In this searing investigative report on #Bluesky @davetroy asks how are the users flocking to there safe from EXACTLY THE SAME THING that happened at Twitter/X.
-
@clive @peterbrown @mastodonmigration @davetroy Except that too much is in one person's control. Thankfully, non-Mastodon Fediverse/Open Web is big enough for us to decamp together if Mastodon degrades.
-
Only one detail is different. Eugen avoided the poison pill of vulture capital.
And that makes a huge difference. It's in many ways the harder way, but it allows that "one man" to stay his own man.
OSS projects often live and die with the guidance of one special person, and these are often eccentric. Eugen is measured by that standard refreshingly normal.
-
⚯ Michel de Cryptadamus ⚯replied to charvaka last edited by
@charvaka @mastodonmigration @davetroy selling out to someone like elon should be the entire reason Blockchain Capital invested in BlueSky, though there is an alternative explanation: they want to use BlueSky as a new venue to spin crypto narratives and sell tokens to chumps.
either way the blockchain capital guys are some of the most OG worst of the worst crypto bros. expect serpents.
-
@yacc143 @clive @peterbrown @mastodonmigration @davetroy Yes, right up until they're not. It's not at all straightforward even before that: I've seen plenty of people making the case that the centralization there is slowing Mastodon development down.
It's a common model, but inherently risky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_dictator_for_life
Consider the turmoil with WordPress at the moment.
-
@mastodonmigration @davetroy But if this did happen... couldn't users just vote with their feet a 2nd time?
-
@mbrailer @mastodonmigration @davetroy Finding profiles on mastodon and following them if they're on different servers is still really clumsy/annoying imo
-
The issue is that there is an opportunity to actually build something that can not be controlled and muted. If progressive voices are once again silenced just before the next election or critical historical moment, what effect will that have? We already lost perhaps the most important election in our nation's history, what will be the damage next time?
-
@deskJet95 @mbrailer @davetroy
Different servers shouldn't matter.
If you know the account name, or close to it, you can simply type it into search as shown below for your account.
Also, @FediTips explains ways of finding accounts: https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-find-accounts-to-follow-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-how-do-i-find-my-friends/
And, Fedi.tips has an extensive directory: https://fedi.directory/fedi-tips/
Beyond that, to load a curated batch of great accounts on different topics check out Follow Packs here: @mastodonmigration.wordpress.com
-
Mastodon Migrationreplied to ⚯ Michel de Cryptadamus ⚯ last edited by
@cryptadamist @charvaka @davetroy
Yup. In any case, the point is that it is not a safe haven.
There be monsters...
-
Mastodon Migrationreplied to Hilda Bastian last edited by
@hildabast @yacc143 @clive @peterbrown @davetroy
Mastodon development is 3 or 4 people, so yes that slows things down. It is amazing what they have accomplished with this small a team, but there is only so much a few people can get done. Perhaps this is the cost of sticking to principle and not taking on venture capital, but it would be great if there were a way to both adequately fund such a vital product, and keep it out of the hands of investors who could take away control.
-
Dave Troy :toad:replied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
@mastodonmigration @hildabast @yacc143 @clive @peterbrown this is misleading; there are way more people involved in development when you look at the whole ecosystem of apps, stack, etc.
-
@deskJet95 @mbrailer @mastodonmigration it’s really very straightforward.
-
Mastodon Migrationreplied to Dave Troy :toad: last edited by [email protected]
@davetroy @hildabast @yacc143 @clive @peterbrown
Excellent point. It is important to distinguish Mastodon gGmbH the non-profit company that developed and maintains the Mastodon application from the underlying Activity Pub protocol, the open source software that powers the Fediverse. There are many engineers involved with the AP protocol. Also there are many third party apps for Mastodon and there are other Fediverse applications like Pixelfed. So, many excellent engineers involved.
1/2
-
Mastodon Migrationreplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by [email protected]
@davetroy @hildabast @yacc143 @clive @peterbrown
Also, there are the many IT systems folks that maintain Mastodon server instances as well as people who do the painstaking work on instance moderation. So altogether a big enterprise.
That said, it would be great if Mastodon gGmbH had more development resources given the enormous importance of this technology to open social media worldwide.
2/2
-
Mastodon Migrationreplied to Dave Troy :toad: last edited by
@davetroy @deskJet95 @mbrailer
Agreed. Wrote a longer post to answer this, but the bottom line is this kind of knee jerk criticism is really unfounded, but typical of the public's perception of Mastodon.
-
Dave Troy :toad:replied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
@mastodonmigration @deskJet95 @mbrailer I think having an app named “Mastodon” and suggesting it’s the best experience out there has been a mistake also. There are a lot of clients and most people don’t know about them.
-
Mastodon Migrationreplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by
Would like to clarify something here. There is a difference between initial user perception and the actual long term utility of a user interface. People may be put off because Mastodon does not look like Twitter, but Mastodon has a lot of rich features that make it better for users once they become familiar with it. Things like lists, search, import & export and post editing are great features, that necessarily require a more complex interface.
-
Mastodon Migrationreplied to Dave Troy :toad: last edited by [email protected]
@davetroy @deskJet95 @mbrailer
You are right. People equate 'Mastodon' with the Fediverse. Or more precisely 'Mastodon' obscures perception of the Fediverse. It is hard for people to understand 1) that Mastodon writ large is lots of Mastodon servers interconnect via the Fediverse, and 2) the Fediverse also interconnects other great applications, and 3) the applications can all talk to each other.
People recoil from this. Throw up their hands, and conclude it's all too complicated.
1/4
-
Mastodon Migrationreplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by [email protected]
@davetroy @deskJet95 @mbrailer
The analogy that seems to work best is email. There are a lot of email clients that don't look like each other, but share data just fine.
The problem from a public perception POV is that the general designator is 'email', analogous to 'Fediverse' and things like 'Gmail' and 'Outlook' are email clients. We should be leading with Fediverse and talking about Fediverse clients like Mastodon.
2/4
-
Mastodon Migrationreplied to Mastodon Migration last edited by [email protected]
@davetroy @deskJet95 @mbrailer
Unfortunately, "Fediverse" is kind of a mouthful and "Mastodon" is the brand people recognize, and "Mastodon" is kind of confusing because it refers to both the user application client and the distributed network of Mastodon servers over the Fediverse.
3/4
