I see a lot of the drama that is happening between people of color on the platform and the mastodon dev team.

your auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦

@timbray @polotek that's for basic. am really looking waaaaaay past the basics and would like to see a mesh of actual hardware housing the fediverse. if it's gonna be on the cloud, that metal has to be also distributed and not controlled by amazon or microsoft.

your auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦

@timbray @polotek but for now, tbh, if i can't find other people interested in creating a cooperative social media platform, then i just have 2 choices for moving out here, basically, right?

Marco Rogers

@blogdiva @timbray I think you can find lots of people interested in joining. It's much harder to find people interested in doing work to make it happen. I think it makes a difference if you can show that you have budget. Maybe we just need to raise the money first.

Michael T. Bacon, Ph.D.

@blogdiva @timnitGebru @polotek @CaribenxMarciaX @are0h

social.coop is run on a co-op model of sorts. I really should know more about the governance model, but I do know it's run through https://opencollective.com/ .

your auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦

@MichaelTBacon @timnitGebru @polotek @CaribenxMarciaX @are0h didn't opencollective close shop?

Marco Rogers

@blogdiva @MichaelTBacon @timnitGebru @CaribenxMarciaX @are0h they're going through some changes I guess. But not disappearing.

A Wolf in Cheap Clothing

@[email protected]

If you don't like the instance your on, move to one that fits your needs, or start your own! There are literally hundreds of instance in the fediverse, many using different platforms (like Calckey, firefish, pixelfed, friendica, ect...) so don't feel you have to stick to Mastodon.

Marco Rogers

@AWolfInCheapClothing easy! Can you tell me which buttons to push?

Johannes Link

@polotek What about wrapping standard mastodon in an API-compatible proxy which allows moderation? It could make those efforts mostly independent from the core dev team. And it could also be picked up to integrate back into the core later.

✨easily traumatized nihilist✨

@joefox @polotek @pete the biggest red flag which outsiders should understand immediately to signal to a person of color that theres no conversation to be had is, a white person saying "i feel like youre excluding/making assumptions about me based on my skin color" (read: "reverse racism," etc.)

Anyone putting in minimal effort in 2024 needs to understand: there IS NO RACISM AGAINST WHITES. In a global system of white supremacy, its not possible for whites to be oppressed for their whiteness.

✨easily traumatized nihilist✨

@joefox @polotek @pete the comment about "what do i have to do to be good enough" is also p sketchy. Productive & equitable conversations with people of color, especially as they're actively experiencing marginalization & trying to find solutions, isn't some cool kids club to buy your way into with the right words & behaviors. Sometimes it's not even appropriate for a white person to participate at all. But if you do, you should at least kind of understand white supremacy on a basic level.

Marco Rogers

@jlink sounds great. You should get started.

Johannes Link

@polotek I'm an old white man. IMO it should be a community effort controlled by those who need it most. I'm happy to help.

Marco Rogers

@jlink I don't work on the project. You should talk to people who do.

A Wolf in Cheap Clothing

@[email protected]
Well this link will help https://joinfediverse.wiki/Instances

Pete🎸🎶🐍📽🎞☮🌍🙂😭

@itsmeholland @joefox @polotek

If I say, up front, "these are my credentials", they can be dismissed as not good enough. If I don't give my credentials I can be dismissed as not good enough, because of where I was born, and my skin pigmentation.

This is neo-racism.

The way to solve racism is not more racism.

I use the phrase "myth of race" based upon Robert Sussman's book which I have read, and the term "neo-racism" based upon Coleman Hughs' The End of Race Politics, which I have also read.

Matthew Loxton

@polotek
Growing the dev team by adding BIPoC members might help, but then how does one do that with such limited funding?

Matthew Loxton

@yisraeldov

OK, and do you have insights to offer on improving the current situation?

@polotek

Yisrael Dov :emacs: :nixos:

@mloxton @polotek Exposing specific cases is usually going to be the best thing.

What do you suggest?

Marco Rogers

@yisraeldov @mloxton what makes you say this is the "best thing"? For who exactly?