Fat_Al_NYCAug 21, 2023
Dan Gillmor

Yes, it is disgusting that Musk and company have removed 2011-2014 photos (and videos?) from the deadbird site.

But it's also yet another reminder to everyone: DO NOT completely entrust what you create to highly centralized, privately controlled (sometimes by evil people) cloud-based services.

At the very least, have backups -- local and off-site -- from which you re-post what you've created.

Aug 20, 2023 at 8:03pmWeb
Show thread(((Cindy Weinstein)))Aug 20, 2023
@dangillmor. Banning books/Erasing history. It's all of a hideous piece.
Show threadMark StosbergAug 20, 2023

@cindyweinstein @dangillmor Sustainability means not storing things forever. Sustainability means deleting things.

The content is stored on physical servers burning real energy, which has an impact on the planet.

The tech industry has long promised the impossible lie of infinite, permanent storage and that has to change.

#climate

Show thread(((Cindy Weinstein)))Aug 20, 2023
@markstos @dangillmor. Thank you for this good point. However, Musk does not get the benefit of the doubt.
Show threadAsh_CrowAug 20, 2023
@markstos @cindyweinstein @dangillmor breaking redirect links without removing the content from the server will not make the servers use less energy.
Show threadJohnMasheyAug 20, 2023
@dangillmor
I always found it useful to write long threads using word processor (auto-numbering among others, better spellcheck), and then transfer to Twitter ... but this recent removal is an even bigger reason.
Show threadryanAug 20, 2023
@dangillmor They're not _gone_ gone, they just broke the t.co shortener. If you have the twimg link the media is still available.
Show threadStefan SchollAug 20, 2023
@dangillmor see imgur and gfycat for further examples. But with less press.
Show threadÓscar Morales VivóAug 20, 2023
@dangillmor “Sometimes” by evil people?
Show threadHelge HeßAug 20, 2023
@dangillmor That can be shortened to “Do not trust the clown”, it is just other people’s computers.
How centralized or how evil their owners are doesn’t really matter. Own your data.
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKAug 20, 2023
@helge @dangillmor I never 100% trusted Twitter even 10 years ago so everything I put on there was disposable (mostly links to Eurodisco, piratenhits and Schlager I liked on YouTube; and Twitter broke the way that link worked long before Musk got hold of it and their support couldn't fix it, I stopped using that feature anyway and the character limit was too small for any other serious discussions)
Show threadViolette ValentineAug 20, 2023
@dangillmor Not to add any undue fuel to this fire but...
Show threadphi1997Aug 21, 2023
@Violette_Valentine
Wouldn't be surprised if he kept blocking around, but only for himself.
@dangillmor
Show threadViolette ValentineAug 20, 2023
@dangillmor I fit into the "more guts than brains" category myself. 😜
Show threadRandy LeaAug 20, 2023
@dangillmor The question is why anyone has anything to do with X or any other Musk led organization.In the words of Doctor Who, RUN!
Show thread(((Jann Gobble)))🏳️‍🌈Aug 20, 2023
@dangillmor When I downloaded my twitter archive, I wrote a perl script to go through and DL all the images and videos! I didn't trust Twitter.
Show threadJoanna Bryson, blatheringAug 20, 2023

@dangillmor you can't back up a network of references and conversations. We need these public goods defended by governments. Twitter should never have been in the position to revert to private ownership.

But of course, don't trust any cloud.

Show threadDan GillmorAug 20, 2023
@j2bryson True enough on conversations, etc. I was only referring to photos/videos. We need complete interoperability.
Show threadJoanna Bryson, blatheringAug 21, 2023
@dangillmor I believe that "complete interoperability" is a dangerous fiction. https://joanna-bryson.blogspot.com/2021/05/neither-interoperability-nor-data.html
Neither interoperability nor data sharing will solve transnational monopoly

artificial and natural intelligence, including politics, policy, ethics and security

Show threadBerend SchotanusAug 21, 2023
@j2bryson @dangillmor @ErikJonker
👆
Interesting piece!
Show threadJoanna Bryson, blatheringAug 21, 2023

@dangillmor Though on reflection, a lot of the people who were on the ground in the Arab Spring did not have access to a lot of offsite backup options, and might have been killed if their media were found in their homes.

BTW this article makes it sound like it might be an error (or a trial balloon), and reversible. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/08/19/twitter-deletes-all-user-photos-and-links-from-2011-2014/

Twitter Deletes All User Photos And Links From 2011-2014

Twitter appears to have deleted all images from the website that were posted between 2011 and 2014. Links that used Twitter’s native shortening service are also broken.

Forbes
Show threadDwight Williams (💉 x9)+😷🇨🇦Aug 21, 2023
@j2bryson @dangillmor I wonder about that.
Show threadI am Jack's Lost 404Aug 20, 2023

@dangillmor

Never embed 3rd party sources. Always screenshot.

How journalists let themselves be duped like this for decade(s) is beyond me.

ETA: Maybe they just never read 1984?

Show threadAnarchozionist/DatenproletAug 20, 2023
@dangillmor
The internet is not forever!
If you want something to last on the web you'll have to make it last yourself.
Show threadxs4me2Aug 20, 2023

@dangillmor

It simply illustrates why social media, an expression of culture, history in the making and documentation of it should not be in the hands of biased private enterprise, and certainly not in the hands of a right wing megalomaniac like Musk.

Social media belong in the public domain and in distributed hands.

There should be a lawsuit for this, the fact he owns it now does not mean he can vandalize and destroy it. Pure evil or stupidity, or is that the same?

Show threadDwight Williams (💉 x9)+😷🇨🇦Aug 21, 2023
@xs4me2 @dangillmor As far as His Sinkness is concerned, it means exactly that. You can argue that evil and stupidity are the same thing, and you might have a point within limits.
Show threadxs4me2Aug 21, 2023

@DEWLine @dangillmor

Well, thank you!

Show threadDesmodusUKAug 21, 2023
@dangillmor Good advice. Each time I think the cesspit of Twitter can't get any worse, Musk surprises me yet again.
Show threadpoes 🇵🇸Aug 21, 2023
@dangillmor di mastodon sama saja kalo tiba - tiba instancenya gulung tikar.
Show threadJennifer WhiteAug 21, 2023
@dangillmor I don't dare trust any online storage for my stuff. I back mine up on 2 different external drives weekly. Hardware will fail at some point, so it is best to have 2 backups as suggested.
Show threadRai Aren 🖖✨📚🇺🇦Aug 21, 2023
@dangillmor
Good advice 👍
#TwitterMigration
Show threadStarkRGAug 21, 2023

@dangillmor also: support the Internet Archive

Archive.org

Show threadRev.Hans Aug 21, 2023
@dangillmor
Show threadVesAug 21, 2023
@dangillmor yearly or 6 months back ups.
Show threadBananawatchAug 21, 2023
@dangillmor I may be a dinosaur boomer but I never understood that people would trust a digital version in some cloud would exist for posterity.
Have been teased and criticised for owning books, vinyl, CDs, DVDs printing off photos and hard copies of documents, let alone backing up important docs in several places
Show threadKarl Voit  Aug 21, 2023
@dangillmor I wrote about situations like that: https://karl-voit.at/2020/10/23/avoid-web-forums/
#decentralization
Don't Contribute Anything Relevant in Web Forums Like Reddit

Don't Contribute Anything Relevant in Web Forums Like Reddit

public voit - Web-page of Karl Voit
Show threadNodamiAug 21, 2023
@dangillmor if I'm not wrong, there is a Twitter archive at the Library of Congress https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2017/12/update-on-the-twitter-archive-at-the-library-of-congress-2/ however, I agree with you, better keep a safe copy of our own stuff
Update on the Twitter Archive at the Library of Congress | Timeless

An update on the status of the Twitter archives at the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress
Show threadCasper 👻Aug 21, 2023
@dangillmor It sucks, but I don’t think social media should be considered a photo storage option.
Show threadAlida AntoniaAug 21, 2023
@dangillmor some were http, so maybe that had something to do with it?
Show threadjsqNov 28, 2024
@dangillmor Truer words were never writ.