I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
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*BOOSTS HARD FOR MAXIMUM CLOUT*
*ALL-FATHERS LET THE CLOUT FLOW THROUGH ME ONE LAST TIME*
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz
My take on it would be:- no ads
- culture overall against AI slop
- no black-box algorithm
- you create a profile where the rules suit you, while still being connected to the rest of the network
- ... which means it somewhat reflects better how diverse we are. Not "one size fits all" behemoth.
- you can move if things change
- not designed to be adictive, milk your data and drain your wallet -
I take your point, but as you say: that’s a people problem not a technology problem. that is true of people wherever they form groups, on and offline. The fediverse is different because unlike other social networking platforms, you can vote with your feet if you find yourself in a social space that doesn’t suit you anymore, by leaving and taking your followers and followings with you.
There’s certainly more we can do as a community (and as the Mastodon org) to make our technology more resilient to toxic human dynamics. One thing we want to do is make it a lot easier for anyone to host a Mastodon instance, so if you can’t find a space that suits you, you can make your own. And we’re working on that this year! Another thing we’re considering (but is not on our roadmap right now) is adding post migration, which will make it a lot easier for people to pick up and leave when a space doesn’t suit them anymore.
We’re not trying to “fix” people here, but we are trying to make technology that is resilient to our worst habits and impulses instead of actively exploiting and compounding them. How do you think we should try to address this?
@haubles it's true that you can move instances when you want, but that's also a very clunky process that puts a lot of people off. and then there's the whole anxiety over losing connections because of how instances are or aren't federating with each other. So I don't think "you can just move" is as simple as people often claim it is.
And it's not just an issue of having to move instances. The relationship people have with their admins can also be a very unhealthy parasocial one.
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@haubles it's true that you can move instances when you want, but that's also a very clunky process that puts a lot of people off. and then there's the whole anxiety over losing connections because of how instances are or aren't federating with each other. So I don't think "you can just move" is as simple as people often claim it is.
And it's not just an issue of having to move instances. The relationship people have with their admins can also be a very unhealthy parasocial one.
@haubles I think this is very much a problem caused by the low level design of the fediverse. The way instances work in ActivityPub leads to a few people in powerful positions and that's very much an effect of the technology, not a purely social one.
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@haubles I think this is very much a problem caused by the low level design of the fediverse. The way instances work in ActivityPub leads to a few people in powerful positions and that's very much an effect of the technology, not a purely social one.
@aesthr these are good points, and thank you for your feedback! As I said, we definitely want to make account migration and instance hosting better and more accessible. Stay tuned
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I tried to answer your two core questions, "benefits" and "freedom", but really struggled to answer the questions as you posed them. I think the reason I got caught up on those answers is your use of the word "Platform". And when the general public think of "Platform", they immediately begin thinking of all those monolithic platforms out there.
Calling it "decentralized" doesn't really help. It's not a particularly precise term, nor do most people really understand the technical and social trade-offs that it implies. And "most people" includes a lot of people on Mastodon itself.
And we regularly see people who are disappointed when they get here, because they are expecting Twitter and they are getting something significantly different.
I think I can answer your two questions, next toot, but I think they need to be framed correctly first... /1
@gatesvp @JonChevreau @taylorlorenz good point. I'm tired of the geek-speak explanations, too. Talk aboit stuff the non-geek end user will enjoy and benefit from - in their language!
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@taylorlorenz
* it's easier to "find your tribe" of people sharing common interests or geography - broad by server, narrow by following hashtags.
* Can only speak personally, as a woman I''ve experienced by far the least harassment/spam on Mastodon of any platforms and any abusive accounts reported have been dealt with very promptly. Feels 'safer' than other platforms.@scottish @JonChevreau @taylorlorenz that's interesting: what if you framed your persuasion for female users? That's half the user base right there!
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@dannotdaniel @taylorlorenz my version is that it can't be bought by billionaires, and if a billionaire sweeps in and buys a large server we just fediblock that server.
See also Bluesky.
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz @JonChevreau so many of the replies here are reactive: lists full of "no" and 'not' and "free from". It's like digging q big hole, with all the thrown-out descriptors littering the ground outside. It still leaves a hole, though; none of it actually describes the pleasure and value we *enjoy* on Fedi. That's harder to describe, but worth the time.
Describe how one *enjoys posts* in their feed. The pleasure of chitchat, discovery, new like-minded peers , slow thoughtful conversation
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz When your instance gets taken over by a fascist, you can just change your instance and still be in the same network with mostly the same people. Bonus point the fascist instance gets blocked if your instance admins have any integrity.
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Why not corporate #socialmedia?
1. Algorithm - pushes specific ideology, causes depression in young adults, distorts reality.
2. Owners propagandise their ideology (see above)
3. Certain voices are censored, just like in communist China. YouTube kicked off Aljazera news. TikTok US censors anti-#ICE sentiment, anti-genocide voices.
4. At election time, owners and the wealthy change the outcome of actual elections with social media.
If you haven't seen the outstanding #fediverse promo video by @_elena (4m)
Highly recommend it;
Introducing the Fediverse a New Era of Social Media
The Fediverse explained in 4 minutes: watch now to discover a whole new world of social media, where privacy is respected, users are empowered, and Big Tech has no say. An Italian film maker Elena ...
Channel 44 (peertube.c44.com.au)
@n_dimension @taylorlorenz @_elena what would have to happen , for a video like this one to be watchable in the sense, that it does not get interrupted every 1,5 seconds and doesn't need 10 min. to load in the first place?
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
It's run by volunteers and rich perverts who want to rule the world don't get a dime from it.
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@philpetree @taylorlorenz Oh, they're still mining your data. They just use it to train AI instead of dictating what's in your feed.
@cholling @taylorlorenz That needs to be our next angle of attack: only allow the crawlers we approve onto our sites.
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz every other attempt at social media out there is essentially "what it we tried capitalism again! It's *our brand* of capitalism, it'll be different", whereas decentralized social media is "let's try anarchist social media this time. It'll take work on our part, but it won't have the same systemic issues as that other stuff".
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
> Why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon
It matters that you’re here now
The draw for me to get into social media is that I pay to read TheAtlantic, like my mother’s mother before me. So I keep an eye open for people who write well there. 21 of the 934 people I follow at Twitter follow you at Twitter. I don’t follow you yet, but long ago I learned to feel glad any time I hear from you
Now you’re here too. It’s your words I’m looking for. You and Karen Swallow Prior and Heather Cox Richardson and Derek Thompson and so on. Thinking well and writing well
I’m in mid life. I don’t make time to watch video or look through photos. I’ve paid zero dollars to Substack. But I want to read great texts. And you put some of yours here
Where will you lead us next?
Is this the core of your question? Taylor Swift’s I’ve found the problem and it is me, as with G K Chesterton before her?
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz if you go through US immigration, they're not going to ask to see your Mastodon account.
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz I talk about the algorithm and advertising and how the whole experience, the whole incentive structure, changes so fundamentally when those aren’t the driving forces.
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@cholling @taylorlorenz That needs to be our next angle of attack: only allow the crawlers we approve onto our sites.
@philpetree @taylorlorenz Yes, because LLM crawlers famously respect robots.txt and only use known IP addresses.
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@philpetree @taylorlorenz Yes, because LLM crawlers famously respect robots.txt and only use known IP addresses.
@cholling @taylorlorenz There are other ways... like redirecting before serving the page.
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@n_dimension @taylorlorenz @_elena what would have to happen , for a video like this one to be watchable in the sense, that it does not get interrupted every 1,5 seconds and doesn't need 10 min. to load in the first place?
Sorry, shitty hosting, I'll get one from YouTube(!)
But only that's because I'm too sloppy to find other fediverse posts...... Thanks for the feedback though, C44 peertube is running on a bottom tier VPS, it's an experiment
