Hey everyone, Bit here. It seems like Elon wants to get rid of the block button or make it where the block button only blocks interaction.
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Why it's against the rules
The main app stores have rules that would prevent Elon from doing something like this, or kill Twitter on mobile if he went through with it anyway.
The rules that govern apps containing user-generated content are in Section 1.2 of the Apple App Store rules and on this support page for the Google Play Store rules. Both app stores have words in these rules about blocking, although Apple seems to have more focus on global moderation whereas Google seems to enforce that apps must have a block button for individual users.
Possible reasons for Elon to do this
Probably the main reason that Elon wants to lessen the strength of the block button or remove it entirely is to promote his so-called vision of "free speech." However, one user might be bothering another in a way that is allowed on the platform itself but may be unwanted by the offended user. The block and mute functions of social media apps allow people to hide what they don't want to see, but it seems that Elon wants people to see everything no matter what people think, all in the name of "free speech."
Alternatives to Twitter
I've gone over Twitter alternatives way too many times already. But I'll list them again.
Bluesky (https://bsky.social): Bluesky was the main platform that Brazilians moved to when Twitter was banned in the country due to Elon not complying with court requests to take down content. It lacks some features that Twitter does, like being able to post polls. You can still post images and GIFs, and you can even limit people's ability to reply using lists instead of just everyone/following/no one. Bluesky also has an insanely accurate automatic content filter to help people who don't want to see NSFW.
Mastodon (https://joinmastodon.org): Mastodon is another compelling open alternative to Twitter. Instead of being hosted on one server like most social networks, Mastodon is hosted on many servers, although the main one is https://mastodon.social. You can add media (image/video/audio) and polls to posts, and it even supports custom content warnings.
Meta Threads (https://threads.net): Threads is a Twitter-like social network maintained by the Instagram division at Meta. Meta probably uses data from Threads to train their new AI bots, so if you want more privacy you should use a network like Bluesky or Mastodon. Threads users can opt to have their posts shared with fediverse users (Mastodon, etc), meaning that a Mastodon user could follow a Threads user.
Tumblr (https://tumblr.com): Tumblr is more of a blog than a social media network, it deserves a mention here. It supports many of the features that Threads and Mastodon does. You can also add advanced formatting to posts, which the others don't support.
Farcaster (https://warpcast.com): Farcaster is an onchain social network. You cannot post videos to Farcaster directly, and some features offered by other social media apps aren't offered natively by Farcaster. Although, developers can expand on what can be included in posts using frames, such as a poll system developed by https://weponder.io. Farcaster also features channels, which are like Twitter's Communities.
Lens (https://lens.xyz): Lens is also onchain, but it supports direct media posting as well as polls on some clients. One Lens client called Orb introduced clubs, which are very similar to Farcaster's channels. Lens posts can even be made collectible, where images in the post will show up in your wallet.
In conclusion
This may be the end of Twitter, or the end of a sane Twitter. I hope that Apple and Google block Twitter's attempts to remove the block button, forcing Twitter to end service to mobile users or retract this decision. This has been Bit, and I'll see you next time.
