Posting Content - Simplified
Last Updated: February 18, 2023
The Post Box
If you have adopted the Simplified layout, click on the blue “post” button found at the top corner of the page. This will launch a pop-up window to compose your post.
The default character limit for text posts is 500 characters and you can include links, hashtags, polls, content warnings, and emojis. PRO users can adjust privacy preferences at the post level.
Responding to a Post
To REPLY to a post, click the left arrow at the bottom of the original post. Doing so will automatically open the post box where you can type your reply. The @handle of the author of the post you are responding to will be pre-populated. If you are a PRO user, you can lock your response to the original post, and all subsequent replies in the thread after yours will also be locked. A locked post cannot be unlocked by another user’s reply. (see PRIVACY SETTINGS below)
The BOOST is the double-headed square arrow, and it mimics the other platforms’ “Retweet” or “Share” buttons for existing posts. Boosts are only shown to your followers, and do not appear in the Community Firehouse.
The FAVORITE star is your way to acknowledge that you read the post. It means different things to different users, and the total number of favorites is not prioritized here. A record of your previous favorites is not viewable to either yourself or others through a separate list.
The WORLD icon allows you to open and expand the post to view the full thread of replies or to add your own. “Report” is another option on this menu and is your means of flagging a post that violates the TOS.
To THREAD a series of posts to communicate a longer message, simply REPLY to your preceding post.
Additional options can be found by clicking the arrow icon found in the top right corner of any post, including a option to mute any threads you are included in but no longer want to be notified of new responses. You can also use this menu to “pin” one of your own posts to the top of your feed and/or access moderation tools for other accounts including Mute, Block, and Report funtions.
Links & Link Sanitizer
CounterSocial (CoSo) doesn’t track its users, but even better than that - we don’t let 3rd parties track you either. All outbound links are automagically sanitized to remove any embedded tracking parameters. Be sure to include any links at the end of your post, to prevent any other post text from being inadvertently trimmed by this feature. In the case where this impacts your link’s functionality, type /nosanitize anywhere in your post to turn off this feature. The most common case for this is time-stamped YouTube videos.
Once posted, the platform will automatically preview the content linked including news headlines, article card images, and/or functional media players such as YouTube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and Spotify, if such a preview is available. These link previews are generated the first time your link is clicked or the next time you refresh your feed.
Attaching Media & Files
Click on the camera icon to attach photos, animated GIFs, or videos to your post. On the desktop version, you can also drag-and-drop the media file to the post box to auto-upload. PRO accounts can share other file types with CoSo’s internal CounterShare file sharing service.
Editing Media
Once your media file is attached to your post, click the pencil icon to add a caption or text description for the visually impaired. The description will appear for users accessing CoSo via a screen reader or other similar technology.
If your image, GIF, or video is not safe for work , contains mature, adult or graphic content, or may negatively impact those with post traumatic stress disorder or photosensitivity issues, please click on the eye icon to mark your media as sensitive. To add a content warning to your post, click on the “CW” icon (doing so will also mask any photographs)
Warning
CounterSocial is committed to providing NO SAFE HAVEN for Child Sex Abuse Material. All uploaded images are hashed and compared against NCMEC databases of known CSAM hashes at our infrastructure edge.
Setting Your Media Preferences
Navigate to the Media tab inside your settings to configure the defaults for how you want media to display in your personal feeds. You can automatically hide all media marked as “sensitive,” choose if animated GIFs auto-play or even reduce their motion.
Post Privacy Settings
Once you have configured your post, PRO users can set the privacy at the post draft level, including unlisted, private, and direct message posting. PRO users can also visit Edit Profile –> Preferences to set the default privacy level for all future posts.
Public - Posts appear in the community firehose, your friend’s timelines, and on your profile page. If your Public Landing Page is enabled, these posts are visible to the general public and are indexed by search engines. This is the default setting for regular users.
Unlisted (PRO Feature) - Same as Public posts, but posts do not appear in the community firehose. This setting is most commonly used to make public posts visible on your Public Landing Page without entering them on the primary community feed.
Followers-Only (PRO Feature) - Visible only to users that follow you and anyone mentioned in the post. These posts cannot be boosted, except by yourself.
Direct Message (PRO Feature) - Visible to only the user(s) mentioned (@) in the post. The recipient will receive a notification. All DMs are encrypted and cannot be accessed by any other party, including The Jester, unless they are mentioned. Initiating a DM is a PRO feature, which helps eliminate DM spam, scams, and phishing attempts. Recipients of DMs do not need to be a PRO account. If you are a regular user and wish to have a private conversation with a PRO user, simply ask them to initiate the DM from their side.
Attention
Have questions or need help? Follow @CoSoTips or tag any post with #help to get support from the community.