The only way to protect yourself from trolls and stalkers on X - Hypertext
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X users will need to make their account private if they want to remain safe from trolls and stalkers.

A notice from X (formerly Twitter) stating: 'Block is changing soon. If your posts are set to public, accounts you have blocked will be able to view them, but they will not be able to engage. For more control over who can see your posts, you can still protect your account.' There is an 'OK' button at the bottom of the notice.

  • X is telling users that blocking will soon be useless and trolls and stalkers will soon be able to see their posts again.
  • Instead of blocking, X advises that users take their account private, the antithesis to what X and its progenitor Twitter was about.
  • This removal of blocking may violate Apple and Google’s policies regarding platforms that host user generated content.
  • LostXOR@fedia.io
    154·
    18 hours ago

    Is that a problem? You could already just view their posts without an account, or create a burner account. Might be a hot take, but I think someone with a public account shouldn’t expect to be able to hide it from specific people.

    • Chozo@fedia.io
      131·
      18 hours ago

      I don’t think Twitter lets you view posts without being logged in anymore. Or at least, it’ll show you old posts, only.

      • LostXOR@fedia.io
        9·
        18 hours ago

        You may be right, seems like it only shows you posts by number of likes. But a burner account is nearly effortless to create anyways.

        • vzq@lemmy.worldEnglish
          71·
          17 hours ago

          I mean, yes. But:

          1. Nearly effortless is not the same as effortless
          2. it’s more evidence that X caters more to the blockees than the blockers.
          • EatATaco@lemm.ee
            English
            31·
            11 hours ago

            it’s more evidence that X caters more to the blockees than the blockers.

            I’m not sure I agree. However, even if it’s true, I’m not sure it’s such a bad thing. If you’re saying something in public and I’m not even allowed to hear it, let alone respond to it, because you blocked me, you have an effective tool to shut down any dissent. This is what I saw on reddit all the time, there were posters who would block anyone who disagreed with them and so the comments sections on their posts would become very skewed.

            And just the other day, I said that David Duke endorsing Jill Stein doesn’t mean Jill Stein approves of David Duke or anything he stands for. Someone accused me of defending David Duke, and when I pointed out that his was fantasy, they blocked me. So I see people blocking for bullshit reasons all the time.

            Lemmy is much the same, even less restrictive because you don’t even have to log in to see anything. It’s better this way.

              • EatATaco@lemm.ee
                English
                21·
                10 hours ago

                Not interested in the format even when it was still Twitter.

                But “go away” is a good counter and you’ve got me convinced. You’re truly adding to the high level discourse here.