Is this something I'd need a Twitter account to understand? February 3, 2015 8:50 PM Subscribe
There are lots of Twitter links all over Metafilter these days. I'm not complaining, but I don't have a Twitter account. Is this why I can't access any of these links?
Maybe it's just today. I can't remember having this problem so consistently. I'm mostly enjoying the To Kill a Mockingbird thread, but I feel like I'm missing out with all the Twitter links that Twitter tells me don't exist.
Is anyone else having this problem? Is there a work-around? I've had the problem with other threads, but this is the one that interests me most.
Maybe it's just today. I can't remember having this problem so consistently. I'm mostly enjoying the To Kill a Mockingbird thread, but I feel like I'm missing out with all the Twitter links that Twitter tells me don't exist.
Is anyone else having this problem? Is there a work-around? I've had the problem with other threads, but this is the one that interests me most.
Of the six links to twitter in the Mockingbird thread, five (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) load normally for me signed in or out of twitter, in Firefox and Chrome. The other one is to a since-deleted tweet; it should show up with a "Sorry, that page doesn't exist!" error.
posted by maqsarian at 9:03 PM on February 3, 2015
posted by maqsarian at 9:03 PM on February 3, 2015
As a fellow non-Twitterer, I've had problems where the mobile web version of Twitter won't show me tweets / feeds unless I install their app (which I refuse to do) but it seems to come and go. I've never had any problems viewing tweets / feeds in my browser on a desktop/laptop.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:09 PM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by tonycpsu at 9:09 PM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
zachlipton, when I click your link, I get a Twitter page telling me that what you linked to doesn't exist.
maqsarian, links 1 and 2 give me the same Twitter error as above. Link 3 says "no Tweet results for your search." Links 4 and 5 are the same "doesn't exist" message.
This is Firefox running on Android Lollipop.
posted by MuChao at 9:12 PM on February 3, 2015
maqsarian, links 1 and 2 give me the same Twitter error as above. Link 3 says "no Tweet results for your search." Links 4 and 5 are the same "doesn't exist" message.
This is Firefox running on Android Lollipop.
posted by MuChao at 9:12 PM on February 3, 2015
I don't have a twitter account and all five work fine for me.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:18 PM on February 3, 2015
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:18 PM on February 3, 2015
Are you running Ghostery or some other browser plugin/extension that attempts to block social media buttons/trackers? Perhaps it's messing with the links.
posted by markr at 10:00 PM on February 3, 2015
posted by markr at 10:00 PM on February 3, 2015
Yeah, Twitter's mobile site is pretty broken. For me, links will work fine over wifi, but often return error pages when accessed via a mobile data connection. (using Chrome on T-Mobile)
Maybe try a desktop browser instead?
posted by teraflop at 10:50 PM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
Maybe try a desktop browser instead?
posted by teraflop at 10:50 PM on February 3, 2015 [1 favorite]
what's Twitter?
posted by philip-random at 11:22 PM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 11:22 PM on February 3, 2015 [4 favorites]
Usually when I visit a twitter link it displays a user-hostile "log in or something" dialog on top of the content. I prefer not to follow twitter links, and if a FPP is anchored by twitter links I'm unlikely to read it. In comments, eh, usually the commenter pretty much indicates what the tweet says or else it's just way too opaque what the commenter is saying, and either way I don't bother.
Though wouldn't you know, when I go to capture a screenshot of it, twitter behaves and just shows me the content for all the links we're discussing in this thread.
Aha, links to individual tweets apparently go OK, but links to twitter user pages come up looking like this -- the big white box on the right is a login window, but at this window size it appears offscreen and you can't scroll over to it to dismiss it because IDIOTS.
posted by jepler at 5:53 AM on February 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
Though wouldn't you know, when I go to capture a screenshot of it, twitter behaves and just shows me the content for all the links we're discussing in this thread.
Aha, links to individual tweets apparently go OK, but links to twitter user pages come up looking like this -- the big white box on the right is a login window, but at this window size it appears offscreen and you can't scroll over to it to dismiss it because IDIOTS.
posted by jepler at 5:53 AM on February 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ugh. I HATE twitter links. Maybe it's because I'm usually on a well-loved iphone 4 but they take forever to load, cause other tabs to reload, are glitchy and hard to scroll... and the worst part is that it's all for 140 characters. It's like someone going into the kitchen for half an hour, making a huge racket and a bigger mess, and coming out with a bowl of cereal.
posted by that's how you get ants at 7:24 AM on February 4, 2015 [33 favorites]
posted by that's how you get ants at 7:24 AM on February 4, 2015 [33 favorites]
The worst part is that if you do log in as prompted, twitter takes you to your own page, and not to the page you had navigated to in the first place.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:21 AM on February 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by ocherdraco at 8:21 AM on February 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
Twitter is just the worst if you refuse to create an account. If you go to the home page, the only thing you can do is log in or sign up. What if I want to search for something? Nope. Somehow you have to have memorized the URL https://twitter.com/search-home, otherwise there is just no way to find that page without logging on. And you can't even just read a tweet that's been linked without this nasty modal login dialog up in your face that you have to dismiss before you can read anything. It is the most hostile bullshit experience imaginable.
And don't even get me started on how badly twitter fails the most basic tasks of a website. Oh, I'm looking at a stream of tweets and I click on a hashtag, then I click the back button, and oops, sorry, we're a bunch of incompetent morons, there's no possible way that you could be returned to where you were, so let's just drop you back near the top of the page. They must have some notion that they are complete buffoons, because they force external links to open in new tabs. It's like one of those pictures from those websites about bad DIY construction where somebody tries to use duct tape to fix a sagging joist or something. It is completely unfathomable to me that these assholes somehow managed to become so dominant.
posted by Rhomboid at 8:30 AM on February 4, 2015 [10 favorites]
And don't even get me started on how badly twitter fails the most basic tasks of a website. Oh, I'm looking at a stream of tweets and I click on a hashtag, then I click the back button, and oops, sorry, we're a bunch of incompetent morons, there's no possible way that you could be returned to where you were, so let's just drop you back near the top of the page. They must have some notion that they are complete buffoons, because they force external links to open in new tabs. It's like one of those pictures from those websites about bad DIY construction where somebody tries to use duct tape to fix a sagging joist or something. It is completely unfathomable to me that these assholes somehow managed to become so dominant.
posted by Rhomboid at 8:30 AM on February 4, 2015 [10 favorites]
Have they figured out how to make money, yet? It surprises me not at all that their resources go into their app and not their websites. Websites are, like, so old web, man. Apps are the (not really) new (anymore) wave.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 8:34 AM on February 4, 2015
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 8:34 AM on February 4, 2015
It's like someone going into the kitchen for half an hour, making a huge racket and a bigger mess, and coming out with a bowl of cereal.
posted by that's how you get ants
Do I even need to type the word here?
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:50 AM on February 4, 2015 [25 favorites]
posted by that's how you get ants
Do I even need to type the word here?
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:50 AM on February 4, 2015 [25 favorites]
Somehow you have to have memorized the URL https://twitter.com/search-home, otherwise there is just no way to find that page without logging on.
search.twitter.com and twitter.com/search also work. Less typing, if not else.
posted by effbot at 10:39 AM on February 4, 2015
search.twitter.com and twitter.com/search also work. Less typing, if not else.
posted by effbot at 10:39 AM on February 4, 2015
Is this something I would need an opposable thumb to understand ?
posted by y2karl at 11:22 AM on February 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 11:22 AM on February 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
If you go to the home page, the only thing you can do is log in or sign up. What if I want to search for something? Nope.
It's not user friendly at all, but if you click on the tiny link they use to credit the home page photo, that gets you to that post and you can access the search box at the top right corner.
posted by maudlin at 4:44 PM on February 4, 2015
It's not user friendly at all, but if you click on the tiny link they use to credit the home page photo, that gets you to that post and you can access the search box at the top right corner.
posted by maudlin at 4:44 PM on February 4, 2015
A small but important reason why MeFi is best: no "twitter? I ardly nower" jokes.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 5:04 PM on February 4, 2015
posted by Pyrogenesis at 5:04 PM on February 4, 2015
is this something I would need to own a tweet-machine to understand
posted by aydeejones at 8:05 PM on February 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by aydeejones at 8:05 PM on February 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wasn't mocking the title, just riffing on the previous "What's twitter?" comment -- trying to sound all, old timey, see? A twitter-pater. A tweet-grinder. A tweet-box?
posted by aydeejones at 8:07 PM on February 4, 2015
posted by aydeejones at 8:07 PM on February 4, 2015
Ok, I guess I can be glad I'm not the only one.
Carry on.
posted by MuChao at 10:38 PM on February 4, 2015
Carry on.
posted by MuChao at 10:38 PM on February 4, 2015
Firefox on Kitkat here, but I get the same problem. Interestingly, the link does go to the correct page, but then refreshes itself to show the error page. Clicking back causes the correct page to load.
posted by Solomon at 11:55 PM on February 4, 2015
posted by Solomon at 11:55 PM on February 4, 2015
at this window size it appears offscreen and you can't scroll over to it to dismiss it because IDIOTS.
I can't tell how well it works on that particular example because twitter has decided not to show me those today, but this sort of thing is one of many good reasons to Nuke Anything Enhanced.
posted by sfenders at 5:56 AM on February 5, 2015
I can't tell how well it works on that particular example because twitter has decided not to show me those today, but this sort of thing is one of many good reasons to Nuke Anything Enhanced.
posted by sfenders at 5:56 AM on February 5, 2015
Twitter has a documented Android problem. And are trying to gain user numbers. And in talks with Google to make tweets available in search results. Perhaps all of the above together are creating lots of unexpected firewalls?
but I am feeling amused by recalling similar conversations on "I won't touch an FPP with [insert some n00by site that we later take for granted] links here" and yes, you may throw chocolate brownies with walnuts at me if this observation irks you
posted by infini at 10:08 AM on February 7, 2015
but I am feeling amused by recalling similar conversations on "I won't touch an FPP with [insert some n00by site that we later take for granted] links here" and yes, you may throw chocolate brownies with walnuts at me if this observation irks you
posted by infini at 10:08 AM on February 7, 2015
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
For example, the Matt Yglesias link in the To Kill a Mockingbird thread takes me to this tweet. I see the same tweet both in Firefox, where I am logged into my Twitter account, and in Chrome in incognito mode, where I am most definitely not.
What do you see when you click the link?
posted by zachlipton at 8:57 PM on February 3, 2015