Twitter Removes Its 'No Political Ads' Policy Ahead of the 2024 Election

BobTheBoozer@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 702 points –
Twitter Removes Its 'No Political Ads' Policy Ahead of the 2024 Election
gizmodo.com
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If you didn't think Twitter sucked before, wait until half the ads are for Trump.

It actually amazes me that people still use that cesspool.

Yeah, also anyone who claims that they didn't switch to mastodon because it is too confusing, must have serious learning disability. I can understand that Lemmy is harder than traditional reddit, because the problem is more complex and the service still need a lot of polish, but mastodon is very simple to use.

Yup. People have a mental block against it. They decided Mastodon was complicated, so even when confronted with its simplicity, they’re unwilling to deal with the first few minutes of uncomfortable novelty. I’ve talked to a few super-smart people who have this particular mental block and they still talk shit about Mastodon without genuinely trying it out first, while still railing against Twitter. People are irrationally stubborn.

Yeah, people got distracted by trying to figure out how it worked instead of just using it like they would any other service. I think people shouldn't have pushed the federated angle as hard. It's great, but most people don't care about it as much as other stuff. It probably would have had a bit better user retention if it was explained with it.

That being said, mastodon is significantly more complicated than the average service people use. To someone not super tech savvy, it makes sense that it could be enough to push them away. Anyone can get used to it fairly quickly, but any fiction pushes a ton of people away.

As an example, I work for a company that does web stuff, We changed dropdowns with few options to a multi-select menu component and saw like a 20% increase in the number of people completing the form.

That's the blatant hint that those people aren't down for the cause and should not be wanted on "our side" and their opinions are worthless. These are the type of people to cut out of your life because they aren't trustworthy or loyal.

My sports news people are all still there. Wish they would join Mastodon but no luck yet 😩

Who cares? Do they not have a website, or a YouTube show or something? There's still plenty of entertainers I like on there. Didn't stop me from deleting that Nazi cesspool and just getting that info elsewhere. You just have to want to actually quit and quit coming up with excuses. Sports ball is on other platforms, too.

How do yall feel this entitled over another persons decision to use any particular social media 😂super weird behavior

Who is being entitled? This guy is saying he's supporting the Nazi platform because his sports ball people are still on there. I told him that's a bullshit reason to stay on a platform.

The vast majority of people using twitter are not thinking “I’m supporting a nazi but it’s okay”. They are thinking “I’m using twitter because I enjoy the content/interaction”.

The issue on Reddit, and Lemmy even more so, is that you frame the issue as if people are knowingly supporting a nazi. This a silly straw man argument the only gets upvotes in chronically online circles

Have you been on Twitter recently? I kept getting white supremacist and MAGA tweet notifications left and right. I only followed progressive pages and random bands and music festivals. I even tested it out - blocked a high profile Nazi that I kept getting tweet notifications for - sure enough, got a notification for that same Nazi. It's a Nazi platform, 100%. Are you a Muskrat apologist/dickrider or something? Because that's what you come off across as. I've seen it with my own eyes, dawg.

Yes I have, and it’s nothing like what you describe on my end. I don’t even care for twitter, I’m just explaining to you why your views are extremist and contain zero nuance. The world is not so black and white. Go touch grass my brother.

Youtube? Talk about a cesspool…
Sometimes it’s simply almost unavoidable.

Are you one of those weirdos that actually looks at comments on YouTube? There's your problem.

True, I did that once upon a time. It made me feel like a pharaoh. A dead one, where the balmers are pulling the brain out through the nose.

But aside from the toxic comments, YT has an algorithm that really keeps feeding you worse and worse garbage, with an increasingly ultra-rightwing bias. It really is a cesspool and a foul one at that.

I think part of the problem is so many things have relied on it up until now. I read how at a college shooting that was the main way they had to tell people to stay where they were. Which is a problem if that is your only way to communicate in an emergency situation.

So much news is passed quickly from it or other social media. If you're not on it now you're often left in the dark. Which is good for mental well being for some of us (me), but bad at other times.

More like 80% then 15% for other republicans and 4% for libertarians and independents, almost no coverage will be given to democrats. Just enough to say they aren’t completely shutting them out which would be a lawsuit

People are starting to experience a real change right now. Those that are paying attention are trying to avoid Meta, X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram, and a bunch of other partisan bs. The near-future will be interesting.

So, like a normal day on YouTube in 2016?

Oh sorry, you said half... It was most the ads on YouTube in 2016.

Yeah, I might have to delete Twitter just to get away from political ads.

I subscribed to YouTube premium specifically to avoid political adverts while still supporting content creators (political adverts are even more repetitive and uncreative than commercials, in my mind), and I actively avoid any room my parents are in when they’re watching any TV at all during campaign season.

I’ll get my info on how to vote by actually looking up the candidates’ actions on databases, thanks.

The real problem at this point isn't twitter. it's idiots continuing to use and empower Twitter even though they know it's a problem.

Same with reddit and other social media.

People need to start owning their behaviors but keyboard warrior talks much, but got forbid they face any slight inconvience.

Eh, at least with reddit you can stick to the niche subreddits there that don't have a large community anywhere else and avoid the political cesspool side of it. And if you use it on desktop in classic mode with ublock or other similar addons, it's still a pretty nice experience, all things considered.

Twitter, on the other hand, shoves anything and everything in your face against your will.

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This Musk guy is gonna be surprised face when the fascists come for him because he's a sexual deviant and a drug user.

He’s rich though so all is forgiven, remember that wealth trumps all else

Right up until the governing body remembers proscription exists

That will never happen as long as he's rich and on their side.

Russia should get to shoot down Starlink satellites when they feel like it, yeah?

I'm not sure what that means... Musk is also on their side, which appears to be the same as Republicans.

Starlink satellites have been used by the Ukrainian defenders.

Sure, I realize that. At some point Musk cut Ukraine off from using them in certain regions or for certain purposes, but Starlink was donating services until they got a DoD contract recently. Overall it seems like a complicated situation, to say the least.

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Translates to- twitter will only show pro trump ads.

Probably mostly, yes. Also this is likely an indication of how fucked their finances are.

Why are people still using Twitter/x.

Puts on old man hat.

People talk shit about Twitter and still use it. Is it really that hard to quit? Essentially that makes everything you say seem unbelievable.

Don't talk about it, be about it!

Its not like everybody is hating on twitter, the ones that like it still use it but in lemmy you will see a lot of hate because, you know how we all came here in the first place

Until pro sports abandons twitter it is not going anywhere.

Same thing with YouTube. Everyone hates it- but everyone still flocks to support their practices of fucking over the content creators.

How is YouTube fucking over content creators?

Probably demonizing videos for ridiculous nonsense.

Edit: demonetzing.

I wonder what political party will be advertising alongside Nazi content? Hmmmm.

Muskrat needs to try to get some money flowing there somehow.

This was the plan all along. Let’s see if he can keep it afloat until November 2024. Watch for fresh cash infusions from familiar players.

He's gonna have so many rubles he can pretend he's Scrooge Mcduck.

Bruh 2023 is almost over, those ads are about to start flying any minute now and not stop until November 4th

People really need to just accept the fact that, for better or worse, "Twitter.com" as we knew it is dead and "X.com" is here to take all of the flaws and worst aspects of the old platform and turn them into the main selling points of the new platform. Extremist right-wing politics and disinformation are no longer bugs, but features.

It doesn't make sense to be so attached to a social network that you're willing to constantly turn a blind eye to how toxic it is for society and democracy.

Things went as predicably as we knew it would when Musk bought Twitter. He's always been an alt right sell out, and Twitter was a great way to broadcast alt right propaganda.

He's part of the still ongoing coup with the GOP plus his direct communication with Putin of all people. It's fairly obvious at this point.

LMAO of course it does, Elon is using the site to specifically foment disinformation and support right wing politics.

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Mush is probably desperate for every single cent he can wring out of Xitter. I'd guess that before they sold all the office furniture he went through every couch looking for loose change.

And the collective IQ of this country just dropped another few thousand points.

Twitter is none stop political ads. They ever had a "no political ads" policy to begin with?

The 2024 election is all that Twitter needs to survive through. After that Musk will probably let it die.

I definitely think he's trying to burn twatter down to the ground so he doesn't have to deal with it.