Entirely unrelated to the diet I have sadly had to give up Twitter for a while, possibly forever. It’s sort of relevant because I do post links to my blog there in the vain hope of catching one or two followers. And I like to follow other Paleo fans and dieters but for now, it cannot be. And here’s why.
Twitter now allows – nay encourages – images all over the timeline thus ruining its USP. It’s hoping users will “embrace the change” which now makes Twitter the same as Facebook. But if you already have a Facebook page why bother? Wasn’t that the whole point of Twitter? That it wasn’t Facebook?
Can’t turn it off
Twitter allows you to turn images off if you access it via a phone or tablet. But not if you’re using it on a desktop computer. And that has very serious implications if you access Twitter at work – don’t tut! Lots of people access Twitter in their lunchtime and many enlightened employers, especially in media and IT fields, encourage Twitter use to promote their products. Social media savvy is often a requirement of a job in media. But employers will now have very good reason not to let you see your Twitter feed – or indeed the company’s – on Twitter and here’s why.
Porn all over your page
One person’s offensive image is another person’s bit of fun. It’s impossible to have one rule that suits everyone. But we can mostly agree on what’s pornographic. And I’ve had several pornographic images now on my timeline. Yes I reported them but they keep coming. People will retweet stuff they find amusing. I’ve also had to see a man punching a dog, a huge spider on a building and some soldiers shooting at civilians.
I’ve checked the box in my settings to ask for a warning about offensive images but it hasn’t worked. And there is no box to check that says don’t show me any images.
Free so why complain?
Now I know Twitter is free so do I have any right complaining? Nothing is cost free. I get that. We all need to pay the rent. But in fact it’s not the ads that Twitter is preparing to embed in its timeline so you can’t avoid them that’s bothering me so much. As a journalist I know how vital ads are! It’s allowing the “selfies” to pollute the place. If I want cutesy pictures of pets and kids, I’ll go to Facebook. If I really want to see your holiday snaps I’ll ask. No-one’s pictorial life is really all that interesting. But their tweets, their words, are. They are to me anyway.
No pix here!
You may wonder why there are no pictures here on my blog. No pics of my meals, ingredients, various stages of the diet or a much-reducing me. It’s because I don’t want them. I like text and if you’re reading this blog, that’s what you’re getting and if you’ve been following this blog, as I know a few people have, you must, I presume, like it that way too.
Have a word
I’m not, I must confess, a very visual person. Perhaps it’s partly because my eyesight is so poor or maybe because I love words and language so much. But I’m a grown-up now and I don’t need pictures to entice me into reading words.
Twitter shares
How can stockholders want to buy shares in a social media platform that allows pornographic pictures which once you’ve seen you can’t unsee? I used to tweet for clients in their offices. On desktop computers. Suddenly, Twitter is not safe for work! A porn image can appear on your screen if you have a Twitter page open at work and you can’t do a darn thing about it.
Checking that warn me about indecent images box doesn’t get rid of them. If you’re phobic about spiders you won’t want to see them suddenly crawling all over your timeline do you? So why not give web users a simple choice? Let us turn the images off. That’s all I want. And I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. Have a word Twitter. Sort it out.