PSA on privuhcy
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This is kinda true but also kinda fear mongering. UTM parameters are just to track where you clicked the link from. They're usually not dynamic, and don't contain anything about you personally. The example in the screenshot
utm_source=newsletteris probably added to all links in a company's newsletter email, so they can tell that people get to the page via the newsletter.As someone who has link tracking in our business, yes, some of the stuff after the ? isn't nefarious tracking, like the utm mentioned above.
All the "list-unsubscribe" options you may have noticed starting about a year ago, are actually required to be there for any company that sends out any kind of email newsletter over a certain threshold. (Lists around 5k or more)
If the unsubscribe links aren't there, with the required url-encoded parameters (along with some other requirements with DNS) the email will not be delivered to any of the majors (google, yahoo/aol, hotmail, big ISPs) and we get blocked.
The unsubscribe parameters are being tracked, yes, but we have to have them so we can unsubscribe you "in one click"
We are not allowed to require you to sign in to unsubscribe you. (Not that we ever did that, but now there must be a one-click option.)(We used to just be two clicks to unsubscribe off an encoded link. Click -> this you? If yes, click -> you are now unsubscribed. Or sign-in and manage subscriptions without an encoded link.)
Again, the point is that not all url encoded tracking is nefarious. Some of it is now required to try and minimize spam and nefarious emails.
Source:
https://craft.postmark-testing.com/blog/2024-gmail-yahoo-email-requirements -
I did not know what those were for before seeing this but I remeber seeing "source=chat_gpt" next to a link to a source in a news article and thought that it was odd.
That just means that the idiot writing the article got the link provided to them by chatgpt during their research. All it does is tell the website that you visited that you followed a link from the given source. They can aggregate the data from all visitors for metrics, to see where they lag behind in exposure. But they can't associate users to each other with this method.
Unlike the "igsh" tag in instagram post/reel urls, which when opened, will immediately create a popup stating "join <user that shared the URL with you> on Instagram today!"
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Fun fact, YouTube has backwards comparability for its video links, so https://youtube.com/w/dQw4w9WgXcQ will go to the same video (granted, it will change format to the up to date one, but it is one way to go to a yt video without URL arguments)
Even better: https://youtu.be/PtSGclOlVmg
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this isn't a shitpost this community is being dragged through the mud by non-shitposts
It's shitty advice masquerading as something useful and/or insightful.
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IMO, any developer who uses URL parameters for required functionality is short sighted. They should use the path as required parameters.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Sure, because it's super fun to parse a path with multiple keypair that can be repeated, be non mandatory, etc. You must work for the GS1 project.
Developers are known to enjoy whipping themselves all the time, constantly trying to do obtuse things with the wrong tool when there's a perfectly working, perfectly standard way of doing something that's supported by literally every solutions under the sun.
/s, just in case.
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Legitimate concern, called URL tracking. There's browser extensions for that.
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Even better: https://youtu.be/PtSGclOlVmg
This is what I meant by the "non shortened" ones. If you're using it through the app you can only press share to get the link and that's how it comes when you press share. (Or if you press share on the website instead of copying the URL from the address bar.)
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This. The question marks and ampersand in youtube URLs are separators and can include your entire playlist, as well. If you just want to share the video, then everything from the first ampersand onwards can go.
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Even better: https://youtu.be/PtSGclOlVmg
Even better: PeerTube or InternetArchive or (Web)Torrents but definitely not a Google website fueled by surveillance capitalism.
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whuh? querystrings are integral to things like pagination. they are by no means a negative thing.
It’s really weird how SEO snake oil salesmen have broken the web.
The “no query parameter” rule is such a dogma to the cult that your normal tooling for pages has to go through some weird ass hoops so that it can show up instead as a slug in the URL.
I hate SEO and SEO peddlers
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How about I just don't use you tube? I should be ok.
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Even better: PeerTube or InternetArchive or (Web)Torrents but definitely not a Google website fueled by surveillance capitalism.
wrote last edited by [email protected]For a viewer: serious lack of content
For a creator: extremely unlikely to make a living
I want them to succeed but it's an unfortunate position
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How about I just don't use you tube? I should be ok.
It's on a lot of links
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For a viewer: serious lack of content
For a creator: extremely unlikely to make a living
I want them to succeed but it's an unfortunate position
Be the change you want to see. Here is my instance https://video.benetou.fr/ even if nobody cares, I tried.
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It's on a lot of links
It is and it should stop. I'm honestly almost to the point of leaving so much interneting behind so I can regain my skills at old school communication and information gathering. It must be so hard to do that now. It used to be so normal.
I already have bonked all traditional social media including for my small business for reasons like this. I went back to posters and flyers and only promoting online solely in spaces like the fed. It's been hard but worthwhile I feel and after only about a year I am again getting more traffic. It's just a small income source but it's been an interesting foray into change.
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The only way to be safe and private online is to not be online.
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If you're still using firefox, right click -> copy clean link. works most of the time.
edit: on desktop, idk if mobile supports it or not. Good suggestions below though for mobile.
I just searched and found this one:
The code is open source, and it supports several ways to install it on your device (PWA, shortcut, bookmarklet, and more).
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Even better: PeerTube or InternetArchive or (Web)Torrents but definitely not a Google website fueled by surveillance capitalism.
wrote last edited by [email protected]Call me back when the experience as a content creator is not a nightmare, the experience as a user browsing for content is not a nightmare, when it can handle the load of an even moderately popular video.
The issue with streaming video online is not a technical one; making a "clone" of youtube, anyone can do so (and indeed, peertube exists). The issue with streaming video online is that if it gets traction, you need a lot of bandwidth and processing power to make it available when it needs to be available. One-two instances and "hopping P2P picks up" does not cut it.
And, as usual when anyone says anything bad about peertube: the idea is great, but almost by construction it lacks what's needed to be a valid replacement for centralized, yet HUGE existing platforms: traction, and a truckload of CDN-like instances that can handle the load. If someone putting highly anticipated content online could just "put" their video somewhere and send a link so people can watch it, immediately, and without issue, some would likely do so. Unfortunately, we're very far from that yet.
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There should be an extension that does this
uBlock Origin with the appropriate filter list will do it for you, like this one: https://github.com/DandelionSprout/adfilt/blob/master/LegitimateURLShortener.txt
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Add this URL Shortener filterlist to uBlock Origin.
This removes the fast majority of these query parameters.
