A Critique of X/Twitter (Post 3)

 For my last blog post of week 1, I wanted to talk about a critique of X/Twitter (X from here on). I am not sure when it happened (though it was in recent past), but the powers that be at X decided that likes were going to be private.

I don't know what exactly caused them to do this, but the more I think about it, I'm really curious to know why they did it. For as long as I was using X (since ~2015/16), likes have been public, and that was a feature, not a bug. It's something that you accepted when you used X. Some people thought little of it, some thought greatly of it.

I have noticed that since the change, I have liked much more things than I did prior. I guess I feel more safe/secure to like whatever comes up on my feed? Interestingly, though, I rarely go and look at my "likes." I feel like if there is one of my "likes" that I really wanted to see, I would have to scroll through so much to get to it (talk about a first world problem). I also wouldn't know where exactly it would be so it would be a lot of time wasted for just one "like."

Part of me wouldn't mind "likes" to be public again, but another part of me is okay with it being this way. I just have to be much more intentional with my usage of the "like" button like the past.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you prefer "likes" to be hidden or public? Maybe X could give people the feature to choose?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1st Memory of Social Media (Post 2)

 Oh man this is throwing it WAY back to my time in 7th grade (2011/2012). Facebook dominated 6th grade and was still quite popular but Instagram was on the rise. The really fortunate kids in my grade had iPhones. I was not one of them so I had to settle with my iPod.  I remember being SO hesitant and afraid to make an Instagram account. The thought of making an account, sending friend requests, waiting to see if people considered me their friends, and then MAYBE posting photos or videos of myself was nerve-wracking. This was different to Xbox Live and video games where people gathered to play specific games (which I was much accustomed to); this was connecting with other people for connection's sake. What would I post about? How would people react? How many likes would I get? Eventually, I did muster up the courage to send friend requests. I kept it to mainly the people I interacted with the most at school and waited for others I didn't know to send me requests first. As for m...
Read more

Lurkers and Free Riders (W3)

I thought the third discussion topic from this week would be a good place for me to start my week's blogs. It also hits home for me. Free riders, as Clay Shirky describes, are people who benefit from online content while not contributing themselves. "Lurkers," people who observe and rarely or never interact with other users, can be lumped into this category. While they’re sometimes criticized, I think lurkers an inherent part of how the Internet works, now more than ever. I’ve always been more of a lurker. I used to post stories and photos on Instagram (see my second blog post), but over time, I started feeling anxious about like counts and who was watching. That pressure eventually made posting feel more exhausting than rewarding. These days, I mostly scroll through Reddit, X, and YouTube, especially to follow esports and professional wrestling. Even on Reddit, where I’ve posted a bit more, I’ve probably made fewer than 50 comments in total. In my experience, lurking hap...
Read more

Bruns (2011) thoughts so far (W2 Reading)

I'm halfway through reading the Bruns (2011) article and before I started the C5C half of the article, I felt the need to make a blog post about it. It's quite incredible (to me, at least) that this article was written in 2011. Reading through the first half,  I felt like it was written within the past 5 years. Now, more than ever, I believe the Internet users are true "produsers." There's so much opportunity now for collaboration on anything and everything! I wonder if Bruns (and others) had any idea of what potential Web 2.0 and produsers had back then. How would Bruns react to reading his article now? One part I really liked in the first half of the article was on page five. Bruns (2011) writes, "it [produsage]  also has historical connections to pre-commercial models of scientific research and other ideals of open intellectual engagement in academia as well as the civil society beyond." This quote stuck out to me. What does the Internet and produsage...
Read more