When someone posts a link on X, the site generates a link preview. But reportedly, this system can be tricked, and bad actors can redirect you to malicious sites from a falsely advertised link preview.
As noted by security researcher Will Dormann, some posts on X purport to lead to a legitimate website, but actually redirect somewhere else. In Dormann's example, an advertisement posted by a verified X user claims to lead to forbes.com. When Dormann clicks the link, however, it takes him to a different link to open a Telegram channel that is, "helping individuals earn maximum profit in the crypto market," he said. In short, the "Forbes" link leads to crypto spam
The best X to stay safe on X is to stop using X. Seriously, how many "final straws" are necessary before we all realize the place isn't worth visiting anymore? The spicy memes no longer justify the many, many flaws and risks.
For a long time Twitter and Facebook were what you made them. When it was mostly personal acquaintances, and later tight communities, you had pretty good control over your experience. That was a long time ago at this point, but I wouldn't say it was always a dumpster fire.
Facebook way back in the day was the shit. Everything was super private outside of groups which served as the public square. I haven't found any federated platforms that come close. It might be seven or eight years now since I logged in.
Isn't diaspora like that? They have a somewhat facebook-like interface and rely on 'aspects' to define how public or private something is. It is listed on the fediverse map, though it doesn't use activitypub but a different protocol.