Far too many posts are links to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and the other big tech services. This needs to stop happening, right now.

Further, those links often contain link cruft, that undermines the privacy of the sharer, and everyone else who subsequently clicks the link.

Any and all traffic you send to this sites are metrics that result in financial gains for these companies. You are literally supporting the enemy every time you send traffic to them.

The way the web works, regarding monetization, is highly correlated with something called Acquisition. In laymen's terms, this means clicks. The site has somehow "acquired" you. Either through a search engine, a friend who shared a link, or some sort of referral. You landed on their site, and now you are a statistic, that these companies will wave around like a flag in front of the noses of the board of directors to prove that the service is worth its salt and making money.

These referrals are often tracked, by adding "cruft" to the URL. A pseudo example would be:

website.com/article-that-is-super-interesting?referral-ID=unique-identifier-1234_johnny_appleseed%facebook-tracking-code%source_ID=grandmas-backyard-lemonade-stand-wifi-connection%referral-ID-your-friend-ben-johnsons-email-address%cross-site-domain-cookie=i_searched_for_anime_porn_once

That is a fictitious example but the reality is that often times, the link you are sharing contains highly specific information about you, your whereabouts, the source of who shared the information with you, and who knows what else, since these tracking schemes are obfuscated with absurd strings of numbers that the end user has no hope of deciphering.

We need to become much more savvy with how we use the web, and what content we share here in this community. Use alternate services, like nitter, invidious, rumble, and gab. Stop contributing to big tech. Leave their services, today. Stop sharing their content. Take your wonderful ideas and content elsewhere. Make the competition stronger. Vote with your clicks, and your wallet. Stay away from free, and spend money on principles.

We take back the internet when the enemy services die from becoming irrelevant. There is a long history of this occurring, from CompuServe, to Netscape, to AOL, to MySpace, Tumblr, Pinterest and so on. The only power these services have, is their user base. The moment everyone picks up and leaves, is the moment these services collapse.

Do your part to shutter these evil services. Send them to the dustbin. Break yourself free of their grip on your attention and consideration.

Silence is golden.

Feel free to reply or message me directly if you have questions or need help. I am here to point you in the right direction.