Are you on Twitter? Do you assume that public stuff you post can be enjoyed by all?
Just so you are aware, this is what I have to do to look at things on Twitter:
- Go to some profile: big banner asking me to join Twitter covers the whole thing. Tap the cross.
- Expand a tweet: same banner is back… BUT: tapping the cross takes you BACK to the precious page. No, to actually see the tweet and replies, you have to RELOAD the page.
This is the perpetual dance. Every single page.
Facebook is very similar.
Instagram is worse.
People who use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn… etc. as their main, supposedly public website / profile / repository of information don’t realise how painful they are to navigate if you can’t or don’t want to show your membership card.
@crowlad @stragu omg this is a huge pet peeve of mine. a lot of local orgs only have info about rallies/protests/bike rides on Facebook. or a group only has Twitter and not a website and their account/tweet gets taken down bc they blockaded a pipeline or criticized a corporation or whatever. on top of the access issues, STOP MAKING IT EASIER FOR GOVT/COPS/COMPANIES TO SURVEIL YOU christ
@nev @crowlad @stragu I have been very tempted to make some kind of web service where restaurants can get one free web page listing basic information and a menu. Self-service updating with a real simple interface. Just as an alternative to Facebook and all the other crap.
Maybe start with only allowing restaurants near me to register, then expand by getting a couple of volunteers to OK new accounts.
@varx @crowlad @stragu here we have BIAs, Business Improvement Associations, which are like...well, associations made up of all the businesses in the neighbourhood, and they decide stuff like street sign branding and street furniture/planters etc. and idk lobby councillors about stuff. Idk if you have that where you are but that's who I'd go to to sell something like that
@IceWolf @stragu yeah, same. problem is that this will keep people from getting in touch with said orgs. i don't think most people running those pages are conscious of this which is why it's important to emphasize the negative effects of only being present on corporate media. i don't know shit about making websites but i know that i wouldn't want to substitute that with only using hellbook and the like.
@crowlad @IceWolf @stragu I still cannot believe how like a half of all "official websites" for the restaurants are facebook pages you cannot visit if you don't have facebook account.
And when I was looking for a place to pierce my ears (which reminds me that I should do this finally)? Maybe one or two of them had actual websites; the rest all were instagram accounts; you cannot check their opening hours, prices, or event contact them without having an instagram account.
@IngaLovinde @crowlad @IceWolf yeah it’s so bad. So much is at the mercy of a handful of companies.
@stragu Well put. IMO Github has the same problem, except there it's the communities developing free software that are walled off from unwanted guests who don't agree to Microsoft's terms.
Even most free and open source software can only be contributed to by people who accept all of Microsoft's behavior.
These communities and their interactions (such as bug reporting) should be accessible without accepting those terms. Even for many here on Mastodon this seems an inconvenient truth.
@stragu this is actually a huge issue. many facebook and instagram links are impossible to open without having an account. i have noticed a lot of smaller local orgs (such as queer orgs) often only ever link to their facebook pages instead of having info on a website/blog that can be viewed by anyone (that can additionally be shared across different social media then). it effectively shuts people out. and no, "simply make an account at megacorp" isn't the solution to this.