Proposed: Auto-replace Twitter URLs with Nitter instead November 5, 2022 11:13 PM Subscribe
Twitter's descent into becoming naught but a poorly-run distributor of hate speech and adbots is well documented elsewhere on the site. It may no longer be ethical to participate in the Twitter ecosystem. Why give them any of our web traffic, or allow them access to our computers? The proposal is that whenever a URL in a post or comment is being sent to the site, it automatically swaps out "https://twitter.com" with "http://nitter.it"
Nitter is a free and open source alternative Twitter front-end focused on privacy. This is what the site was intended for; for example when someone in the recent Adrian Hon post linked to a thread about the "Trust Thermocline" I made the above substitution by hand and got this Nitter thread without ads, cookies or Javascript attempts.
There's precedent for this: it's become socially obligatory for anyone posting to a paywalled article to include a link to an archive site. (Personally I use the Bypass Paywalls Clean plugin myself, but that's only for Firefox and Chrome.) And Threadreaderapp doesn't avoid the basic problem of: we are still giving Musk web traffic. With Nitter all page requests go through the backend, the client never talks to Twitter.
So my suggestion is that we treat Twitter links similarly to the way racial slurs are handled: whenever someone drafts a post or comment that includes a Twitter URL, they are blocked from posting it and get a suggestion to omit it, change it to Nitter instead, or that there's an option to do it automatically.
Nitter is a free and open source alternative Twitter front-end focused on privacy. This is what the site was intended for; for example when someone in the recent Adrian Hon post linked to a thread about the "Trust Thermocline" I made the above substitution by hand and got this Nitter thread without ads, cookies or Javascript attempts.
There's precedent for this: it's become socially obligatory for anyone posting to a paywalled article to include a link to an archive site. (Personally I use the Bypass Paywalls Clean plugin myself, but that's only for Firefox and Chrome.) And Threadreaderapp doesn't avoid the basic problem of: we are still giving Musk web traffic. With Nitter all page requests go through the backend, the client never talks to Twitter.
So my suggestion is that we treat Twitter links similarly to the way racial slurs are handled: whenever someone drafts a post or comment that includes a Twitter URL, they are blocked from posting it and get a suggestion to omit it, change it to Nitter instead, or that there's an option to do it automatically.
"So my suggestion is that we treat Twitter links similarly to the way racial slurs are handled: whenever someone drafts a post or comment that includes a Twitter URL, they are blocked from posting it and get a suggestion to omit it, change it to Nitter instead, or that there's an option to do it automatically."
I really don't want what few tweets I've posted concerning the war in Ukraine equated with a racial slur. I think community can post good stuff that doesn't directly feed into the hate, after all, this is metafilter.
posted by clavdivs at 12:45 AM on November 6, 2022 [33 favorites]
I really don't want what few tweets I've posted concerning the war in Ukraine equated with a racial slur. I think community can post good stuff that doesn't directly feed into the hate, after all, this is metafilter.
posted by clavdivs at 12:45 AM on November 6, 2022 [33 favorites]
I dislike Twitter a whole lot, and I use Nitter redirect add-ons in my browsers. They work very well. I would not want to make this mandatory: people are allowed to use or even like Twitter. As long as I don't have to interact with it, it works for me.
There are also redirect add-ons that send all YT links to FreeTube, if one has that installed. Highly recommended for those who prefer to watch videos in a separate application that works without any tracking or profiling.
I don't know if there is a similar option for mobile devices but it seems more than likely.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:44 AM on November 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
There are also redirect add-ons that send all YT links to FreeTube, if one has that installed. Highly recommended for those who prefer to watch videos in a separate application that works without any tracking or profiling.
I don't know if there is a similar option for mobile devices but it seems more than likely.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:44 AM on November 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
As I'm a Nitter-only "Twitter" user (no Twitter account, any links there that I want to read get Nittered by a browser extension I've installed) causing any such link in my postings to point to Nitter, there may even be a reason to add a 'going the other way' option, creating
posted by Stoneshop at 2:39 AM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
nitter-link (twitter-link)either by the site itself, or by some bookmarklet; I certainly wouldn't object to someone who's familiar with such things to create one, to make it easier for people who do have a Twitter account to interact with the matter at hand in their preferred way.
posted by Stoneshop at 2:39 AM on November 6, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm confused as to why this is presented as something Metafilter would take on - cool to let people know it's a feature they can use, but it's not something this site should decide to implement for everyone. And I hate Twitter.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:25 AM on November 6, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:25 AM on November 6, 2022 [10 favorites]
This isn't a great idea in practice because Nitter is not a single service, but rather just some software that anyone can host their own instance of. There are lots of nitter instances, with different URLs, run by different people, and instances on that list may spring up or disappear at any time.
There is an "official" one at nitter.net, but in my experience it's overloaded and unreliable. If you're determined not to deal with the Twitter website and its endless login prompts, you end up needing to rotate through multiple nitter instances depending which one works for you right now.
Even if it was something everyone here wanted, it's something better done in a browser extension.
posted by automatronic at 7:03 AM on November 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
There is an "official" one at nitter.net, but in my experience it's overloaded and unreliable. If you're determined not to deal with the Twitter website and its endless login prompts, you end up needing to rotate through multiple nitter instances depending which one works for you right now.
Even if it was something everyone here wanted, it's something better done in a browser extension.
posted by automatronic at 7:03 AM on November 6, 2022 [3 favorites]
I'm very glad to learn about this as an option, but I agree that it's not something Metafilter should take on for everybody. I will be looking at the extension for myself, though, and thank the OP for flagging it.
posted by rpfields at 11:09 AM on November 6, 2022
posted by rpfields at 11:09 AM on November 6, 2022
Even if we all agreed that Twitter is x times more evil with Musk at the helm (which we don't) I don't think this would be a good idea. It would lead to lots of confusion and broken links. If you dislike Twitter so much that you refuse to send any traffic their way, good for you - don't follow any links there. It's not something that should be imposed on everyone though.
posted by dg at 3:23 PM on November 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by dg at 3:23 PM on November 6, 2022 [2 favorites]
Dang, nitter is awesome. I understand why some folks aren't interested, but I totally agree that your suggestion seems very true to what I feel is the Metafilter ethos of internet: give me what I want without the wrapper. Honestly, your suggestion reminds me of how we often post links to archive.io or other tools to bypass paywalls. Probably, instead of coding it in, a regular comment suggesting the addition of a Nittler link behind each Twitter link would push the community to add this to our habits.
posted by rebent at 2:14 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rebent at 2:14 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Well, it's been two weeks since I originally posted this, and sure enough the Twitter moderation department has been mostly sacked, the hate-content has gone way up, and oh yeah... Trump's account has been reactivated.
It is not ethical to continue to give web traffic to that site. Again, I'm not saying Twitter should be ignored, but that it should not be directly linked from here.There's not much can be done about the links already posted, but something can be done so that Musk gets no further web traffic nor business from MetaFilter.
Otherwise we have to ask: what is this site's policy on linking to alt-right websites? Is Truth Social OK? Is StormFront OK? Where is the line drawn, and what criteria could be used that doesn't also get tripped by Twitter nowadays?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:00 AM on November 20, 2022
It is not ethical to continue to give web traffic to that site. Again, I'm not saying Twitter should be ignored, but that it should not be directly linked from here.There's not much can be done about the links already posted, but something can be done so that Musk gets no further web traffic nor business from MetaFilter.
Otherwise we have to ask: what is this site's policy on linking to alt-right websites? Is Truth Social OK? Is StormFront OK? Where is the line drawn, and what criteria could be used that doesn't also get tripped by Twitter nowadays?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 8:00 AM on November 20, 2022
Nope. Links to original text are good; links to mirrors are less good and shouldn't be primary. I'd be fine with this being an extension someone codes up, or a greasemonkey script, but don't edit my links on the back-end.
If you believe that Twitter is the same as Stormfront in all respects at this point, I don't know what to tell you. Pretty sure Stormfront doesn't have left-wing activists and politicians actively using it, for one.
posted by sagc at 8:33 AM on November 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
If you believe that Twitter is the same as Stormfront in all respects at this point, I don't know what to tell you. Pretty sure Stormfront doesn't have left-wing activists and politicians actively using it, for one.
posted by sagc at 8:33 AM on November 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
I didn't say "in all respects", that's yours. I asked what criteria justifies keeping Twitter but excluding other hate sites.
Left-wing activists and politicians use Twitter because at some point (a) it was useful for that purpose, (b) not overrun by alt-right and most importantly (c) not owned by a narcissist who actively courts the alt-right. It was a tool that is no longer fit for the purpose (which anyone who's been actively doxxed and harassed could tell you, when all Twitter would do is shrug). I hope the people you follow have started planning their exit.
Put in another way, if jessamyn were to suddenly fire the mods and give Trump an account here, would you continue to give this site your clicks or your money, regardless of how many left-wing activists also had accounts? If the answer is no, why should Musk get more consideration?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:24 AM on November 20, 2022
Left-wing activists and politicians use Twitter because at some point (a) it was useful for that purpose, (b) not overrun by alt-right and most importantly (c) not owned by a narcissist who actively courts the alt-right. It was a tool that is no longer fit for the purpose (which anyone who's been actively doxxed and harassed could tell you, when all Twitter would do is shrug). I hope the people you follow have started planning their exit.
Put in another way, if jessamyn were to suddenly fire the mods and give Trump an account here, would you continue to give this site your clicks or your money, regardless of how many left-wing activists also had accounts? If the answer is no, why should Musk get more consideration?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:24 AM on November 20, 2022
You know what I'd like, in general? Like maybe post this as a resource link on a sidebar or something? Both the idea of converting links to nitter AND frankly, how to make paywall runaround links, because I have tried that off and on to create one and somehow the damn things don't load for me or process, so I can't provide an alternate every time I find a useful thing at pay sites I have access to. If someone can write up something for the stoopid like myself as to how to do it, that would be appreciated.
I will note that I I write out the important text from the "bad" links (if there is any) from these kind of links so even if someone can't read it, the crucial info has been communicated. I do appreciate when someone labels a paywall link as being paywall though, so I can choose whether or not I want to bother trying to read it and use up my free link or whatever.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:32 AM on November 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
I will note that I I write out the important text from the "bad" links (if there is any) from these kind of links so even if someone can't read it, the crucial info has been communicated. I do appreciate when someone labels a paywall link as being paywall though, so I can choose whether or not I want to bother trying to read it and use up my free link or whatever.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:32 AM on November 20, 2022 [1 favorite]
There's nothing we can do to make sure no one ever posts a Twitter link here...even if that was a site goal. But no one ever has to click a Twitter link, driving traffic, if they don't want to.
Does this site actually forbid links to things like Stormfront? I'd be interested to know.
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:00 AM on November 21, 2022
Does this site actually forbid links to things like Stormfront? I'd be interested to know.
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:00 AM on November 21, 2022
There's nothing we can do to make sure no one ever posts a Twitter link here
On the contrary, that's absolutely possible. The site already blocks comments and posts that have racial slurs in them, so it's inarguable that such a filter can exist. What could be done is that a similar filter would find find any instance of "twitter.com" in a new post or comment and either auto-replace it with a "nitter.it" (or another Nitter site) or offer the poster the chance to do it themselves or link to something else.
I understand it would be more difficult, though perhaps not impossible, to do this with Twitter links that are already posted. My concern is not technical, it's ethical: Twitter is a nascent hate-site and we should not give Musk any more traffic, any more incoming links, or any business. But since we can't (yet) ignore it entirely, Nitter is a good intermediary to use.
And if we are making an exception for Musk and Twitter, I want to have a discussion in the open about why the exception exists, and what is this site's explicit policy on linking to alt-right websites.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:25 AM on November 21, 2022
On the contrary, that's absolutely possible. The site already blocks comments and posts that have racial slurs in them, so it's inarguable that such a filter can exist. What could be done is that a similar filter would find find any instance of "twitter.com" in a new post or comment and either auto-replace it with a "nitter.it" (or another Nitter site) or offer the poster the chance to do it themselves or link to something else.
I understand it would be more difficult, though perhaps not impossible, to do this with Twitter links that are already posted. My concern is not technical, it's ethical: Twitter is a nascent hate-site and we should not give Musk any more traffic, any more incoming links, or any business. But since we can't (yet) ignore it entirely, Nitter is a good intermediary to use.
And if we are making an exception for Musk and Twitter, I want to have a discussion in the open about why the exception exists, and what is this site's explicit policy on linking to alt-right websites.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:25 AM on November 21, 2022
I really doubt it's possible because of site will as much as a technical solution (super not a priority right now with the site financial future still in question).
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:40 PM on November 21, 2022
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:40 PM on November 21, 2022
(For now, my point stands - don't want to click a Twitter link? Then don't.)
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:40 PM on November 21, 2022
posted by tiny frying pan at 6:40 PM on November 21, 2022
And if we are making an exception for Musk and Twitter, I want to have a discussion in the open about why the exception exists, and what is this site's explicit policy on linking to alt-right websites.
If you want that discussion, the best way is to start it in its own MeTa thread. Very careful framing and some clear evidence that Twitter has become an actual 'alt-right' website would be needed to avoid a complete shitstorm, though.
posted by dg at 7:14 PM on November 21, 2022
If you want that discussion, the best way is to start it in its own MeTa thread. Very careful framing and some clear evidence that Twitter has become an actual 'alt-right' website would be needed to avoid a complete shitstorm, though.
posted by dg at 7:14 PM on November 21, 2022
It looks like all the nitter instances are being taken down, now showing the '451: taken down for legal reasons' error.
posted by meowzilla at 2:34 PM on November 28, 2022
posted by meowzilla at 2:34 PM on November 28, 2022
There are dozens of Nitter instances, the full list is found here.
However, it does seem that something is interfering with loading Tweets, etc.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:12 PM on November 28, 2022
However, it does seem that something is interfering with loading Tweets, etc.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 4:12 PM on November 28, 2022
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
a) does not respect my display preferences I set on twitter (autoplay of media, colors, font size)
b) does not know about accounts I might have muted or blocked so as not to have to see things from them
c) does not allow me to interact in any form (like following, liking, etc)
d) requires that I constantly click "load more"
Metafilter should not be making these decisions. If you don't want to visit twitter that's a you thing.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:10 AM on November 6, 2022 [45 favorites]