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XCancel service is suspended until further notice

xcancel.com

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Re: XCancel service is suspended until further notice

#971

Post by account42 »

simondotau wrote: post #821
mahboi wrote: post #780

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, most of the people are upset because they're Democrats politically on Twitter, and the old one catered to them.

As far as I can tell, the only way Twitter has substantively changed over the past few years is that a small (but non-trivial) number of politically obsessed left-wingers have voluntarily self-exited. Everything else is narrative.

It's also become a whole lot more hostile to anonymous visitors, hence the topic under discussion. That's not just narrative but a fact.

Re: XCancel service is suspended until further notice

#972

Post by moomin »

trey-jones wrote: post #221

Regardless of the legality of the service: I always use xcancel instead of X. I don't have a twitter account and I don't want to sign in. I just occasionally want to read what some people had to say about something. Even this is usually a mistake. It's probably better taken as entertainment. My point is: companies stop making your product suck, and people won't have a reason to try and fix it for you.

Indeed, with the best will in the world, nothing on X is that essential. XCancel is the only way I read it.

Re: XCancel service is suspended until further notice

#973

Post by alex1138 »

jakevoytko wrote: post #461
trey-jones wrote: post #221

Regardless of the legality of the service: I always use xcancel instead of X. I don't have a twitter account and I don't want to sign in. I just occasionally want to read what some people had to say about something. Even this is usually a mistake. It's probably better taken as entertainment. My point is: companies stop making your product suck, and people won't have a reason to try and fix it for you.

I hate when companies do this. Instagram is a black box for me. Whenever someone sends me a link the web app is completely nonfunctional; clicking links just reload the page, it constantly tries opening the app, etc The last time I signed up for an Instagram account (2016) it got immediately flagged as a bot account. I think I was supposed to appeal it to have it reinstanted, but why bother if this is how badly they…

I'm sorry that I keep posting this but it gets said often enough that I'm just going to hopefully kill it permanently

People say repeatedly Instagram was a 'great acquisition' (it was. It destroyed Facebook's competition. Great for them, not for users). That Zuckerberg bought it when it was 'barely a company'. That it's somehow not antitrust (Zuckerberg in emails: "Instagram can hurt us"). People loved Instagram. Not anymore, not for a long time. Stop giving him the benefit of the doubt

Re: XCancel service is suspended until further notice

#974

Post by knollimar »

alt227 wrote: post #945
harrisoned wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same reason is wrong to require a Google or Apple phone to exercise basic civil duties within government services. You are gating the service, or information, behind a 3rd party ToS, a login, and basically stating that you are not allowed to have it until you hand over personal data to such companies.

I've made this same comment several times now. To live in our 'free' western society, you need to register your birth, get a social security number, and attend state dictated education. Life in general is now gated, and if you do not abide by the rules you do not get the benefits of society. How is this any different to "you are not allowed to have it until you hand over personal data".

Gated by a provate company where they have no recourse if they ban you is an issue. Also they just repeatedly boil to frog with anti user experiences. No, I won't install your app!

Re: XCancel service is suspended until further notice

#975

Post by lirolero »

ocd wrote: post #61

I don't see how any government or business (especially the former) can justify using X at this point when it doesn't serve the public interest or the interest of customers who deserve at least some choice. It's as unreasonable for them as using Instagram or a dating app for something intended for broad reach and accessibility. I don't particularly like Bluesky, but it's publicly readable and has RSS. Any real solutio…

[dead]

Re: XCancel service is suspended until further notice

#976

Post by petcat »

ben_w wrote: post #932
CSMastermind wrote: post #885

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't see how any government or business (especially the former) can justify using X at this point If your logic is that some citizens won't be able to read what is posted there, then I assume you similarly object to other social media platforms, newspapers, cable TV stations, etc.

If my local government or some local business was limited to using one specific newspaper, this would indeed be a problem. And in reverse, having a concentration of readers (users) on one platform, means that whoever controls that newspaper (platform) gets to be kingmaker for the government and the businesses. Free speech as a constitutional requirement binding on a government to allow it is great; that government th…

There is no constitutional entitlement to receive government information through one's preferred newspaper, website, or social network.

> it is a de facto loss of free speech for everyone else.

You seem to be confused about what 1A is and what it guarantees. It is a restriction on government action against your speech, not a general requirement that everyone have equal access to every privately owned communications channel.

Re: XCancel service is suspended until further notice

#977

Post by ghaff »

benrutter wrote: post #870
trey-jones wrote: post #221

Regardless of the legality of the service: I always use xcancel instead of X. I don't have a twitter account and I don't want to sign in. I just occasionally want to read what some people had to say about something. Even this is usually a mistake. It's probably better taken as entertainment. My point is: companies stop making your product suck, and people won't have a reason to try and fix it for you.

> My point is: companies stop making your product suck, and people won't have a reason to try and fix it for you. Boy this would be nice! X have obviously decided that using the law to take down people fixing its issues is more profitable than fixing them. I'm really curious though, are they right? (Ignoring ethics etc) I used to glance at Twitter when it was less hostile, now I don't bother since it tries to force y…

Well, Twitter/X is also a service with very large network effects. So many people I knew at some level tuned out that it became a very optional thing to glance at--and none of the replacements really took off in my estimation. The bottom line is that I just stopped using that whole category of social media.

Re: XCancel service is suspended until further notice

#978

Post by ValentineC »

mitxela wrote: post #910
ValentineC wrote: post #748

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, for some reason, AI companies like DeepSeek who would rather post news exclusively there than vibecode their own news site.

Do you actually need that news?

No, but I'm referring to the AI news that gets posted on HN with a former Twitter link, because those companies don't have a proper news site of their own.

Re: XCancel service is suspended until further notice

#979

Post by goonersallofyou »

benrutter wrote: post #870
trey-jones wrote: post #221

Regardless of the legality of the service: I always use xcancel instead of X. I don't have a twitter account and I don't want to sign in. I just occasionally want to read what some people had to say about something. Even this is usually a mistake. It's probably better taken as entertainment. My point is: companies stop making your product suck, and people won't have a reason to try and fix it for you.

> My point is: companies stop making your product suck, and people won't have a reason to try and fix it for you. Boy this would be nice! X have obviously decided that using the law to take down people fixing its issues is more profitable than fixing them. I'm really curious though, are they right? (Ignoring ethics etc) I used to glance at Twitter when it was less hostile, now I don't bother since it tries to force y…

Reddit seems to have reversed course with making users sign in as well (or my adblock has updated and removed the forced login modal or something.) but my thought was simply: "Well, I guess I just won't view Reddit content anymore, big whoop."

Re: XCancel service is suspended until further notice

#980

Post by pbasista »

vachina wrote: post #867
pbasista wrote: post #857

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I do not have an account and when I open any profile on it right now, I cannot read it properly. I cannot click on posts. I cannot read replies. I cannot open images. In my opinion, that is quite far from "functional". Such a behavior alone is a sufficient justification, in my opinion, for the services like xcancel to exist. And if the X social network does not want their content to be publicly available, fine.…

Then create a burner account to access said resources, instead of doing gymnastics with a broken third party middleware.

There is no "gymnastics" needed. And those "middleware" layers are working just fine.

A user just opens the original X link in xcancel or some of the similar web service. And it will display the actual content only. Without ads and without other user-alienating features.

I think that it is also way simpler than "creating an account".

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