Regarding X, if anyone wants to browse there without an account, try a third-party front end that doesn't require an X account. I hardly ever have a reason to do so, but I found nitter.net to be useful. Usually the only reason I have used it is because someone provided a direct link to an X page and I wanted to be able to browse the comments and related content by the same person or links the first person gave. (I haven't hit the limit for a free nitter account yet.)
Thanks for this thoughtful conversation!
Regarding X, if anyone wants to browse there without an account, try a third-party front end that doesn't require an X account. I hardly ever have a reason to do so, but I found nitter.net to be useful. Usually the only reason I have used it is because someone provided a direct link to an X page and I wanted to be able to browse the comments and related content by the same person or links the first person gave. (I haven't hit the limit for a free nitter account yet.)