Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)
If you set a #Threads profile to followers-only, then write a post that tags someone who doesn't follow you — not replying to their post, just a plain old post that tags them — can that person see what you wrote?
(Not advocating for Threads, am just trying to understand their privacy model.)
Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta 사요한🦣
@tokyo_0 I can't remember, I think they don't because if someone with a private profile replies to a public post, the person they replied to can't see what they replied if they are not following them. They'll just know there was a reply, a notification even.
So, basically, the way Threads implemented private profiles encourages people to invade your post without you knowing what they're talking about.
Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta 사요한🦣
@tokyo_0 Oooh. They probably 'fixed' it. It was a major complaint seeing replies hidden because their account was set to private. I must have missed the changelog for when they 'fixed' it.
Hmm… in that case, maybe tagging someone will be seen by the tagged account now? At least, I'm thinking the same system is used between replies and manual tagging.
Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)
@youronlyone That's really interesting — thank you for the info! I started wondering after looking at the privacy options today. It says that if you lock your account, people not following you can't see your posts (as expected) but that if you reply to a post by someone who doesn't follow you they can see what you wrote 🤔 That's seemed odd to me, although quite neat if it works—so it got me wondering if you have to reply to an actual post or if tagging them is enough....
Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)
@youronlyone ... But it sounds like even the replies don't work the way they describe. 🤦♀️
Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta 사요한🦣
@tokyo_0 Yep. A private account or a followers-only post should be seen if they reply to someone else's post or tag them.
If I'm not mistaken, that's how it works in Facebook. If you tag someone in a friends or followers only post, they can see and reply to that thread (and everyone else who can see that thread). (They're automatically added to the dropdown related to who can view the post.)
Hmm, I think you're right, Mastodon's tagging is basically DM. I sometimes tag someone in a followers-only post, and some of them replies.
Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)
@youronlyone It'd be really neat if it did work that way—would be super useful for organisations to be able to receive messages from accounts they don't follow without the senders having to expose their whole account publicly, as well. Maybe it's something more social media platforms should adopt. 🤔
Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)
@youronlyone (I guess Mastodon's DMs kind of work that way. I'm not sure what happens here if you set any post to followers only but then tag someone who doesn't follow you 😅)
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