‘New’ Twitter for Desktop: Pros, Cons, Solutions & Why Twitter Is Forcing It Upon Us

It’s been available on desktop for many moons in the form of Twitter Lite, but now, the so-called ‘new’ Twitter interface is rapidly being forced upon desktop users as the only fully-featured environment. It’s not just a visual redesign. It’s a completely different way of delivering content. And whether you like the ‘new’ Twitter or not, the chances of the old desktop site surviving in any form whatsoever are basically nil.

Why? Well, it wasn’t really that Twitter wanted a new desktop site. It was that they wanted rid of the old one…

What Does “No DMs” Really Mean in a Twitter Bio?

“No DMs!”; long form – “No Direct Messages!“… It’s a prominent chant in certain pockets of the vast Twitter userbase, but why only certain pockets? And is the “No DMs!” admonishment really a necessary inclusion in a Twitter bio? Let’s mull it over…

GENDER BIAS

“No DMs” is much more common among women than among men, which suggests the phrase is largely rooted in a male predatory issue.

The frequent coupling of “No DMs” with “No dick pics” further supports that suggestion. A lot of men do try to use Twitter as a dating site, or a ‘perving’ site, or a ‘flashing’ site, or at least a means to avail themselves of female emotional comforts without having to pay for a premium rate service. And if people are following and/or communicating indiscriminately, as has become customary on Twitter, some of those men are going to get the wrong idea…

“Private Search Engines” and Their Deals With Oppressive Trackers

The “privacy” model has become a default business strategy for new search engines. Why? Because it sells. Given the typically inferior quality of their results, and their often uninspiring user-experience, “private search engines” routinely over-achieve in terms of growth. So unless they have a revolutionary new concept, anyone entering today’s search market is almost compelled to trade on privacy.

They’re all at it. Barely a week goes by without a new “private search” brand coming up in the #privacy tags on Twitter. Some are just a front for affliate marketers to peddle overpriced rubbish. Others, such as Search Encrypt – taken seriously by a lot of people – are listed as malware. Some, despite billing themselves as privacy protectors on Twitter, have no SSL and literally no privacy policy whatsoever. “Private search” has become a joke. It’s that same old bunch of shady chancers using the gimmick of the moment in the hope of becoming billionaires. But what about the few brands that manage to attract continuous applause? Have we not noticed that they’re in bed with the enemy?…

Why Deleting Your Social Media May Worsen Your Privacy

Deleting a social media account, or the content within it, has become a hot privacy topic in recent times. As more and more stories surface about the extent to which cyber giants collect and use our personal information, we’ve let the shock push us towards reflex action. How dare they quietly store private call logs and precise location info from our mobile phones, we think. How dare they record every move we make with a mouse, and tail us around the web logging our various site visits.

As we finally wake up to the reality that the whole internet is one big piece of spyware, the easiest solution is to blame Facebook, then promptly delete Facebook. Because that’s what certain influencers and high profile blogs are telling us to do.