X apparently added 5-second delay for links to sites Musk doesn’t like

X, formerly Twitter, "confirmed the delay was removed but did not elaborate."

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[Voldenuit]

"It's a public square, but only for the Reichstag."

 

[xoe]

Would love to have been a fly on the wall for the conversation that convinced/coerced Mush to agree to that (unless Yaccarino was allowed to make that decision /s).

I sent a message just to have a digital souvenir of one of the dumbest things ever.

 

[jtwrenn]

What a sad sad little man.

 

[holmes6]

Every bit of harm he does to X is a good thing. The platform is still way too powerful for someone as awful as Musk to have at his disposal. The less relevant it is the better.

 

[AusPeter]

The main problem remains that when trying to say the action, tweet rolls off the tongue in those languages, and X is hard to say. Without an easily pronounceable verb, Twitter will continue to be Twitter.

It’s as if the marketing people who worked on the branding of Twitter were actually on to something.

 

[kingjj]

Generally, I found that most people who refer to themselves as a "free speech absolutist" mean 'absolutely all speech I agree with'

 

[Snarky Robot]

Given the focus on Frodo, I think some people are missing the tongue-est for the cheeks

 

[hestermofet]

I honestly wonder how many websites were actually put into that little “timeout”. We know a lot of the big ones, but there may be more that just weren’t tested. Then again, the thought has crossed my mind that there was some insider info being given out about this. As for the actual impact of this in however many sites were affected, if anyone thinks it’s not a big deal, Google estimates that pages that a website that takes even three seconds to load lose 53% of views. This was 5 seconds before the page even started loading. That’s obviously going to do some harm, and there’s no indication that it isn’t the site causing the problem (which is the point).

There was some more technical discussion in the Lounge thread on this topics, but it revolved around the issue being one with Twitter checking if you have cookies (if you clicked on a link a second time, it loaded immediately). But the delay didn’t hit all sites, and the sites affected were…very specific and VERY different scales (NY Times vs Mastadon).

There’s also this, from the WaPo journalist who broke the story, showing a timeline of the delay (this was shared via Bluesky posts)

View attachment 61091

Any generic explanation of this being a normal configuration thing looking for cookies goes out the window for me when I see it be this consistent and then experience a rapid decline when the news breaks. I don’t think there’s much shot of this being an accident.

Well, I hope this will be a lesson to once-reputable newspapers for farming out their newsrooms to an endless barrage of Man in the Tweet quotes.

Less reliance on Twitter = higher quality journalism as far as I'm concerned, and we all win. Except Elon Musk, of course. He will always be a loser.

 

[h2500]

People keep using X. The problem lies there. They forgot how to vote with their feet.

 

[FF22]

The manchild struck down again, in a passive-agressive sneaky way. And when he was found out he quickly and quietly backed down, like puny manchilds do.

 

[nucrash]

X Formerly Known as Twitter has hit the point where I will likely burn some bridges with the remainder of my accounts and walk away. I just don't see the point anymore. I love the interaction and the form way the media company was ran but my frustration with the app breaking regularly.

I killed one of them already, just looking at unaliving the rest.

 

[nzod]

That amount of delay is more than enough for users to lose attention or just close the page, as just a half a second delay can cause a 20% drop in traffic (and this is referring to an older study). This is just a blatant, heavy handed and ugly move.

 

[EnPeaSea]

No one will ever just say X.

I've taken to pronouncing it like an Aussie: "icks"

 

[xoe]

This is so dumb and petty that despite knowing how dumb and petty he is it is still almost unbelievable that this was done on purpose rather than it being caused by some kind of coding screw up. Almost.


"Brand X" is literally the term for something generic that many of us old people grew up with. And by old people I mean people who are a few years younger than Musk like me.

It can't just be X and be meaningful. It needs to have a noun or something attached to it - like X-Windows or DrainX or the X-games. "X" by itself is just so meaningless as to kind of make you try to fill in the gaps yourself.

(Calling it X-social is actually my preferred one. Because it actually also serves as a description of how I use Twitter - I used to, but now I don't. And I'm honestly surprised he hasn't grabbed the domain name for x.social.)

Musk is childishly obsessed with the letter.
He used it as the name for a payment company.
He used it in the name for a child.
He used it in the name for a space company.
He bought the domain from PayPal in 2017 with no plan for it.
He used it in the name for a car.
He used it as the name for a holding company.
He used it as the name for a social media company.
He used it in the name for an ai company.

 

[Unremarkable]

Why are there still people using it?

The existence of these two items does not mean Twitter should get a pass on any of the shit it pulls, but here's two types of people who are still using Twitter:

1. They need to do it as part of earning the money they use to buy food. Sex workers fall into this category. Twitter is the only place where they can advertise the product they actually sell, instead of needing to point at an Instagram that points at a Twitch stream that has a profile pointing at a link page that points at their OnlyFans. These folks are stuck in the same boat re Twitter as game streamers who wish they could leave Twitch or video makers who hate YouTube.

2. Their support network is there. There are a bunch of communities (mainly disabled people) who formed on Twitter and without it, they're cut off from being able to stay in touch with people who are going through the same things they are and can help with the struggles they're having. It takes a lot of work to rebuild a network once it's been broken. Sometimes the energy that would go into that work has already been bookmarked for survival.

There are probably others, and again none of this gives Twitter a pass, but there are still people who either can't leave or can't abandon their peer group.

 

[ChefJeff789]

This is terrible and Musk is a maniac, but is it terrible that I also kind of love how unashamedly petty and stupid this is? Probably... but it can be fun watching billionaires self-sabotage.

 

[hestermofet]

People keep using X. The problem lies there. They forgot how to vote with their feet.

++

This story basically boils down to people complaining that at the restaurant where the chef is infamous for spitting in the food, they found a huge boogie floating in their soup.

 

[CrystalCowboy]

The eventual autopsy/biography of this debacle should be titled How to abuse your userbase and destroy a platform in 10 easy steps

What a petty small little man Melon Mush is. He's revealed himself to be a cruel, vindictive, selfish, egotistical, manipulative, dishonest charlatan

Some day, when Yaccety Sax writes her memoir complaining about she was always having to rein in Musk's leash; I will have zero sympathy and I will not buy a copy of that memoir.

 

[Thad Boyd]

NYT says reason for delay “unclear”

God damn it, New York Times, even when I'm on your side you have to say something to make me begrudge it.

 

[Sherri]

Pretending that the reasons are "unclear" just legitimizes this. Call it like it is: the resson is "because Elon Musk doesn't like those sites."

 

[hestermofet]

The existence of these two items does not mean Twitter should get a pass on any of the shit it pulls, but here's two types of people who are still using Twitter:

1. They need to do it as part of earning the money they use to buy food. Sex workers fall into this category. Twitter is the only place where they can advertise the product they actually sell, instead of needing to point at an Instagram that points at a Twitch stream that has a profile pointing at a link page that points at their OnlyFans. These folks are stuck in the same boat re Twitter as game streamers who wish they could leave Twitch or video makers who hate YouTube.

2. Their support network is there. There are a bunch of communities (mainly disabled people) who formed on Twitter and without it, they're cut off from being able to stay in touch with people who are going through the same things they are and can help with the struggles they're having. It takes a lot of work to rebuild a network once it's been broken. Sometimes the energy that would go into that work has already been bookmarked for survival.

There are probably others, and again none of this gives Twitter a pass, but there are still people who either can't leave or can't abandon their peer group.

I'm sorry, I don't buy it. Massive internet communities have withered away and people found alternatives before. They always do. I've been part of many of these exoduses. Flickr, MySpace, GeoCities, Yahoo! Answers, Tripod, Slashdot, the list goes on. I don't know if you realize the irony of your first example, because Backpage used to be synonymous with sex work until it was forcefully shutdown. And I guess everyone moved to Twitter? They'll move again when Elon Musk becomes too unbearable.

People who stay on Twitter are still there because they don't care enough that Elon Musk is running it. One day, they won't have a choice because they will wake up and 90% of the community they used to participated in has already packed their bags and moved on to somewhere better months ago. Trust me, it happened to me, and likely to the majority of the people reading this article. Nothing on the Internet is forever. Just like any employee, no social media platform or Internet community is truly irreplaceable. Does anyone even remember Happy Puppy?

 

[terrydactyl]

Musk called the NYT a "racial genocide apologist."

I guess when the NYTimes reported Nazi speeches in the 30s, they were pro-nazi. Or were they pro-Stalin when they reported his speeches?

 

[ZippyPeanut]

Some day, when Yaccety Sax writes her memoir complaining about she was always having to rein in Musk's leash; I will have zero sympathy and I will not buy a copy of that memoir.

What if she's literally reining in Musk's leash? I mean, the memoir might be worth it for the salacious details.

 

[AusPeter]

I've taken to pronouncing it like an Aussie: "icks"

That’s funny. Never heard of that. I’d pronounce it as “Ecks”.

Now I can’t say that about NZ’ers. They do weird things with vowels.

 

[thadco]

The clusterfuck continues unabated.

 

[Brandon_P]

This is the guy that says he is the biggest supporter of free speech, yet he gets in the way at every opportunity.

 

[hestermofet]

Given the focus on Frodo, I think some people are missing the tongue-est for the cheeks

Never bet against Poe's Law.

 

[dearlandlord]

All that money down the Xitter

 

[hestermofet]

Musk called the NYT a "racial genocide apologist."

I guess when the NYTimes reported Nazi speeches in the 30s, they were pro-nazi. Or were they pro-Stalin when they reported his speeches?

Musk should read their article on this issue, and then he can conclude they are pro-Musk.

What a fucking moron.

 

[AusPeter]

If Musk would have really the say at Tesla even just about names, the company would have tanked ages ago.

With car names of S, 3, X, and Y, are you certain in your belief that Musk didn’t have a say in the names?

 

[terrydactyl]

Musk has famously called himself a "free speech absolutist,"

And Freedom Is Slavery. Ignorance Is Strength.

 

[EnPeaSea]

That’s funny. Never heard of that. I’d pronounce it as “Ecks”.

Now I can’t say that about NZ’ers. They do weird things with vowels.

Ok, fair, I was basing it off a cartoon dog and the VA may be a Kiwi.

 

[Tinolyn]

Honestly, next he's gonna replace any user pictures for accounts he hates with a dunce cap, or some childish thing like the peach emoji.

 

[nom3ramy]

Musk has famously called himself a "free speech absolutist," said he intended to protect free speech on Twitter, and that he is "against censorship that goes far beyond the law."

So Musk equates "free speech absolutist" with being "against censorship that goes far beyond the law." He is saying that he is not against censorship unless it is far beyond the laws. This means that he will censor to the absolute limit beyond which effective legal restraints will be triggered, if there are any legal restraints.

Musk is at least explicitly stating where he stands on his increasing censorship of other people's speech, and making it clear what people can expect when they use something he controls.

 

[pug fugly]

Why anyone still uses, or reports on anything related to, Twitter is utterly beyond me.
As a society, it's shunning time.

 

[zeromind]

For someone who also reads mandarin and Japanese part of the web, I can assure you that everyone still uses the word Twitter, possible for a very very long time.

The main problem remains that when trying to say the action, tweet rolls off the tongue in those languages, and X is hard to say. Without an easily pronounceable verb, Twitter will continue to be Twitter.

I prefer the suggestion of referring to it as Xitter and one can send a Xit. Of course I pronounce similar to xylophone. Short and communicates sentiments as well. So pop a Xit to your friends and spread the word.

 

[EnPeaSea]

I prefer the suggestion of referring to it as Xitter and one can send a Xit. Of course I pronounce similar to xylophone. Short and communicates sentiments as well. So pop a Xit to your friends and spread the word.

Which also works if you go with the "sh" phonetic!

 

[Sarty]

What's there to really say? Deliberately making your own website shittier by crippling functionality to own the whoevers. Truly a galaxy brain move.