Twitter is now tracking EXACTLY what tweets you share... And WHO reads them. >> A quick assessment from someone who pays attention. (plz RT this topper b/c I'm sure this thread will be r3pressed) 1/n
A few months ago the raw copy/pasting of twitter links went from this (picture 1) to this (picture 2). Under the OLD system, the "s=21&t" was, so far as I could tell, a reflection of what OPERATING SYSTEM you were using. ... what then were the new letters and numbers?? 2/
I started experimenting, and believe these new tags are device-centric trackers. That's right: whenever someone clicks on a tweet you share with the extra alpha-numerics behind the "?" - twitter knows who shared the tweet... Regardless of what account you are on! 🤯🤯🤯 3/
How did I figure out that twitter upgraded its tracking tools, and is now tracking, down to the INDIVIDUAL DEVICE, who is sharing what, and who is reading it? SINPLE I tried sharing tweets from two accounts, first on my phone, then on my laptop. And here's what happened: 4/
ON MAIN. The tweet in question is this one: https://t.co/dtHTZ0gEqF But when I just raw copied the tweet address from my phone, and main account (@JoshuaSteinman) the app returned this: 5/
Note that there's a ton of extra gunk after the "?," including our old friend, "?s=21&t" - the OS indicator (iOS/OSX). But NOW there is a new string after the "&t..." >> Switching (on-iPhone) to @Penance_Hall (RIP), the sharing link was the SAME ("...FrjfQ"). 6/
@Penance_Hall This is where things got interesting. When I asked a friend to share the same tweet link, this is what came back: Notice that the "?s=21&t" is still there (the person is using the same type of device), but the stuff after the "...&t" is COMPLETELY different. 🤔🤔🤔 7/
@Penance_Hall Just to double-check my work, I decided to see how the link shows up when I copy-paste THE SAME TWEET from my laptop. Voila: Note the string after "...&t" Of note: the s=21 is still present. Maybe indicates I'm running the latest version of OSX? Was =18 on last phone. 8/
@Penance_Hall WHY IS TWITTER DOING THIS? Honestly I don't know, but can think of many reasons: > probably helps to track down nodes in botnets > can help do a "link analysis" diagram of what accounts are actually influential But also: > can tell when links are being shared offline. 9/
@Penance_Hall This type of granular tracking of information is probably VERY valuable to twitter, as it enables them to better built out a "Social Graph" that is, at the core, the most valuable part of any social media company. But it's also kinda creepy. 10/
@Penance_Hall WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS? I've started telling all of my friends: when sharing links from twitter, use the share button in the lower right hand corner to the right of the "❤️" (with the upwards arrow) THEN click "Copy Link," THEN paste, and delete everything after the "?" 11/
@Penance_Hall Clipping off Twitter's TRACKERS is a small thing, but it gives me PIECE OF MIND that twitter isn't seeing my off-platform activity. I recommend you do the same. If you enjoyed this thread: 1. Follow me @JoshuaSteinman for more observations 2. RETWEET:
