New systems come with glitches. That is the nature of technology. Millions of lines of code aren’t perfect even when AI does it, and it can cause all kinds of problems. But, unlike X, those wounds are generally not self inflicted. Since the takeover of what was Twitter by Tesla founder Elon Musk, there has been a distinct sound coming from their headquarters that sounded an awful lot like water circling a drain.
Yes, there were the massive layoffs that put already vulnerable code in the hands of far fewer people. Of course there were the constant infantile responses from Musk himself on his own platform about freedom of speech (except when it comes to him, apparently). Still, it feels like every few days we get word that there is some new circle of hell that has been created for those who still use the platform. Here are a few recent examples including one that caught us at the Houston Press by surprise.
Removing the block function.
Musk recently tweeted in his standard capricious manner that the block function would soon be a thing of the past for X. According to him, there is no good reason for it. Except for the fact that many, many people use it as a means of blocking threatening message and hate speech that will often fill their feeds otherwise. It is a critical tool for protecting and curating your own feed. The tool will remain in place for direct messages — removing that could end in far more serious threats — but almost everyone from every side of the political and social coin thinks removing block is a really, really bad idea. What else is new?
Throttling links to places those at X find objectionable.
It’s been known for a while that Musk has no love lost for media outlets. He’s threatened some with lawsuits, tried to block others and, infamously, removed the “certified” blue check mark that helped people identify legitimate journalists from everyone else. Now, rather than an all-out blockade of certain brands and websites, he has simply slowed down access to these websites by forcing users to wait a few seconds longer than usual after clicking a link. He has done this with competitors like Facebook and Bluesky, but also with media outlets like the New York Times and the Washington Post. It’s more annoyance than anything, but very on brand for Musk, who seems more interested in picking at anyone who he dislikes than fixing his flailing platform.
Tweetdeck is dead for non-paying users.
The last of the desktop apps finally left this earth on August 15, unless, of course, you are a paid subscriber. It’s one thing to essentially block third-party apps as X did earlier this year, squashing dozens of software vendors by demanding exorbitant fees for access to its API, but now the company has put its own app behind a paywall leaving only the web interface and the phone app for access. It’s yet another effort by Musk to find ways to monetize the social media platform and alienate the very people he wants to pay him.
Flesh color apparently triggers X’s porn alarm.
Imagine our dismay when the photo above, part of a story on autism, was blocked by X due to “obscene content” rules. It’s a child writing. And, yes, X does have a very sketchy photo algorithm that, among other things, favors lighter skin over darker. But, pardon our shock with this seemingly innocuous photo was blocked outright. A reader alerted us to it and said that X’s algorithm will block items that are flesh colored confusing them for pornographic images. Listen, it’s not difficult to find some pretty filthy images on the social media app (not that we were looking) that seem to survive the “efforts” to keep the site clean, so it’s pretty galling when the arm above gets flagged. But, maybe if Musk hadn’t fired half his development staff, the algorithm would be more accurate.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
