show hidden replies<\/h3>\n

To automatically show \u201chidden\u201d (i.e. censored) Twitter replies, use the View More Replies<\/a> browser userscript. To do so, first install the Tampermonkey<\/a> userscript manager.<\/p>\n

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Twitter: Show hidden replies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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4. Bypass \u201cunsafe link\u201d warnings<\/h3>\n

To bypass the \u201cunsafe link\u201d warnings (mostly used to censor \u201cpolitically unsafe\u201d websites), use the Skip Redirect<\/a> browser addon (Chrome version<\/a>) and add twitter.com\/safety\/unsafe_link_warning*<\/em><\/p>\n

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Politically unsafe: The OffGuardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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5. Hide warning labels and \u201cfact checks\u201d<\/h3>\n

To hide dubious \u201cwarning labels\u201d and \u201cfact checks\u201d appended to Tweets, use the element picker of your ad blocker and simply remove them for good.<\/p>\n

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Misleading: a Twitter warning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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6. Use advanced search<\/h3>\n

In stark contrast to Facebook and YouTube, Twitter still has a mostly uncensored search function. To search for specific Tweets or media, use the advanced search function<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Twitter advanced search function<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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7. Beware of bots and spooks<\/h3>\n

Twitter is notoriously infested with trolls, bots, fake followers and spooks. During the covid pandemic, various bot networks promoted<\/a> lockdowns and other restrictions. In 2018, US cyber security contractors were caught<\/a> faking a \u201cRussian botnet\u201d to influence a US state senate race. In 2019, a senior Twitter executive was exposed<\/a> as a British Army psyops officer.<\/p>\n

To identify potential bot accounts, use the Indiana University Botometer tool<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cChinese\u201d Twitter bots promoting lockdowns (MPS<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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8. Easily download videos<\/h3>\n

To easily download videos on Twitter, use Twitter Video Downloader<\/a> or a similar tool.<\/p>\n

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Twitter video downloader<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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9. Disable video autoplay<\/h3>\n

To disable distracting video autoplay on Twitter, follow this tutorial<\/a> or install a browser extension to disable<\/a> GIF and video autoplay.<\/p>\n

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10. Hide childish emojis<\/h3>\n

To hide some or all emojis on Twitter, use the element picker of your ad blocker to remove them or simply add ||abs-0.twimg.com\/emoji\/v2\/svg\/*.svg$image<\/em> as a new filter rule. You will be surprised how many people have nothing at all to say.<\/p>\n

\u2217\u2217\u2217<\/p>\n

See also<\/h4>\n