Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #BlockTheBlue
Most recents (17)
Tragische Geschichte, aber die Kommentaren darunter wollen die politische Verantwortung von Florida nicht wahrhaben. Fast alle mit blauem Haken. Twitter hat massive Schlagseite. #BlockTheBlue
Das Addon blockt keine Accounts, denen ich folge oder die mir folgen. WĆ¼rde gerne Tweets nach Relevanz statt Zahlungsbereitschaft sortiert lesen.
Ja, natĆ¼rlich gibt es gute, wertvolle und wichtige Accounts, die mit Haken unterwegs sind und von dem Reichweite-Boost profitieren. Ich nehme in Kauf, dass ich sie nicht mehr kennenlerne, da ich sie unter den gekauften Positionen nicht mehr sehe. 
Itās important to recognize Republican strategy: to divide us in any way possible. Dividing us shifts power away from people and to billionaires.
Natalie nicely spells out that plan for division, over COVID and lockdowns. It is nothing more than a pro-billionaire talking point.
Natalie nicely spells out that plan for division, over COVID and lockdowns. It is nothing more than a pro-billionaire talking point.
She then blames Democrats for turning her conservative. A complete bog-standard fascist talking point.
Itās āRhetoric of Reaction: perversityā. Standard. Itās what fascists do ā blame us for making them fascist, denying their own responsibility.
No.
Itās āRhetoric of Reaction: perversityā. Standard. Itās what fascists do ā blame us for making them fascist, denying their own responsibility.
No.
And she ends with a call for people to leave the Democratic Party.
I appreciate that this rightwinger is so explicit, that she gives the game away so clearly.
The Republican billionaire-funded strategy is to divide Democrats over COVID. Donāt let that work.
I appreciate that this rightwinger is so explicit, that she gives the game away so clearly.
The Republican billionaire-funded strategy is to divide Democrats over COVID. Donāt let that work.
You want to really deprive El No of income, without depriving marginalized communities of one of their only chances to be visible? #BlockTheBlue selectively (fascists! trolls!) and block advertisers aggressively.
Sacrificing SWers voices is not the answer.
Sacrificing SWers voices is not the answer.
Twitter is one of the only platforms where people who trade sex or make adult content have ANY voice. And even here, they're constantly shadowbanned and harassed. Protect yourself by all means, but understand that a flat #blocktheblue is a campaign of erasure.
The work that @Esqueer_ has been doing is incredible and vital, and the vitriol that trans people (including trans SWers) face is unreal. This isn't about shaming, it's about flagging the fact that #BlockTheBlue will also do real harm.
I'm not going to argue with anybody who is making the best decision they see available for their needs and their survival and their business, but I will continue to say that even aside from the danger of getting #BlockTheBlue'd, I mistrust the "advantages" of a blue check.
Most people on Twitter who think they're being shadowbanned aren't.
Most of the things that people take as evidence of shadowbanning aren't shadowbanning.
Most of the sites that purport to tell you if you're shadowbanned are trying to sell you services to boost your account.
Most of the things that people take as evidence of shadowbanning aren't shadowbanning.
Most of the sites that purport to tell you if you're shadowbanned are trying to sell you services to boost your account.
Every time I see a screenshot somebody posted of a site that told them they are being blocked from search results, I go to Twitter search and search for them.
I've done this dozens, probably upwards of a hundred, times.
Only one person was actually suppressed.
I've done this dozens, probably upwards of a hundred, times.
Only one person was actually suppressed.
The Twitter algo update prioritising verified accounts on the timeline and replies is liveā¦ it degraded my Twitter experience.
My feed used to be 95% tech: overnight it turned into ~40% tech, and mostly verified accounts I donāt follow posting dumb stuff I never asked for like:
My feed used to be 95% tech: overnight it turned into ~40% tech, and mostly verified accounts I donāt follow posting dumb stuff I never asked for like:
I found myself busy blocking these random verified accounts, which have nothing to do with tech.
I said Iām holding off on Bluesky before because it has no DMs. That was before my feed got emptied from tech.
LinkedIn has more tech content in my feed today than Twitter š¤Æ
I said Iām holding off on Bluesky before because it has no DMs. That was before my feed got emptied from tech.
LinkedIn has more tech content in my feed today than Twitter š¤Æ
Rolling out massive, site-wide updates for all users, based on intuition and no data/testing was eventually going to lead here:
We're at the calling for executions of trans folks and the people that support them stage. This isn't actually asking a question, this is incitement, especially when all the blue check replies are gleefully replying they want to execute trans people.
The entire reply section is full of Twitter blue users saying trans people and their allies should be executed, some even wanting to be executioner.
And people keep trying to shame me about #BlockTheBlue. This is what blue checks mean for trans people on this site. Contributing financially to this site is selling out the trans community.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I scrolled, my eyesight bleary,
Amid a sea of quips, and trolling spews, my ego still remained unenthused.
While I dazed, nearly slumbering, suddenly there came a chirruping.
#BlocktheBlue
Amid a sea of quips, and trolling spews, my ego still remained unenthused.
While I dazed, nearly slumbering, suddenly there came a chirruping.
#BlocktheBlue
As if someone gently tweeting, tweeting at me Hashtags deplored
"'Tis some follower," I muttered, "tweeting at me hashtags deploredā
Only this and nothing more.
#BlocktheBlue
"'Tis some follower," I muttered, "tweeting at me hashtags deploredā
Only this and nothing more.
#BlocktheBlue
Ah, distinctly I remember, profit losses in that bleak December,
And each separate aging hashtag written about SpaceX be deplored.
#BlocktheBlue
And each separate aging hashtag written about SpaceX be deplored.
#BlocktheBlue
"That's because the attention economy is a star system, where Elvis has an advantage. The relationship between stars and fans is central. Even without cyberspace, celebrities in show business, politics, and every other discipline accumulate huge amounts of notice."
"Of course, you can earn negative attention as well, such as flaming, shaming, and outright hatred. But as many a disobedient child knows, negative attention can be better than none at all. On the Web, if you're adept, you can use notoriety to bring more notice to yourself."
If you've never read this 1997 essay on the "attention economy" it makes a lot of things make sense: wired.com/1997/12/es-attā¦
#Thread : I don't think people understand the "Outrage" over the Twitter Blue update so ill try to explain. The issue isn't the price. Being verified on Twitter use to mean something. It was something you had to earn. Through hard work and dedication #BlockTheBlue
But, Elon Musk basically degraded its value and basically made the badge pointless. Its Defiantly not "free speech" if you had to pay $8/Month for it. I personally see this as a test to everyone using the platform. #BlockTheBlue
If you buy the blue checkmark, you're not apart of the control group. If you ever watched The Social Dilemma or Black Mirror, this is all apart of the plan. #BlueCheckMark
Why I just paid for Twitter Blue:
1. I think Twitter is great and want to see it succeed. I learn a ton on here.
2. I want to see subscription models work for social networks, we're also attempting this on @tumblr.
1. I think Twitter is great and want to see it succeed. I learn a ton on here.
2. I want to see subscription models work for social networks, we're also attempting this on @tumblr.
3. I believe in collegially supporting competitors. We're fellow travelers and it's not zero-sum.
4. I spend at least 30 min on this site a day, and I can afford $8/mo. That's like $0.50 an hour. It's a great deal.
4. I spend at least 30 min on this site a day, and I can afford $8/mo. That's like $0.50 an hour. It's a great deal.
5. The #blocktheblue protest doesn't make sense. What's success look like: Twitter out of business?
If you want to block me for supporting a site that provides a ton of utility to me every day, I'm actually very okay with that.
If you want to block me for supporting a site that provides a ton of utility to me every day, I'm actually very okay with that.
The craziest thing about the #BlockTheBlue effort and Twitter's counter-efforts is that it indicates "revenue from Twitter Blue users" really is Elon's only actual idea for the site to prosper.
And it's a *terrible* idea that will obvious fail.
And it's a *terrible* idea that will obvious fail.
They're somewhere around 600K Blue users. Call that 4.8M a month, ~57M a year in revenue.
Twitter's ad revenue is WAY down, advertisers are fleeing, Elon loaded the company with a mountain of debt... adding 57M in revenue from Blue is like spitting on a fire to put it out.
Twitter's ad revenue is WAY down, advertisers are fleeing, Elon loaded the company with a mountain of debt... adding 57M in revenue from Blue is like spitting on a fire to put it out.
The fact that they're going so hard - banning 'block the blue' from trends, giving blue checks to people who don't want them, flunkies getting Very Mad at people who refuse to pay - means that there is no other idea. This is the whole thing, this was the genius plan. Astonishing.
š #BlocktheBlue, the tide is rising
Where privilege disguises and bots are hiding
For the cost of a meal, they buy their voice
But we stand together, we have a choice! š
Where privilege disguises and bots are hiding
For the cost of a meal, they buy their voice
But we stand together, we have a choice! š
ā Resist the takeover, shun the elite
The 4000-char smorgasbord, a hasty retreat
Let not the blue wave drown out the crowd
Our voices matter, we'll speak them aloud! #BlocktheBlue ā
The 4000-char smorgasbord, a hasty retreat
Let not the blue wave drown out the crowd
Our voices matter, we'll speak them aloud! #BlocktheBlue ā
š¤ Elon's army, the bots amass
In the guise of humans, a folly unsurpassed
The world's dumbest AI, they aim to build
But our vigilance stands, our spirit unyielded š #BlocktheBlue
In the guise of humans, a folly unsurpassed
The world's dumbest AI, they aim to build
But our vigilance stands, our spirit unyielded š #BlocktheBlue
Dril has been given a Bluecheck without his consent, likely at the direction of Elon Musk, and this is his response
Matt Binder, who wrote a story about Dril supporting the #BlockTheBlue concept, has also been given a Bluecheck without consent, which appears to be a desperate effort to get people to turn against the idea of blocking Bluechecks
Within less than a week, Twitter Blue supporters have gone from saying it's something that only cheap people don't want to pay for to now mocking people who have been given a Bluecheck as a punishment, an incredible apeedrun
22APR23 01
"People in this #BlockTheBlue pressure campaign are losers and goons."
peter03102.com/blog/Twitter_Fā¦ -
"People in this #BlockTheBlue pressure campaign are losers and goons."
peter03102.com/blog/Twitter_Fā¦ -
22APR23 02
22APR23 03
People in this #BlockTheBlue pressure campaign are losers and goons. They're the cool kids from junior high who worked to exclude we nerds from cool kid events, plus the losers who joined in to gain cred. The elite-only verification system sucked, been criticizing it since 2018.
An online community like this should be a meritocracy, where everyone has an equal chance, and merit is earned rather than anointed by a corporation. Old school Twitter had found a great expression of merit with following & retweeting. The best rose to the top.
Then someone well-meaningly built a system for preventing impersonation through verification. But they broke the meritocracy with a policy deeming verification only for elite "noteworthy" users, while letting Twitter employees hand out verification to their friends as a perk.
Easy steps to efficiently #BlockTheBlue:
1. Go to the Trending page and pick any trending topic.
2. In the top search bar, add "filter:blue_verified" to the end of the search query.
3. Click from "top" to "latest". Start blocking. Everyone there has paid for Blue.
1. Go to the Trending page and pick any trending topic.
2. In the top search bar, add "filter:blue_verified" to the end of the search query.
3. Click from "top" to "latest". Start blocking. Everyone there has paid for Blue.
Caution: if you are good at getting into the groove and have fast fingers, count how many accounts you block. Stop when you hit 200-225 accounts. Note the time. Wait at least 15 minutes before continuing.
If you block more than 250 accounts in a 15 minute rolling window, you'll hit an API limit (even on web) and get logged out of your current session and have to log back in. If this happens too often your account may get flagged for suspicious activity.
@LauraMiers Blocking Blue buyers may not be a good idea. But many of us consider this new system itself to be elitist and siloing, because Blue buyers get features the rest of us donātāmost importantly, you get āboostedā. Which means the rest of us are DEboosted. Itās āPAY-for-full-reachā!
@LauraMiers This system bifurcates Twitter into two tiersāthose who can easily spare āa few dollars a monthā, and those who canāt. The āhavesā will rarely even see the tweets of the āhave notsā.
We grassroots activists and entrepreneurs will now find it even harder to āreachā the āhavesā.
We grassroots activists and entrepreneurs will now find it even harder to āreachā the āhavesā.
@LauraMiers We peons may not even be able to connect with EACH OTHER as easily anymore, if Blue buyers are boosted in EVERYONEās feed.
All in all, Twitterās valuable āfree speechā, influencing, and networking opportunities are becoming a paywalled elite good.
#ApartheidClyde strikes again!
All in all, Twitterās valuable āfree speechā, influencing, and networking opportunities are becoming a paywalled elite good.
#ApartheidClyde strikes again!
