Twitter is Now Also "Closed"
Suddenly Twitter has switched from “open"-access” to “closed"/member-only access. In my quick tests with an unsigned browser, existing Twitter links don’t open anymore, but Twitter images still do (for a while? or, they are processed differently by the local sites).
FWIW, I will stop linking to Twitter stuff (that will just go to login screens).
The list of "closed"/member-only sites is long and growing:
Many news sites are “closed” (NYT, WSJ, Barron’s, FT, etc);
Facebook was "closed";
Among the discussion boards I am familiar with,
Fidelity FIC was always "closed",
and several switched recently from "open"-access to "closed"/member-only access - M*, PB-Armchairinvesting, etc.
Discussion sited that remain open include MFO, PB-YBB, PB-Big Bang, etc. (At PB/ProBoards, the option for "open" vs "closed" is by the PB forum operator/administrator).
But sadly, lots of "free" stuff on the web is disappearing.
Comments
Reddit is also going thru convulsions right now too, if you're following that. Their community moderators suddenly realized that they're not 'in charge' of their forums but rather are voluntary caretakers of an advertising exploitation machine and have no real say in things.
Bottom line, in nearly every case, if you're not paying for the product, you ARE the product.
So, that forces one to sign up with each site, even if one wants to just read. Most sites these days say one can sign in with "Google" / "Apple" or go through a multi step process and give the site all sorts of personal information to create an account with them, and site specific user name and password.
From a consumer privacy and getting hacked (i.e., collateral damage) perspective what is safer: creating accounts with each site or signing in with "Google" / "Apple"?
If you subscribe to Apple News which have some but not all the WSJ, NYT, Washington Post and other articles. One year fee is $120.
FWIW saying I'm more concerned about credit cards, which are more of a PITA to change than an email address. I use Privacy.Com to generate a limited- or one-time use Visa card for every magazine, subscription, or one-off site I might use. That way, not only is is keeping my 'real' bank/credit card accounts safe, but if I forget to cancel a service (eg, a streaming site I wanted to catch 1 series on) I'm only out up to the (fairly low) limit I set on the card. In fact just yesterday, I got notification from Privacy.Com that a # I used once 2 years ago (and had been auto-cancelled after use) was declined for a charge at a store I never heard of in Georgia ... so that only reinforces the notion that credit card # compartmentalization is a good thing.
https://lifelock.norton.com/learn/identity-theft-resources/is-it-safe-to-sign-in-with-facebook-or-google
I briefly used a financial account aggregator as a test several years ago.
It was nice to consolidate all my accounts in a "single pane of glass."
While I liked this feature, the increased risk wasn't worth it.
All my account passwords were changed after the aggregator trial...
I signed into twitter and was able to see all your posts, which is what I needed (just read). Then I made the mistake of clicking on the "Follow" button and your posts are no longer visible. Same problem with all 15 posters I tried to Follow. I get this message, "Something went wrong. Try reloading." Tried and did not work. Is Twitter down?