I finally have a good guess as to why so many people on Mastodon post screenshots instead of links: they have been *trained* to do so by the big platforms, which have been at war with hyperlinks for years!
So what we're seeing is actually not a Mastodon or Fediverse thing, but rather a clash of internet cultures, with people coming from twitter etc. following their usual practices *vs* a population more accustomed to the open web, where hyperlinks and direct sources are the norm.
@koantig Don’t discount the possibility that we sometimes post screenshots (to X posts in particular) because we don’t want to give the click machine fuel.
@irwin True, that was also my initial guess.
I also saw some accounts not providing a link when it's behind a paywall, possibly to avoid getting heat from the fediverse crowd about it.
You went there to get the screenshot, and the nature of the thing is that you didn't know you'd see it, so clearly, you are scrolling the machine yourself.
I'm not attempting to assassinate your character, but I'm failing to see how posting a screenshot mitigates your engagement with, and promotion of, the silo.
@jpaskaruk @irwin @koantig
The screenshot is a copy.
It liberates the information from the silo.
The screenshot can be shared, archived, printed, OCR, etc.